The Song of Hiawatha

Everybody knows “By the shores of Gitche Gumee; By the shining Big-Sea Water”, right? But what comes next? Nor is that how the poem begins. In fact, we are well into the third Canto (of twenty-two) before those famous words show up. I know I was exposed to Longfellow’s long narrative poem way back in high school sometime, but I had never read it in its entirety before. Hiawatha, born of Wenonah and the fickle West Wind, is raised by his grieving grandmother, Nokomis, after Wenonah dies of a broken heart. He becomes a strong and mighty brave, and eventually wins the lovely Minnehaha as his wife. This poem is the story of his life, incorporating multiple Native American folktales which Longfellow learned from studying the work of show more two 19th century scholars, Heckewelder and Schoolcraft. The structure and rhythm of the poem are based on the Finnish epic, Kalevala, which appeared approximately 20 years earlier, and which Longfellow had read just before beginning his own epic tale. It was his intent to provide a similar chronicle, a sort of unified mythology, for the American Indians. Here, of course, arises a mighty cultural stumbling block to a 21st century appreciation of a work that contains some magnificent language and imagery. Longfellow, a white man, took it upon himself to codify a mythology for an indigenous culture he was not a part of, and which did not exist as he envisioned it. Because there is no single “American Indian” culture; because the indigenous people of this continent comprise multiple tribes diverse in their languages, beliefs, traditions and habits, who lived in harmony with their environment, without ever considering that they owned it, long before there was such a concept as “America”; because while Longfellow’s assumption that the Indian tribes would never create their own “national epic” may have been valid, his mission to do it for them was misguided in his own time, and now feels as obnoxious and out of place as the Christian sentiments and symbolism he inserts into the final scenes of his song. Longfellow was criticized by his contemporaries for “borrowing” legends from the Kalevala, and he defended himself against that charge by citing the scholarly works from which he drew his Indian legends, pointing out that the similarities which certainly appeared were not his doing. Apparently he was not called to task for doing what he openly admitted to, that is creating an overall mythic framework meant to encompass the Indians of the Maine woods, the Great Lakes, the Southwest, and the Great Plains as though they were a single people, indistinguishable from one another. There are common elements among their tribal stories, just as there were legends recounted in the Kalevala that sounded like source material for the Song of Hiawatha, and Longfellow really did create a poetic masterpiece here; it’s just that we must read it with a culturally critical eye to the liberties he took to do so.

A note on the edition I read (which claims to be the only unabridged version in print): it was published by David R. Godine, and contains the illustrations by Frederic Remington that accompanied the original edition. They are not coordinated to the text at all, and mostly consist of marginal drawings of tools, utensils, and other articles of Indian origin; animals, plants and features of the landscape of the Southwest. They are exquisite. This edition also includes a glossary, notes (in which the page references are all incorrect), and an informative afterword by the publisher. If you want to read this epic, I strongly suggest you get your hands on this edition. show less

This book, spanning almost 200 pages, is one large poem. It is divided into chapters and memorializes myths from Native American tribes in mid-western North America. It is entertaining and, like much of Longfellow's poetry, highlights the unique nature of the United States. It portrays America as a land overflowing with natural resources and with a history that is also deep and speckled by strange names like Hiawatha.

No wonder Longfellow received commendation in Westminster Abbey despite not being British. His poetry is patterned with a meter that is obvious to any reader. It does not rhyme but in a chant, lulls the reader into a trance as she/he wonders what is coming next in Hiawatha's adventures.

Themes span the gamut of one's show more lifespan; birth, adventure, marriage, family, civic service, and death are all covered. In an age where Native Americans could be viewed as racially tinted, Longfellow's approach humanizes the bloodline. One sees Native Americans as a nexus of relationships that, too, long for peace and prosperity.

