The Song of Hiawatha

Introduction-Canto II

Reading Check

1. The Ojibways and the Dacotahs (Introduction)

2. The man who sings of Hiawatha’s adventures (Introduction)

3. Their own pipes (Canto I)

Short Answer

1. The god Manito uses a peace pipe in order to bring the tribes of the land together. Using the smoke as a signal, he announces that a man will come to unite the tribes and urges them to stop fighting. (Canto I)

2. Mudjekeewis is renamed as Kabeyun after he slays Mishe-Mokwa, which is “the Great Bear of the mountains.” Kabeyun means West Wind, and after he is renamed, he gives “Unto Wabun gave the East-Wind / Gave the South to Shawondasee / And the North-Wind, wild and cruel / To the fierce Kabibonokka.” (Canto II)

3. As Kabeyun means West Wind, the song explains the personalities of Kabeyun’s children. Wabun (i.e., East Wind) is young and handsome, and eventually falls in love with a maiden who he turns into a star. Kabibonokka (i.e., North Wind) is cruel and ruthless, challenging and beating a diver in a wrestling match. Shawondasee (i.e., South Wind) is lazy, and it is believed his love was stolen from him by Kabibonokka, only to realize that she was a dandelion. Each of these winds connects to their geographical environments (e.g., sunrise and the morning star in the east, the harsh cold of the north and the lazy warmth of the south). (Canto II)

Cantos III-VI

Reading Check

1. Their languages (Canto III)

2. A bow (Canto III)

3. “[A] living coal” (Canto IV)

4. “Must our lives depend on these things?” (Canto V)

5. Corn (Canto V)

Short Answer

1. Hiawatha was born to Kabeyun and Wenonah, the daughter of Nokomis. Although Nokomis urged her daughter to be cautious of the West Wind, Wenonah succumbed to his advances, bearing him a son when he left her and she died. Nokomis raised her grandson Hiawatha. (Canto III)

2. With his new bow from Iagoo, Hiawatha is tasked to kill a red deer. As he hunts for the deer, the different animals plead with him that he does not kill them; however, Hiawatha does not listen and is focused on killing the deer, which he does successfully, receiving praise from Nokomis and Iagoo upon his return. (Canto III)

2. As he grows up, Hiawatha desires to meet his father, Mudjekeewis, against the desires of his mother. He travels to see Mudjekeewis, and men talk until Hiawatha blames his father for the death of his mother, causing the men to fight. In the end, Mudjekeewis retreats from fighting, and offers Hiawatha the role of North-West wind if Hiawatha returns home to be with his people. (Canto IV)

3. On the fourth day of fasting, Hiawatha is visited by Mondamin, who informs Hiawatha that his prayers have been heard, and that Hiawatha will become stronger if the men wrestle. Following Manito’s words, Hiawatha beats Mondamin on the final day of fasting, burying him and tending to the soil until he becomes a crop of corn. (Canto V)

4. Chibiabos is a musician and Kwasind is a man of great strength. Although the men have very different upbringings, they are good friends of Hiawatha. Together, the three men speak about the ways that they can support the well-being of their respective tribes. (Canto VI)

Cantos VII-XII

Reading Check

1. Adjidaumo (Canto VIII)

2. “Take your bow, O Hiawatha / Take your arrows, jasper-headed / Take your war-club, Puggawaugun / And your mittens, Minjekahwun / And your birch-canoe for sailing / And the oil of Mishe-Nahma.” (Canto IX)

3. “Then began the greatest battle / That the sun had ever looked on / That the war-birds ever witnessed.” (Canto IX)

4. That she is from a different tribe (Canto X)

5. The “Beggar’s Dance” (Canto XI)

6. Birds (Canto XII)

Short Answer

1. Speaking to his natural environment, Hiawatha respectfully requests the items needed to make the canoe. He does not use paddles, “[f]or his thoughts as paddles served him / And his wishes served to guide him.” He asks his friend Kwasind to use his strength and clear the Taquamenaw river for him and future generations. (Canto VII)

2. Nahma is the king of the fishes that Hiawatha wants to catch. After resisting Nahma’s ploys, he calls to Nahma; however, Nahma eats him whole. Hiawatha fights his heart and escapes from his insides, ultimately defeating the king. (Canto VIII)

