Minnesota weekly times., 1856-11-22
HIAWATKA.

hearts to thank him again"
LAKEWOOD, M. T., Nov. 4, 1856.
My DEAR TIMEs-Not until these November
evenings have had an opportunity of hearing the
whole of the story of Hiawatha. And as my in
feature Of the book, viz; its correspondence with
Dakota customs, now may be as fitting time to
speak of it, an earlier period.
Hiawatha as poem-Hiawatha as work of
art, has employed other pens. BE mine the task
to look at it as an exposition of Indian legends.
With the book we are very much charmed. 1t
has lullaby sound in it that is very pleasant, and
often tends to lead one to the land of dreams. But
for the most part,it is ntrnsically interesting,
that one has no difficulty in keeping awake, not
wthstanding the soothing influence of the rythm.
1t has been objected to some parts of the Bible
History that they are too full of hard names. By
most English readers should think this object
ion would be made against Hiawatha. Mr.. Long
fellow has preserved the Indian names, not only
of his persons, but also of his birds and beasts
| and fishes. 10 me this is not blemish. am
glad to find so good an Algonquin vocabulary.-
Probably many others are like-minded. But pre-
| tried by having to pronounce so many jaw-break-
ing words. Very few of these are Dakota Wi
mona and Minnehaha, among the persons, are
Unktahee, the god Of sOater, appear to be the
only ones. Kahgahgee looks as if it might be for
Kahngee, the Dakota name for raven. So also
Kuntasoo, plumb stones, may have been token
from the language of Minnehaha. But the great
mass of such names are rrofessedly Ojibwa.
Passing over the earlier parts of our hero's
history, as narrated in the book, by and by, the
story tells US,
Thus departed Hiawatha
To the land of the Dakotas,
To the land Of handsome women.'
Objective beauty may be said to be dependent
upon its subjective image in other words, beauty
in an external object depends upon the taste, or
internal sense of beauty in the beholder. This
may account for the fact that there can be no
universal standard of beauty. Every one has
his own taste. And it is we'll it is so. If the
sense of the beautiful were the same in all, We
may suppose that many more difficulties, of a
certain kind, would occur among men, than do
now. But I" to the land of handsome women.''
We have lived among the Dakotas for nearly
twenty years, and did not know before that we
were living in Z" the land Of handsome women.''
| And even now we can hardly believe it. So
much does our ideal of beauty differ. There are
undoubtedly many who are good-looking among
the Dakota young women. But generally there
is too much vacancy-too great lack of intell-
gence indicated, to consist with beauty. If Da-
kota girls generally were SO good natured, so
nho bo.
generous, as the noble Minnehaha, then indeed
might this be the land of handsome women. But
l fear she was ono among thousand, and could
not be regarded as fair specimen of the whole.
When we read the chapter on "Hiawatha's
fishing" and come to the place where he was swa-
lowed up, canoe and all, by the sturgeon, one of
our little girls said, That sounds like the story
of JONAH" And such as are desirous of finding
evidences for the Hebrew origin of our Indians,
may with good deal of plausbility regard this
legend of Hiawatha as in some way connected
with that of the son of Amttai. Be this as it
may, it is much more difficult to believe the new
version of Hiawatha with his boat crosswise in
the belly of 6" the king of fshes," and delivered
by sea-gulls, than the old Bible story of Jonah
in the whales belly.
Mr.. Longfellow has probably never visited
Minnesota, and consequently, it is not strangs
that, in his description of the country about the
falls of Minnehaha, he should invest it with more
forest than belongs to it.
''suddenIy from the woodlands,
Hiawatha stood before them.'
The woodIands might be difficult to find near
the falls of Minnehaha. But aside from this,
Hiawatha's wooing is an example perfect, in it's
kind, and we'll worthy of imitation in more civil
lized circles. There is a straight -forwardness
about it-a coming to the point Immediately,
which really delights one.
The chapter on &c Blessing the corn6elds," ap-
pears to me to be defective, and may say, the
most exceptionable. Among the Dakotas, before
the corn is fit to roast, the blackbirds commence
their ravages. The women construct their scaf-
folds in the middle of the corn patches, and all
day long there they are, by all manner of noises,
soaring away the blackbrds. This affords rare
opportunity for the young men to WOO the maid
ems. Near these scaffolds fires are kindled, and
corn boiled or roasted by the occupants and
visitors. When the corn has hardened sufficiently,
the women begin to pull and husk it. In husking,
a part of the inside leaves are left attached to
the ear. When pile Of corn is thus prepared,
they commence braiding it in strings from eight
to ten feet long. These strings are hung up on
poles around the tent or bark house, for the pur-
pose of drying. When the field is all gathered
in, and the corn hes become sufficiently dry to
she'll easily, tent is constructed into threshirg
floor, forty or fifty strings thrown on together,
and beaten off with stick. The corn is then
put up in bags Of skin or cloth, which are buried
in caches. Their harvest is thus gathered in.
The Ojibwa method of harvesting corn mist be
very similar to the Dakota. Like circumstances
will produce similar customs. But Mr.. Long
fellows description much more resembles white
mans huskng. Indeed the huskings common in
the western parts of the United States twenty five
years ago, are very well described in the latter
part of this chapter.
Hiawatha's was a most Lospitable wigwam
One cannot imagine stranger guests treated with
more kindness and more consideration than they
were there. Even those unceremonious, imperti-
nent, and exceedingly rude visitors, the ghosts,
were not repulsed by look or gesture. That YVES
the perfection of hospitality and forbearance.
But are Indians generally SO hospitAble5 trow
not. That is q most beautiful picture. Old
Nokomis, Hiawatha, and Minnehaha, see their
food 6lched away by the ever hungry strangers,
and say nothing. 1t is all aight But the pict~se