course of the narrative, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow weaves together many aspects of American Indian mythology concerning life, nature, and ritual.

The narrative begins when Gitche Manito, the Great Spirit, calls the warring and vengeful tribes together, rebuking them for their childish behavior and informing them of a prophet who will come to guide and teach them. Hiawatha, the prophet mentioned by Gitche Manito, is born after Mudjekeewis, the West-Wind, seduces Wenonah, the daughter of Nokomis, and then leaves her to die deserted and heart-broken after giving birth to Hiawatha. Reared by Nokomis, Hiawatha grows to manhood and obtains magic gifts and powers that will enable him to perform his great deeds.

Through supernatural adventure tales of his building a canoe, fishing for sturgeon, and using a picture language, readers are told how American Indians learned these arts and are blessed by them. In one account, Hiawatha’s concern for his people is shown as he fasts and prays on their behalf. As a result of his experience, he begins to wonder why life depends on the killing of animals for survival. Hiawatha then meets an angelic young man dressed in green and yellow named Mondamin, who challenges him to wrestle, and, although he is exhausted from his fasting, Hiawatha miraculously receives renewed strength through the ordeal. After the hero defeats Mondamin and buries him according to instruction, corn grows from the grave, providing the sought-after supplement to animal flesh.

Soon, Hiawatha becomes a peacemaker when he woos and weds Minnihaha, the beautiful maid of the Dacotah tribe. Their marriage cements peace between these traditionally hostile tribes and ushers in a time of peace and harmony. Their wedding party is celebrated in a manner that establishes a pattern to follow, with beautiful songs and tales. In time, fever and sickness kill many, including Hiawatha’s bride, and the poem ends with the dramatic departure of Hiawatha into the sunset and with his farewell teachings about the impending arrival of the white race and its new religious teachings.

Ojibway land

Ojibway land (oh-JIHB-way; also spelled Ojibwa). Area inhabited by the Algonquian-speaking peoples of the Upper Great Lakes—a region encompassing much of what is now Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio. Longfellow never visited this area and he relied heavily on books by John Tanner and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft to write his poem. He was probably also influenced by engravings by George Catlin to create his mental visualization of Ojibway life in the Great Lakes region. At the time when The Song of Hiawatha was published, Ojibway land was still remote and mysterious to many eastern Americans. At the same time, however, the Upper Great Lakes region was one of the first parts of the North American interior in which Europeans and Native Americans began their uneasy coexistence. Longfellow ends his poem with the incursion of white men into the “Land of the Ojibway” and the departure of Hiawatha.

Longfellow’s Great Lakes region can be seen as the mythic and Edenic vanished land of the Ojibwa, as well as a place in which Europeans were settling in ever greater numbers, encouraged by the region’s rich ore deposits. Thus, for Longfellow’s readers, the location of the poem presents a paradox: On one hand, it depicts the romantic notion of the “noble savage” living at one with nature; on the other hand, it depicts the contemporary reality of logging camps and copper and iron mines. It does so, however, without blaming the intrusive white population for the destruction of a way of life; rather, there is an air of inevitability in the poem, which suggests that the Ojibway land must fade from existence as states such as Michigan and Minnesota are taking shape.

Vale of Tawasentha

Vale of Tawasentha (tah-wah-SEHN-thah). Located somewhere in Ojibway land, the Vale of Tawasentha is the location of Longfellow’s mythic singer, Nawahada, who tells the story of Hiawatha. The description of the vale suggests a golden, prehistoric paradise where Native Americans lived in harmony with nature. Further, Longfellow attempts to connect his poem with the oral traditions of the Native American singer by inventing Nawahada.

Red Pipestone Quarry

Red Pipestone Quarry. Place where Gitche Manito, the Master of Life, calls the tribes of men to gather, entreats them to make peace with each other, and teaches them to make peace pipes. While it is not possible to identify accurately this location geographically, it is likely that Longfellow was thinking about the pipestone quarries of southern Minnesota where native peoples have long gathered to collect the precious pipestone for fashioning into sacred relics and pipes. One such Minnesota quarry is the Pipestone National Monument. By using this location as the site for the important ritual meeting of the tribes, Longfellow ties his poem to actual Native American customs as well as to contemporary American geography, all while preserving the sense of a prehistoric, mythic past.

Gitche Gumee

Gitche Gumee (GIT-chee GEW-mee). Indian name for Lake Superior—which is also called Big-Sea-Water—by which Hiawatha grows up. The largest of all the Great Lakes, Superior is also the Great Lake that extends farthest north and west. Lands surrounding the lake include Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. As one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world, Superior is of suitable size and grandeur to be associated with Longfellow’s vision.

*Dakota land

*Dakota land. Area west of Ojibway land, including parts of present-day Canada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana that was the traditional home of the Dakota peoples. The “Dakotahs” to whom Longfellow refers are probably Sioux. Their land plays an important role, because it is here that the young Hiawatha finds his beloved, Minnehaha, the daughter of an arrow maker. Traditionally, the Falls of Minnehaha are associated with waterfalls in present-day Minneapolis. Structurally, it is important for the poem as a journey quest that Hiawatha leaves his own people and goes to the land of the enemy to find his mate. Moreover, this union produces peace among the Ojibway and the Dakotah.

Weary of the constant fighting of the people, Gitche Manito, the Master of Life, calls together all the Native American tribes to remind them of their foolish ways, to try to bring peace among them, and to smoke the peace pipe with them. Although Manito has provided fertile lands, abundant streams, and forests, the groups continue foolishly to feud, to quarrel, and to fight. The Master of Life promises to send a prophet to guide and to teach his people. Should they fail to follow the prophet’s wise counsel, however, they will surely perish. Removing some of the minerals from the quarry and breaking them into pieces, Manito molds the red stone into peace pipes. He instructs the warriors to plunge themselves into the stream, to remove the war paint from their faces, and to cleanse the bloodstains from their hands.

