Hiawatha
By: Oliver Thomas Spedding
Tags: Americans, Indigenous, Indigenous Americans, American Indians, American History

The effect of Hiawatha’s Grand League on British history in America was immense.

By

Oliver T. Spedding

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “Hiawatha” created a great deal of confusion with regard to the Iroquois tribe’s leader and hero, Hiawatha.

This was because Longfellow confused Hiawatha, a wholly historical figure, with the entirely mythical character Manabozho or Michabo, the name that he originally intended to use as the title for his poem.

Manabozho, according to tradition, was a demi-god of the Ojibwas tribe while Hiawatha has been proven with tolerable accuracy to be a real chief of Iroquois stock, belonging to either the Onondaga or Mohawk tribes.

Myth is the strand that weaves itself into the fabric of all historical tales and makes them more favorable to the reader.

Hiawatha or Hai-en-Wat-ha (He makes rivers) was responsible for the amalgamation of the Five Nations of the Iroquois into a Grand League.

This feat was of national significance as it fundamentally affected the fortunes of the European settlers when they campaigned for American independence.

As this Grand League was formed in the sixteenth century it confirms that Hiawatha lived during this time.

The Iroquois tribe was also known as the “Long House People” and lived at the time in the western part of what is today New York State.

They were at a far more advanced stage culturally than most of the other indigenous tribes of America.

They cultivated maize and tobacco and were skilled in diplomacy and the ways of war.

THE GRAND LEAGUE

The Grand League or “Kayanerenh Kowa” that chief Hiawatha created greatly strengthened the tribe and they were regarded as the most important of the North American tribes of the time.

The connection between the Iroquois and Huron tribes is undisputed.

The Iroquois tribe consisted of two divisions; the Sinnekes and the Canienges.

These two divisions were further made up of the Onondagas, the Cayugas and the Senecas and the Mohawks and the Oneidas tribes and these five groups formed the Five Nations or Grand League.

The Sinnekes tribe established themselves in the western part of what is now New York State.

The Canienges settled on the St. Lawrence around what is today Montreal where they lived in harmony with their Algonquin neighbors.

However in the mid-sixteenth century a dispute arose between the Caniengas and the Algonquins who were supported by the Hurons.

The Caniengas were driven away until they reached the Mohawk River and settled alongside the Onondagas tribe.

HIAWATHA

Shortly after this, these two tribes went to war with each other; the Onondagas headed by the great chief Atotarho, well known for his bloody exploits.

Among Atatarho’s warriors was the liberal Hiawatha who was horrified at the suffering that Atotarho’s destructive campaigns caused.

Hiawatha began shaping a project for peace in which he saw a federation that would preserve peace among his people.

Unfortunately Atotarho rejected Hiawatha’s proposals and forced him to flee.

He eventually settled among the Mohawks who adopted him and supported his plans for a confederation.

The Mohawks chief Dekanewidah agreed to work with Hiawatha and they dispatched messengers to the Oneidas tribe.

Negotiations were renewed and a treaty was signed, inaugurating the Grand League.

Atotarho refused to join the confederation but when the Cayugas tribe joined the League, messages were sent to Atotarho proposing that he should take up the leadership of the Grand League.

Atotarho accepted the proposal and was instrumental in getting the Senecas to join the League.

THE FIVE NATIONS

With the Five Nations now a reality, they assembled on the shores of the Salt Lake where a number of chiefs were chosen from each tribe according to their numerical status.

The Onondagas had the most representatives; fourteen.

The League became extremely powerful and defeated their enemy the Hurons and also subdued almost all the other tribes such as the Micmacs, Mohicans, Pawnees, Algonquins and Cherokees.

The effect of the League on British history was immense.

When the French arrived in the New World early in the seventeenth century they interfered in the affairs of the Huron tribe resulting in a hatred for the French that favored the British and allowed them to succeed in the long struggle between the European nations in America.

Without the presence of the Grand League it is unlikely that a British victory would have materialized.

A strong bond of brotherhood existed between the Five Nations and Hiawatha’s dream of peace was realized.

Whether he intended to continue with his vision of universal affiliation is open to speculation but it is quite possible that he envisioned a Grand league that embraced all the nations on earth.

His work in consolidating the five tribes that he achieved was a magnificent accomplishment considering the times and he could easily have fitted the image of the hero depicted in Longfellow’s poem.

Many myths have surfaced around the revered name of Hiawatha but this Iroquois statesman was a real man, a bright star in the dark sky of savagery and ignorance.

Information source: MYTHS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS by Lewis Spence (1874–1955) ISBN 0–517–10158–0 Published by Gramercy Books, New Jersey.

Photograph — Photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash