Evening star., 1934-05-06
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Hiawatha wac a real man

Hiawatha was real man.
Although Longfellow mixed him up
with various purely NEUROLOGICAL
characters. intensive study of the ira
ditions Of the Iroquois Indians reveals
him as an actual historic figure who
lived some time between the years
1850 and 1900 in Northern New York
State, according to J. N. B. Hewitt,
Smithsonian Institution ethnologist,
who has made lifetime study of the
institutions and history of the Six
Nations.
Hiawatha appears from the tradi-
ton, Mr.. Hewitt says, to have been a
man whose character was effected by
various personal misfortunes to the
point where his mind was ready to
receive the new religion of human
brotherhood preached by the great
Iroquois redeemer. Dekanawida. He
became Dekanawida S first disciple
and most active associate in estab-
fishing the League of the Iroquois.
This was the tangible embodiment of
the great lawgiver's advanced philos-
ophy of human relations, and was
one of the precedents for the feder-
alton Of states adopted as the Ameri-
can form Of government.
Wife and Children
Murdered by Brother.
Cleared of legendry as much as pos
sible, the story of Hiawatha as gath
cred by Mr.. Hewitt is about as follows
He was a brother of Dehadohaho,
one of the chiefs Of the Onondega
tribe, and apparently a rather vicious
character who hated him and finally
murdered his wife and children The
heart t-broken Hiawatha-still q canni-
bal according to the tribal custom
went forth from his ruined home into
the forests. an exile. He sought SYM
pathy from various other Iroquois
tribes and finally found a refuge
among the Mohawks. where he again
married and became the father of a
second family.
Apparently he prospered, according
to the standards Of his time and
people. But the sorrow caused by his
misfortunes remained heavy upon him
and he brooded upon the great mys-
teries Of life and death without find
ing any satisfactory answer But
while the moody Hiawatha-still a
feeder upon human flesh-aSked un-
answered questions of the stars and
rocks. there was another wanderer in
the wilderness who. to his own salts
faction. had answered them.
His answers were arrived at without
aid. In the depths of the New York
and Ontario forest. he never knew
of the white men. who already were
penetrating the continent far to the
southwark This man was Deka-
nawida. perhaps one of the supreme
religious figures in history.
Reborn as He Prepares
Cannibal Feast.
Dekanawida one day saw a man
carrying home a human body. He
followed him to his lodge and looked
down the smokehole while the canni-
bal prepared a pot of boiling water.
Hiawatha saw a human face re-
flected in the boiling water he had
prepared to cook the body of his VIC
tim. 1t must have been a strange,
gentle face with a remarkable faScina-
ton for those who looked upon it,
judging from the influence Dekana-
vida was able to exert on his lis
tenerS.
The sight effected the disconsolate
Hiawatha like an apocalypic vision.
He rushed forth into the wilderness
soul reborn.
Dekanawida followed him. The two
kindred spirits sat down and talked
together. The two Indians, sitting
on a log. worked out together the
preliminary plans for one of the most
idealiStic forms of government the
world has known. Dekanawida was
the thinker, supplying most Of the
basic ideas. Hiawatha probably was
more practical man with a better
knowledge of Indian politics.
Gospel of Brotherhood
Slowly Accepted.
Hiawatha's mind was ripe for the
revelation.
1t was extremely radical for the