3. Nokomis asks Hiawatha to slay Pearl-Father because he is the magician who killed her father, and because he is spreading illness amongst the people. Hiawatha immediately takes up his arms to fight Pearl-Feather, fearlessly challenging him to a battle that continues for an entire day. (Canto IX)

4. Tired and weary from battle, Hiawatha only has three arrows left to defend himself against the mighty Pearl-Feather; however, a woodpecker informs him that he should aim at Pearl-Feather’s weak spot on his head. This piece of advice helps Hiawatha slay the magician, and he adds the bird’s blood-stained feathers to his pipe-stem out of gratitude. (Canto IX)

5. Despite his mother’s urgings to marry someone from within the Ojibway tribe, Hiawatha decides to ask Minnehaha to marry him. He travels to the Dacotah’s land and speaks directly to Minnehaha’s father to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage, while Minnehaha looks silently on the entirety of the conversation. She first speaks when she agrees to marry Hiawatha. (Canto X)

6. Iagoo’s story tells of the love between the old Osseo and the young Oweenee. In the story, Osseo is transformed from old to young, while his ugliness transforms the young Oweenee into an old woman. Oweenee’s sisters continue to tease her, and in the end, they are transformed in birds. (Canto XII)

Cantos XIII-XVII

Reading Check

1. To bless them (Canto XIII)

2. As a serpent (Canto XIV)

3. The medicine dance (Canto XV)

4. “Ruler in the Land of Spirits” (Canto XV)

5. He kills him. (Canto XVI)

Short Answer

1. Kahgahgee is the king of the ravens, who overhears Hiawatha asking Minnehaha to bless the cornfields. He decides to try and eat the corn anyways with his ravens; however, Hiawatha is prepared and kills all the ravens except for the king as a warning. (Canto XIII)

2. In the woods, Hiawatha reflects on his community and determines that there must be methods to record and separate the families through pictures. He then introduces “picture-writing” and uses symbols as unique “totems” in the community, allowing history and wisdom to be passed onto future generations outside of one’s memory. (Canto XIV)

3. Evil spirits drown Chibiabos because they are jealous of his friendship with Hiawatha. Hiawatha grieves intensely for several weeks; however, after the medicine men bring a potion to help Hiawatha to overcome his sorrow, Hiawatha decides to spread the knowledge of similar healing potions to surrounding tribes. (Canto XV)

4. In the prior section, Pau-Puk-Keewis is introduced as the well-known man who performs the dance at the wedding; however, in this set of Cantos, Pau-Puk-Keewis is reintroduced as a man who is irritated with Iagoo and Hiawatha. As a result, he introduces a gambling game to the community to steal their fine goods, kills the king of the ravens, and destroys Hiawatha’s house. (Canto XVI)

5. After his mischievous and cruel actions, Pau-Puk-Keewis tries to escape Hiawatha by shifting into many forms, first as a beaver, then as a brant (i.e., goose), and finally as a snake. When he returns to his own form, Hiawatha is finally able to defeat him. Hiawatha decides to make Pau-Puk-Keewis’s spirit into “Keneu, the great war-eagle, Chief of all the fowls with feathers, Chief of Hiawatha’s chickens.” (Canto XVII)

Cantos XVIII-XXII

Reading Check

1. “[T]he seed-cone of the pine-tree” and “the blue cone of the fir-tree” (Canto XVIII)

2. The peace pipe (Canto XXI)

3. A cross (Canto XXII)

Short Answer

1. With the loss of his two best friends, Chibiabos and Kwasind, Hiawatha continues to live with his mother and wife. One day, they are greeted by guests who are really ghosts from the world of the dead. They warn him about the lamentations that the dead hear, foreshadowing difficult times for him ahead. (Canto XIX) 

2. Minnehaha is visited by the guests of Famine and Fever, who cause Minnehaha to fall ill. She dies shortly after. Hiawatha tries in vain to search for food for his wife; however, he is too late and promises to “follow” her soon. (Canto XX)

3. Similar to Hiawatha’s visions, the “white men” come in a canoe with a priest who teaches Hiawatha and his community about Christianity. Hiawatha welcomes them, and the community members say they will reflect upon the stories told to them. After their arrival, Hiawatha says that he must go. (Canto XXII)