Haudenosaunee TraditionHero
Hiawatha
Also known as Aiionwatha, Hayenwatha, Ayonwentah
An Onondaga man who, grieving the loss of his daughters, strung the first shell strings of condolence and became the Peacemaker's partner and spokesman in founding the Great Law of Peace. Not the character of Longfellow's poem, which borrowed only his name.
About Hiawatha
Not Longfellow's Hiawatha
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha (1855) took the name from Iroquois tradition but attached it to stories drawn largely from Ojibwe material collected by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. The historical and traditional Hiawatha of the Haudenosaunee is a different figure, and the Confederacy's flag, the Hiawatha Belt, is named for him.
Grief
In the tradition recorded by Parker in 1916 and retold by the Onondaga Nation, Hiawatha is an Onondaga man whose daughters die, one after another, through the malice of Tadodaho. Overwhelmed with grief, he leaves his people and wanders. He gathers shells, strings them, and says that if he found anyone burdened with grief as he was, he would take these strings and console them with words.
Condolence
The Peacemaker finds him and does exactly that, using the strings to wipe away his tears, clear his ears, and clear his throat so that he can see, hear, and speak again. Those words became the Condolence, still used when a chief dies and a new one is raised. Restored, Hiawatha becomes the Peacemaker's partner, speaking the message the Peacemaker brings, and the two carry it to the nations and to Tadodaho himself.
On parentage: A mortal Onondaga man (some tellings make him Mohawk by adoption).
Key deeds
- Strung the first shell strings to carry words of condolence
- Was condoled by the Peacemaker and restored from grief
- Spoke the Peacemaker's message to the five nations
- Helped persuade Tadodaho to accept the Great Law
Fate
Hiawatha became one of the founding chiefs of the Confederacy, and his title is among the fifty held by chiefs today; the Hiawatha Belt, the Confederacy's emblem, carries his name.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Arthur C. Parker, The Constitution of the Five Nations, or The Iroquois Book of the Great Law ("The Dekanawida Legend")
- Horatio Hale, The Iroquois Book of Rites
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
Hero legends were retold for centuries, and the sources often disagree on parentage, deeds and death. This entry follows the best-known versions and notes the main alternatives.