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42-526: Although Hiawatha was a real person, he was mostly known through his legend. The events in the legend have been dated to the middle 1100s through the occurrence of an eclipse coincident with the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy. This material and quotations are taken from the Mohawk version of the legend, as related by the prominent chief Seth Newhouse (Dayodekane). For an Onondaga version of

84-583: A Huron prophet and spiritual leader, proposed the unification of the Iroquois peoples who shared common ancestry and similar languages, but he suffered from a severe speech impediment which hindered him from spreading his proposal. Hiawatha was a skilled orator, and he was instrumental in persuading the Five Nations to accept the Great Peacemaker's vision and band together to become members of

126-434: A book The Legends of the Iroquois in 1902 based on found notes he was given purporting to be written from comments of Cornplanter reportedly to an employee of the surveyor company Holland Land Company , perhaps John Adlum , known friend of Cornplanter. It is the primary source of the mention of a solar eclipse. Another Seneca version was given by Deloe B. Kittle to Parker and was published in 1923. The Tuscarora joined

168-532: A book by Paul A. W. Wallace in 1948, and a second version published in 1910 by Arthur C. Parker . Fenton discusses Newhouse' contributions in a paper in 1949. Wallace also published a separate book without stating his source in 1946 called The Iroquois book of Life - White Roots of Peace , which was later revised and extended with endorsements by Iroqouis chiefs and Iroquoian historian John Mohawk in 1986 and 1994. Oneida versions have been noted in various places. One from New York, has been echoed/summarized by

210-597: A bundle of arrows. However, eagles and bundles of arrows are common imagery in European heraldry, which is the more likely influence. Their thesis argues the U.S. constitution was the synthesis of various forms of political organization familiar to the founders, including the Iroquois Confederation. Franklin's Albany Plan is also believed to have been influenced by his understanding of Iroquois government. John Rutledge of South Carolina , delegate to

252-811: A different symbol, is the Onondaga, also known as the Keepers of the Central Fire. Next is the Oneida. Finally, shown farthest to the right is the Mohawk, the Keepers of the Eastern Door. The white line connecting all of the symbols for each tribe together represents the unity of the Iroquois. It also represents the Great Law of Peace and the Iroquois Confederacy as a whole. The wampum belt consists of black or purplish and white beads made of shells. Found in

294-589: A hero of the same name but has no relationship to the historical Hiawatha. The poem has little to do with the actual Hiawatha; Longfellow most likely took the name of Hiawatha and applied it to the Ojibway demigod Manabozho . Longfellow tells the story of a legendary heroic Native man starting from his birth and ending on his ascension to the clouds. It talks of many battles, losses, and moral lessons. Longfellow, along with another writer, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft , hoped to combine stories of Native Americans and create

336-682: A manuscript version of the Great Law of Peace , which has been analyzed since, particularly for its faithfulness to the original. Newhouse was born on 27 January 1842 to an Onondaga mother and Mohawk father on the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario , Canada. He was educated at the Mohawk Institute Residential School and learned to speak English, Onondaga, and Mohawk. Newhouse grew up as

378-651: A member of the Plymouth Brethren . Newhouse followed the Longhouse Religion as an adult and managed a farm near the Grand River that his father had owned. By the 1870s he had become a prominent member of the Iroquois confederacy and was a member of the tribe's council in 1875 and 1883-1883. Newhouse primarily focused on learning and preserving the traditional knowledge of the Iroquois. In

420-599: A narrative she includes in the Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee published in 2000. An untranslated version has been posted by the Smithsonian Institution. Another is mentioned being presented to Michael Foster. There are several Mohawk versions that made it into print and several of those were printed more than once. Horatio Hale published one in 1883 he traced somewhat earlier which

