Hiawatha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the fictional character in the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, see The Song of Hiawatha.
For other uses of the name Hiawatha, see Hiawatha (disambiguation).
Hiawatha (also known as Ayenwatha, Aiionwatha, or Haiëñ'wa'tha; Onondaga)[1], who lived (depending on the version of the story) in the 1100s, 1400s, or 1500s, and was variously a leader of the Onondaga and Mohawk nations of Native Americans.
Hiawatha was a follower of The Great Peacemaker, a prophet and spiritual leader who was credited as the founder of the Iroquois confederacy, (referred to as Haudenosaunee by the people). If The Great Peacemaker was the man of ideas, Hiawatha was the politician who put the plan into practice. Hiawatha was a skilled and charismatic orator, and was instrumental in persuading the Iroquois peoples, the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, a group of Native North Americans who shared similar languages, to accept The Great Peacemaker's vision and band together to become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. Later, the Tuscarora nation joined the Confederacy to become the Sixth Nation.
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[edit] Hiawatha in Morgan's Ancient Society.
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (October 2009) |
Hiawatha is mentioned in a famous anthropological text by Lewis Henry Morgan, Ancient Society 1877. The book was in two volumes with the second containing a comprehensive collection of artistic, cultural and material facts concerning the nation, built over many years. Chapter V is entitled "The Iroquois Confederacy" and reads;
"The Iroquois have furnished an excellent illustration of the manner in which a confederacy is formed by natural growth assisted by skilful legislation. ... When the confederacy was formed, about A. D. 1400- 1450,[2] the conditions previously named were present. The Iroquois were in five independent tribes, occupied territories contiguous to each other, and spoke dialects of the same language which were mutually intelligible. Beside these facts, certain gentes were common in the several tribes ... "
"The origin of the plan is ascribed to a mythical, or, at least, traditionary person, Ha-yo-went-ha, the Hiawatha of Longfellow’s celebrated poem, who was present at this council and the central person in its management. In his communications with the council he used a wise-man of the Onondagas, Da-ga-n,o-we-da, as an interpreter and speaker to expound the structure and principles of the proposed confederacy. The same tradition further declares that when the work was accomplished Ha-yo-zvent-ha miraculously disappeared in a white canoe, which arose with him in the air and bore him out of their sight. Other prodigies, according to this tradition, attended and signalized the formation of the confederacy, which is still celebrated among them as a masterpiece of India wisdom. Such in truth it was; and it will remain in history as a monument of their genius in developing gentile institutions. It will also be remembered as an illustration of what tribes of mankind have been able to accomplish in the art of government while in the Lower Status of barbarism, and under the disadvantages this condition implies."
"Which of the two persons was the founder of the confederacy it is difficult to determine. The silent Ha-yo- zvent-ha was, not unlikely, a real person of Iroquois lineage; but tradition has enveloped his character so completely in the supernatural that he loses his place among them as one of their number. If Hiawatha were a real person, Da-ga- no-me-da must hold a subordinate place; but, if a mythical person invoked for the occasion, then to the latter belongs the credit of planning the confederacy."
[edit] The Hiawatha Belt
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (September 2008) |
The Hiawatha Belt is made of 6574 wampum beads - 38 rows by 173 rows, and has 892 white and 5682 purple beads. The purple represents the sky or universe that surrounds us, and the white represents purity and Good Mind (good thoughts, forgiveness, and understanding). The belt symbolizes the Five Nations from west to east in their respective territories across New York state - Seneca (People of the Great Hill), Cayuga (People of the Swamp), Onondaga (Keepers of the Fire), Oneida (People of the Standing Stone), and Mohawk (People of the Flint). Each nation is represented by open ‘squares’ of white beads with the central figure signifying a tree or heart. The white open squares are connected by a white band that has no beginning or end, representing all time now and forever. The band, however, does not cross through the center of each nation, meaning that each nation is supported and unified by a common bond and that each is separate in its own identity and domain. The open center also signifies the idea of a fort protected on all sides, but open in the center, symbolizing an open heart and mind within.
The tree figure signifies the Onondaga Nation, capital of the League and home to the central council fire. It was on the shores of Onondaga Lake where the message of peace was “planted” and the hatchets were buried.[citation needed] From this tree, four white roots sprouted, carrying the message of unity and peace to the four directions.
The Hiawatha Belt has been dated to the mid-1700s. Near its center, it contains a bead made of colonial lead glass. It is believed the design is as old as the league itself, and that the present belt is not the original.[3]
The Hiawatha Belt forms the basis of the flag of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, created in the 1980s. It is also included in the logo of the Toronto Nationals, a National Lacrosse League team.
[edit] Movie
- In 1940, plans for a film about the historical Hiawatha by Monogram Pictures were scrapped. The reason given was that Hiawatha's peacemaker role could be seen as "Communist propaganda." [4][5]
- Vince Edwards played the title role of Hiawatha in the 1952 film of the same name, the last release of Monogram Pictures.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Bright, William (2004). Native American Place Names of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 080613576X pg. 166
- ^ About 1651-5, they expelled their kindred tribes, the Eries, from the region between the Genesee river and Lake Erie, and shortly afterwards the Neutral Nations from the Niagara river, and thus came into possession of the remainder of New York, with the exception of the lower Hudson and Long Island. (Morgan)
- ^ "Proceedings", American Philosophical Society (vol. 115, No. 6, p. 446)
- ^ Wallechinsky, David (1975). The People's Almanac. Garden City: Doubleday. ISBN 0385040601. p. 239
- ^ Digital History: Post-War Hollywood
