Hiawatha

Hiawatha ("the seeker of the wampum belt " or "the one who gets up early", in the language of the Onondaga and Mohawk also Ayonwatha , Ayenwatha , Aiionwatha , or Haiëñ'wa'tha ) is the name of a legendary or mythical sachem who is co-founder and Leader of the Iroquois Federation is said to have lived at the time of the establishment of this Federation.

Most archaeologists and anthropologists assume that the Iroquois League of the Five Nations was founded between 1450 and 1600 from the tribes Mohawk , Onondaga , Oneida , Cayuga and Seneca , with the inclusion of the Tuscarora in 1722 eventually becoming the League of Six Nations .

Hiawatha was according to legend, one of the successors of the Great Peacemaker ( English Great Peacemaker , in Mohawk : Skennenrahawi [skʌ.nʌ.ɾahawi], now also under his own name as " Deganawida / Dekanawida known," this name is, however, by some Iroquois out of respect avoided and only pronounced on special occasions), a prophet and spiritual leader of the Huron tribe , who prophesied the unification of all Iroquois because they had common ancestors and similar languages.

The stories about Hiawatha differ according to their tribal affiliation. He is said to have been either a chief of the Onondaga or the Mohawk (formerly called Canienga). With their help and with the help of his rhetoric, Hiawatha managed to implement his idea. Both Hiawatha and the equally highly respected chief Deganawida were later bestowed spiritual veneration, so that they are described by science as mythical cultural heroes .

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow dedicated the epic The Song of Hiawatha to him in 1855 . Mike Oldfield used parts of the Hiawatha poem for his album Incantations in 1978 . The composition of Antonín Dvořák's 9th Symphony also plays a major role . Dvorak was inspired by Hiawatha's type of music. The performance artist Laurie Anderson devoted chief Hiawatha with her song The Song of Hiawatha , a tribute .

Individual evidence

^ William Bright: Native American Place Names of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2004, ISBN 0-8061-3576-X , p. 166.
^ Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy
↑ History of the Iroquois (English).
↑ Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions. Volume 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 , pp. 108-109.

personal data
SURNAME	Hiawatha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Indian chief, initiator of the Iroquois Federation
DATE OF BIRTH	15th century or 16th century
DATE OF DEATH	between 15th century and 17th century

[1] William Bright: Native American Place Names of the United States. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman 2004, ISBN 0-8061-3576-X , p. 166.

[2] Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy

[3] History of the Iroquois (English).

[4] Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions. Volume 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 , pp. 108-109.