462-481: A sense of pride and remembrance for the Native Americans during the 1820s and later. Juvenile audience Seth Newhouse Seth Newhouse ( Dayodekane ; 27 January 1842 – 11 June 1921) was a leader of the Iroquois confederacy . He advocated for their self-government in the Grand River region of Ontario and worked to record and preserve traditions of the people. In 1885 he arranged

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504-574: A sign of healing and purity. Hiawatha used these shells to create unity. The Iroquois Nation believes that the Peacemaker was the one who gifted them the first wampum belt, which later was titled the Hiawatha Belt. Today the image of the Hiawatha Belt is used on the Flag of the Iroquois Confederacy . The 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow tells the story of

546-499: A spokesperson. Hiawatha was willing to speak on behalf of Dekanawidah because violence had been developing throughout the Iroquois Territory. During these times of chaos, a leader named Tadodaho, who had despised the idea of peace, targeted and killed Hiawatha's wife and daughters. Thereafter, Hiawatha became the Peacemaker's speaker, so he could stop the violence. Dewanawidah and Hiawatha eventually obtained peace throughout

588-523: Is a representative of the Mohawk, and Tadodaho of the Onondaga. The Hiawatha Belt is a wampum belt that symbolizes peace between the original five nations of the Iroquois. The belt depicts the nations in a specific order from left to right. The Seneca are furthest to the left, representing their position as Keepers of the Western Door. Next is the Cayuga, and in the center of the belt, depicted with

630-474: Is presented as part of a narrative noting laws and ceremonies to be performed at prescribed times. The laws, called a constitution , are divided into 117 articles. The united Iroquois nations are symbolized by an eastern white pine tree, called the Tree of Peace . Each nation or tribe plays a delineated role in the conduct of government. The exact date of the events is not known, but it is thought to date back to

672-567: The Great Peacemaker , and his spokesman Hiawatha . The original five member nations ratified this constitution near modern-day Victor, New York , with the sixth nation (the Tuscarora ) being added in 1722. The laws were first recorded and transmitted by means of wampum , shell-bead belts that encoded the message in a sequence of pictograms. In the 19th century it was translated into English and other languages. The Great Law of Peace

714-605: The Haudenosaunee (the "Six Nations," comprising the Mohawk , Onondaga , Oneida , Cayuga , Seneca , and Tuscarora peoples) the Great Law of Peace ( Mohawk : Kaianere’kó:wa ), also known as Gayanashagowa , is the oral constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy . The law was represented by symbols on wampum belts which functioned as mnemonic devices for storytellers, conceived by Dekanawidah, known as

756-456: The U.S. Constitution . They contend that the federal structure of the U.S. constitution was influenced by the living example of the Iroquois confederation, as were notions of individual liberty and the separation of powers. Grinde, Bruce Johansen and others also identify Native American symbols and imagery that were adopted by the nascent United States, including the American bald eagle and

798-451: The smoke hole , where there was a large kettle of water for cooking a meal of human flesh. When Hiawatha came home, he looked into the water and saw Dekanawidah's face reflected back to him, which he thought was his own. "In that face he was aware of a beauty, a wisdom and strength, which at first filled him with astonishment and then with shame, for it was not the face of one who killed and ate his fellow men." Dekanawidah came down, sat across

840-695: The Constitutional Convention, read excerpts of various Iroquois Treaties to the drafting committee In October 1988, the U.S. Congress passed Concurrent Resolution 331 to recognize the influence of the Iroquois Constitution upon the American Constitution and Bill of Rights. The extent of the influence of Six Nations law on the U.S. Constitution is disputed by other scholars. Haudenosaunee historian Elisabeth J. Tooker has pointed to several differences between

882-639: The Iroquois Confederacy in 1722. There is a version of the Great Law of Peace attributed by Wallace "Mad Bear" Anderson of the Tuscarora published in 1987. However, there is a claim this was borrowed. Some historians, including Donald Grinde , have claimed that the democratic ideals of the Kaianere’kó:wa provided a significant inspiration to Benjamin Franklin , James Madison and other framers of