One evening at twilight, the beautiful Nokomis falls to the earth from the full moon. There, among the ferns and mosses, she bears a daughter: Wenonah. As Wenonah grows tall and lovely, Nokomis fears for her daughter and warns her to beware of Mudjekeewis, the West Wind. Wenonah fails to heed the warning and succumbs to Mudjekeewis’s wooing, bearing him a son, Hiawatha. Deserted by the false and faithless Mudjekeewis, Wenonah dies from grief.

Hiawatha grows up in the wigwam of Nokomis. Their home is near the shores of Gitche Gumee, by the shining Big-Sea-Water, and near the forest. From boyhood, Hiawatha masters the crafts of the hunt, of sports, and of other arts and labors. He is a master of speed and accuracy with a bow and arrow. He wears magic deerskin mittens that give him great physical power. On his feet, he wears magic moccasins that allow him to stride a mile with each step.

Angered by the story of his father’s treachery, Hiawatha vows to visit Mudjekeewis and seek revenge. Nokomis, however, warns him of Mudjekeewis’s magic and cunning; she asks Hiawatha not to go. Hiawatha does not listen. He travels to the land of the West Wind, where he fights with Mudjekeewis for three days. At last, the West Wind admits that it will be impossible for Hiawatha to kill him because Mudjekeewis is immortal. Pleased, however, with the boy’s courage, Mudjekeewis sends Hiawatha back to serve his tribe as the prophet and protector that Gitche Manito promised them.

On his long journey home to the shores of Gitche Gumee, Hiawatha stops in the land of the Dacotahs to purchase arrowheads from an old man. There, Hiawatha sees Minnehaha (Laughing Water), the arrow-maker’s lovely daughter. She captivates Hiawatha.

When Hiawatha returns to his people, he builds a wigwam in the forest and goes there to fast and pray. On the fourth day of his fast, as he lies exhausted on his couch, Hiawatha sees a young stranger standing before him. The youth has green plumes over his forehead and wears green and yellow garments. He informs Hiawatha that, to have his prayers fulfilled, they must wrestle the next day, and Hiawatha must prevail in the struggle.

In spite of his weakness, Hiawatha refuses the food that Nokomis brings him during the night. He is still able, however, to struggle bravely with the young stranger the following morning. At last, the stranger yields to Hiawatha and asks Hiawatha to strip away his green and yellow garments and the green plumes, to bury him, and to guard the grave. The stranger vows to leap again into the sunshine. Hiawatha faithfully follows the stranger’s command to bury his body. He guards the grave. Soon, he sees the green shoot of a plant, yellow silk, and finally a matured ear of corn; this crop becomes a vital food to nourish his people.

Hiawatha shapes a canoe from the birch tree. He and his strong friend Kwasind set out on the water to try to make the streams safe for the people; they clear the water of roots, sandbars, and dead trees. Later, Hiawatha rids the lake of its greatest menace: the sturgeon. After Hiawatha and Kwasind make the river safer, Nokomis asks Hiawatha to destroy Pearl-Feather (Megissogwon); this magician is responsible for fever, pestilence, and disease.

To reach Pearl-Feather, Hiawatha must first battle the dozen serpents that guard the entrance to the wizard’s domain; only then can he gain entrance. As Hiawatha approaches the serpents, he kills them with his arrows. A woodpecker instructs Hiawatha in how to overcome the magician; Hiawatha must aim his arrows at the roots of the wizard’s hair. After he conquers Megissogwon, Hiawatha rewards the woodpecker by dabbing the bird’s tuft of feathers with the magician’s blood. From then on, the woodpecker would wear this tuft of red.

When Hiawatha tells Nokomis that he intends to make Minnehaha his wife, Nokomis urges him not to marry a Dacotah but to marry a woman of their own tribe, the Ojibways. Hiawatha politely refuses her advice, however, and assures her that the marriage will unite the two tribes and encourage peace. He travels to the land of the Dacotah to retrieve his bride.

Upon the return of Minnehaha and Hiawatha, Nokomis honors the couple with a huge feast at the wedding ceremony. Hiawatha’s friend Pau-Puk-Peewis honors the couple with a dance to the sound of many instruments. Chibiabos, Hiawatha’s gentle friend, sings his famous love songs; Hiawatha’s friend Iagoo relates his fanciful tales at the celebration. Hiawatha’s people prosper in peace; their corn crops are abundant. To enable the tribes to keep a record of their history, Hiawatha invents picture writing for them.

Sadness arrives. Evil spirits attack and kill Chibiabos while he is on a hunting trip. Kwasind dies at the hands of the fairies and the pygmies. One winter, famine strikes Hiawatha’s people. Snow covers the forests and lakes so deeply that it is impossible for hunters to seek food. Hiawatha’s people are starving and dying of fever. When Minnehaha dies from fever, Hiawatha mourns her death for seven days. Finally, the warmth and fertility of spring return. Life begins anew in the earth.

Rumors begin to circulate that white men in large canoes with sails are coming. Hiawatha himself sees the white men in a vision and confirms the rumors. As a leader and peacemaker, Hiawatha urges his people to welcome the strangers. Hiawatha adds the admonishment that if the people ignore his counsel, the tribes will only destroy themselves.

As Hiawatha stands by the wigwam of Nokomis one evening, three white men approach; one of these men is a priest. Hiawatha welcomes them and invites his people to hear the stories the priest tells of the Virgin Mary and her Son. That night, as the white men lie sleeping, Hiawatha tells Nokomis that the time for him to leave has arrived. Having fulfilled his promises, he leaves to travel through the portals of the Sunset, to the Land of the Hereafter.