The Song of Hiawatha H.W. Longfellow 1855

Who is and was Hiawatha?

The Noble Savage Hiawatha is both a cultural icon, and a real person. He symbolizes the meme of the “noble savage”. A noble savage is a character who represents the concept of an idealized natural man who has not been corrupted by civilization, and therefore symbolizes humanity's innate goodness and innocence. This idea became popular during the 1800’s when the industrial revolution was at its peak, and there was a generalized longing for a simpler and natural lifestyle.

This idea was central in the book The Last of the Mohicans Which is also an awesome film!

Romanticism Romanticism as an idea was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism. It included the glorification of the past and especially nature as humanity’s true “home”. Romanticism highly valued the achievements of "heroic" individualists and artists, whose examples, it was thought, would raise the quality of society in general. In the poem, Hiawatha as a romantic ideal, helped to fuel the westward expansion of Anglo culture in North America, much like the John Denver song “Rocky Mountain High” inspired people to settle in Colorado during the 1970’s.

Romantics were intensely emotional and distrustful of the human world, and tended to believe that a close connection with nature was mentally and morally healthy.

The Real Hiawatha Hiawatha (about AD 1450) was a pre-colonial Ojibwa leader and co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. Hiawatha was an important follower of the Great Peacemaker (Deganawida), a Huron spiritual leader who began the unification of the Iroquois peoples who had a shared ancestry and culture. The Iroquois Confederacy brought together five distinct nations in the Great Lakes area into "The Great League of Peace”. He traveled widely throughout the Great Lakes region in both the yet to be United States and Canada.

Where he lived

Peace at Last The Confederacy consisted of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations. The confederacy and the tribal members played an important role in the struggle between the French and British for control of North America. The union ended decades of inter tribal warfare that had decimated the population and disrupted society. The Confederacy became a blueprint for the governing of the newly formed United States of America. In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people lived in Canada, and the Confederacy is still active today.

Hiawatha’s culture

The Iroquois nations use a matriarchal Mother Clan system The Iroquois nations use a matriarchal Mother Clan system. No person is entitled to own land, but it is believed that the Creator appointed women as stewards of the land. Women also control most goods. Traditionally children are raised by the brother of the mother, the biological father having a relatively minor role compared to our society. A young man had to prove he could provide for a bride and family before a woman would agree to marry him. A woman had to prove she had the skills to make most of the goods needed to set up and maintain a new household. Both were expected to engage in public and private acts of courage and integrity.

The Poem This is an epic poem that recounts the many heroic deeds of Hiawatha in the tradition of other great epics such as Beowulf, Gilgamesh, The Iliad and the Odyssey. It is famous for its beautiful and evocative figurative language and imagery. It is very long, but our section, Hiawatha’s Wooing is but a small part. It looks long, but in fact is about three pages- the length of a short short story. Hiawatha’s Wooing is a classic love story that has been played out in places all over the world since the beginning of time. When it’s your turn…..well, you’ll see!