What This Collection Is
Drawing on Ojibway and Iroquois legends compiled by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft and his wife Jane Johnston, this epic tracks the life of Hiawatha from his grandmother Nokomis’s wigwam to his final departure. The narrative covers a series of foundational cultural feats: inventing picture-writing, taming the winds, and securing the gift of corn through a wrestling match with a divine visitor. Alongside his friends Kwasind the strongman and Chibiabos the musician, Hiawatha battles monsters and internal rivals like the shapeshifting gambler Pau-Puk-Keewis. The work concludes with the arrival of European ships, framing Hiawatha’s exit as a hand-off to a new era.
Figures & speakers
- Hiawatha
The central hero, prophet, and inventor of picture-writing.
- Nokomis
Hiawatha’s grandmother who raised him by the Big-Sea-Water.
- Iagoo
A traveler and boaster whose name became a synonym for storytelling.
- Pau-Puk-Keewis
A handsome, troublesome gambler who shifts shapes to escape capture.
What it's really about
- Cultural Synthesis
- Merging disparate tribal legends into a singular American epic.
- Humanity vs. Nature
- Surviving famine and taming the wild through divine intervention.
Why it's memorable
- Hiawatha wrestling the green-tressed Mondamin until the spirit dies to become maize.
- Pau-Puk-Keewis demanding to be made ten times larger than any other beaver.
Where it lands
A comprehensive vocabulary list defines the Ojibway terms for everything from a grasshopper to the hereafter.
For your book club
- The role of Jane Johnston in authenticating the folklore used in the poem.
- How the poem's specific rhythmic meter influenced 19th-century American perceptions of indigenous life.