Deganawida
At a glance:
- Series: Magill's Choice: American Indian Biographies, Revised Edition
- Categories: Religion, Ethics
- Subcategories: Native Americans, American Indians, Saints, Prophets
- Curriculum: American Indian History, American Pre-Colonial History (to 1606), Canadian History
Article abstract: Deganawida enlisted the aid of an orator and diplomat, Hiawatha, to spread his vision of a united and peaceful Iroquois Confederacy, formed of separate nations, which had suffered from internal wars and feuds that nearly destroyed Iroquois civilization.
Little is known of the early life of Deganawida, whose name means, roughly, “two rivers flowing together.” Oral accounts maintain that he was the product of a virgin birth that surprised his mother and grandmother, both poor women who lived alone in the forest. They feared that the virgin...
[The entire page is 1351 words long]
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