Unfortunately, history did not always listen to Longfellow. Native American culture is still not much appreciated today and is constrained to reservations. Reading this poem almost 150 years since its first publication, one cannot help but ponder whether Longfellow's idyllic vision meets the reality of modernity. At the very least, however, it gives us something to aspire to. show less

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the moon, Nokomis.
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha,
Rocked him in his linden cradle,
Bedded soft in moss and rushes,



Born circa 1450, Hiawatha was a Native American visionary. He is thought to be responsible for forming the Iroquois Confederacy, an alliance of five tribes that resulted in a peaceful co-existence for some period of time. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s tribute to him is a 200 page poem, and quite a feat of beauty, rhythm and imagery.

The above passage was part of a recitation I did when I was in fifth or sixth show more grade. I don’t believe I ever read the entire poem until now, though, so I did not really know what the story entailed or how much beauty there was in this homage to Native American culture. I suppose some might think it a cliche, the brave warrior, the mixture of nature and humanity, the gods in the winds, but I saw it much as reading the Greek myths. There is a quiet beauty to the words, the rhythmic cadence lulls like a lullaby and gives the same sense of contentment. I can imagine this as almost a memory of being rocked at your mother’s breast.

Thus it is our daughters leave us,
Those we love, and those who love us!
Just when they have learned to help us,
When we are old and lean upon them,
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers,
With his flute of reeds, a stranger
Wanders piping through the village,
Beckons to the fairest maiden,
And she follows where he leads her,
Leaving all things for the stranger!

In the end of the poem, the coming of the White Man is seen in such a positive, hopeful way, which history proves is a stretch. But then, I noticed that when the White Man arrives Hiawatha discovers it is time for him to go. Who could blame him? show less

This is weird: a modern retelling of ancient tales that is pretty old itself. It wasn't old in 1855, of course, when Mr. Longfellow published his version of Native American folk-tales. It's the epic poem of Hiawatha, the wise and powerful demigod who guides and protects his people and has many an adventure. According to the introduction, Longfellow has been accused of "cleaning up" the original tales to make them more palatable to a Victorian audience. That may be so (I can't tell you from personal experience whether that's true or not), but isn't that what folk tales are all about? You embellish the basic story to enchant your audience. Anyway, however much Mr. Longfellow may have monkeyed with the stories, he didn't spoil them. I show more found the book to be enjoyable, despite my tendency to start skimming through poetic writing.
--J. show less

To gain its full flavour, this is a poem to read aloud. I read it as a child, I read it to my son when I was pregnant with him, I read it to him when I fed him as a baby and for the last time I read it to him when he was old enough to enjoy it. He didn't. He hated it, so my favourite book was put on one side, but every now and again I like to read about the West Wind and Minehaha, Laughing Water.

I read this in high school (early 70's) and again maybe 30 years ago. I've read it for the last time and it's on the way out the door. I was a bit disappointed with my read this time and not sure why. I think that perhaps my two previous reads were abridged because I don't remember all the mythology at the beginning of this epic poem. (not a myth fan) "By the shores of gitchee gumee" ....gitche gumee is the Ojibwe name for Lake Superior, meaning "Great Sea". This line introduces the setting for the poem, where the character Nokomis lives in a wigwam by the lake. Hiawatha is conceived by the mortal Nokomis and the west wind, Mudjekeewis. This epic poem focuses on the life of Hiawatha, his adventures, and his love for the maiden show more Minnehaha. It ends with the arrival of colonial settlers. I found the meter more difficult to read this time. 144 pages show less

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

These are the lines that always come into my mind when I hear about Hiawatha. It was on my "really ought to one of these days" list. My county library has a monthly challenge on a topic of their choosing. This month the topic, to honor National Poetry Month, was to read a poetry book. At 146 pages, I decided it was time for Hiawatha. Most poetry books are less than 146 pages.

I chose to listen to it, getting the audio files from librivox.org, a site for free audio books of works in the public domain in the US. The tale gave several stories of a folklore style. It was a fairly short, enjoyable listen. I need to go back show more to reading classics that I have long ignored in favor of more current works. And probably less enduring. show less