The Myth of Hiawatha, and Other Oral Legends, Mythologic and Allegoric, of the North American India | Page 6

is carried forward in the changing scenes of war and peace. Kindness
never fails to soften and meliorate his feelings, and harshness, injury,
and contempt to harden and blunt them. Above all, it is shown that, in
the recesses of the forest, he devotes a portion of his time to domestic
and social enjoyment, in which the leading feature is the relation of
traditionary legends and tales. Heroes and heroines, giants and dwarfs,
spirits, Monetos or local gods, demons, and deities pass in review. It is
chiefly by their misadventures and violations of the Indian theories,
that the laugh is sought to be raised. The dramatis personæ are true
transcripts of Indian life; they never rise above it, or express a
sentiment or opinion which is not true to Indian society; nor do they
employ words which are not known to their vocabulary. It is in these
legends that we obtain their true views of life and death, their religion,
their theory of the state of the dead, their mythology, their cosmogony,
their notions of astrology, and often of their biography and history--for
the boundaries between history and fiction are vaguely defined. These
stories are often told, in seasons of great severity in the depth of the
winter, to an eagerly listening group, to while away the hour, and divert
attention from the pressing claims of hunger. Under such circumstances
to dole away time which has no value to him, and to cheat hunger and
want, is esteemed a trait of philosophy. If there is a morsel to eat in the
lodge, it is given to the children. The women imitate this stoicism and

devotion of the men. Not a tone in the narration tells of dismay in their
domestic circumstances, not an eye acknowledges the influence of grief.
Tell me whether the dignity of this position is not worthy of
remembrance. The man, it may be, shall pass away from the earth, but
these tributes to the best feelings of the heart will remain, while these
simple tales and legendary creations constitute a new point of character
by which he should be judged. They are, at least, calculated to modify
our views of the man, who is not always a savage, not always a fiend.
[5] Gross.

HIAWATHA;
OR,
MANABOZHO.
The myth of the Indians of a remarkable personage, who is called
Manabozho by the Algonquins, and Hiawatha by the Iroquois, who was
the instructor of the tribes in arts and knowledge, was first related to me
in 1822, by the Chippewas of Lake Superior. He is regarded as the
messenger of the Great Spirit, sent down to them in the character of a
wise man, and a prophet. But he comes clothed with all the attributes of
humanity, as well as the power of performing miraculous deeds. He
adapts himself perfectly to their manners, and customs, and ideas. He is
brought up from a child among them. He is made to learn their mode of
life. He takes a wife, builds a lodge, hunts and fishes like the rest of
them, sings his war songs and medicine songs, goes to war, has his
triumphs, has his friends and foes, suffers, wants, hungers, is in dread
or joy--and, in fine, undergoes all the vicissitudes of his fellows. His
miraculous gifts and powers are always adapted to his situation. When
he is swallowed by a great fish, with his canoe, he escapes by the
exertion of these powers, but always, as much as possible, in
accordance with Indian maxims and means. He is provided with a
magic canoe, which goes where it is bid; yet, in his fight with the great
wampum prince, he is counselled by a woodpecker to know where the

vulnerable point of his antagonist lies. He rids the earth of monsters
and giants, and clears away windfalls, and obstructions to the
navigation of streams. But he does not do these feats by miracles; he
employs strong men to help him. When he means to destroy the great
serpents, he changes himself into an old tree, and stands on the beach
till they come out of the water to bask in the sun. Whatever man could
do, in strength or wisdom, he could do. But he never does things above
the comprehension or belief of his people; and whatever else he is, he is
always true to the character of an Indian.
This myth is one of the most general in the Indian country. It is the
prime legend of their mythology. He is talked of in every winter
lodge--for the winter season is the only time devoted to such narrations.
The moment the leaves come out, stories cease in the lodge. The
revival of spring in the botanical world opens, as it were, so many eyes
and