Talk:Dekanahwideh

This article is factually innacurate:

"Dekanahwideh or Deganawidah was, according to Iroquois legend, the founder of the first Iroquois federation. Legend states that Dekanahwideh lived around 1450 AD, and as a result of his work in unifying the Iroquois tribes, was renamed Hiawatha, meaning "he who combs". "

In fact, the Great Peacemaker (as Deganawida is more respectfully called) was a distinct historical figure from Hiawatha.

However, there is truth to the name "he who combs" - this comes from the fact that the Onondaga were the last of the original 5 nations to be united, and were lead by the evil Atotarho/Tadodaho, whom was said to have a head of snakes as hair. It is said that Hiawatha (aka Ayonwenta) was able to reform Atotarho/Tadodaho, thus "combing the snakes" from his hair, and Tadodaho subsequently allowed the Onondaga to join the Iroquois league.

 http://www.peace4turtleisland.org/pages/tributetoshenandoah.htm

In fact, the original source cited also says:

The great obstacle to such a union was Atotarho, head chief of the Onondagas, a hideous tyrant whose body had seven crooks in it and whose hair was a tangle of live snakes. “You shall be called Hiawatha [He Who Combs],” said Dekanahwideh to his disciple, “for you shall comb the snakes out of Atotarho’s hair.”

 http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34285

This article should be deleted and replaced with a link to Deganawida/the Great Peacemaker, depending on how the dispute over naming that page resolves itself. I will do this myself when I figure out how :-)

--Brianski, Sun Nov 13 00:53:39 GMT 2005