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924-465: The Iroquois by promising Tadodaho that Onondaga would become the capital of the Grand Council, the main governing body of the Iroquois. Hiawatha and Dekanawidah created the Great Law of Peace , recorded in wampum belts, to solidify the bond between the original five nations of the Iroquois. Among the names of the fifty traditional Hoyenah ( sachems ) of the Haudenosaunee, Hiawatha (among others)

966-541: The Iroquois confederacy. The Tuscarora joined the Confederacy in 1722 to become the Sixth Nation. Little else is known of Hiawatha. The reason and time of his death is unknown; however, his legacy is still passed on from generation to generation through oral stories, songs, and books. Within the Iroquois Confederacy , which originally included five tribes (Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca), Hiawatha

1008-599: The Milwaukee Public Museum. Another has been published by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin in two sections. Another account is also reported. Parts of Horatio Hale's work The Iroquois Book of Rites is said to have Onondaga sources. J. N. B. Hewitt recorded Chief John Buck and included his presentation in 1892. John Arthur Gibson shared several versions that have gathered notable awareness among scholars like Fenton and others. His first version

1050-508: The Northeast of America, quahog clam shells are often used for the black and sometimes the white beads of these belts. Most often, the Iroquois used various types of whelk shells for the white beads. Wampum figures in the story of Hiawatha. When Hiawatha was full of grief because his daughters were murdered, the Great Peacemaker gifted Hiawatha with the whelk shells and told him to put them on his eyes and ears and throat. These shells were

1092-515: The fire from him, and passed on to him the Great Law of Peace. Hiawatha accepted the message, and agreed to stay and work with his own people while Dekanawidah went on to pass the message to other nations. The principal chief of the Onondaga at that time was a cruel tyrant called Tadodaho , or Atotarho. Tadodaho is described as twisted in both body and mind. "His hair was filled with living snakes. Snakes' eyes looked out from his finger ends." Dekanawidah charged Hiawatha with converting Tadodaho—to "comb

1134-457: The late 12th century ( c.  1190 ). The narratives of the Great Law exist in the languages of the member nations, so spelling and usages vary. William N. Fenton observed that it came to serve a purpose as a social organization inside and among the nations, a constitution of the Iroquois Confederacy or League, ceremonies to be observed, and a binding history of peoples. Fenton also observed some nine common points focusing more simply on

1176-408: The legend, see Parker: "The Hiawatha Tradition". When the founder of the Confederacy, Dekanawidah , known as The Great Peacemaker , first came to Iroquoia, one of the first people he met was Hiawatha, not yet called by that name. At that time, Hiawatha was a wild man and a cannibal , known as "the man who eats humans." When Dekanawidah came to his cabin, he climbed onto the roof, looked down through

1218-672: The mid-1870s he was involved in petitioning David Laird for the confederacy to be recognized as a legal entity. In the two decades that followed, Newhouse was involved in disputes over land along the Grand River , known as the Haldimand Tract . He also participated in the Six Nations Union Association in the early 1880s, and continued to advocate that the Six Nations should be allowed to govern themselves, being involved with numerous petitions, though he

1260-408: The narrative story line, though Christopher Vecsey identified 22 points shared across some two dozen versions of the narrative or parts of the narrative both direct and indirect: Barbara Mann has gathered versions featuring conflicting but harmonized elements (who does what varies, but what happens is more consistent than not), or stories that tell distinct elements not shared in other versions, into

1302-539: The original U.S. Constitution, including the original Constitution's allowing denial of suffrage to women, and majority rule rather than consensus. Mann argues that the early colonists' interaction with Native Americans and their understanding of Iroquois government did influence the development of colonial society and culture and the Suffragette movement, but stated that "the Constitution as originally enacted

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1344-535: The power of Tadodaho. A solar eclipse helped convince the Senecas, and the Onondagas were brought in by the power of the other four Nations and by the offer to Tadodaho that he become principal chief. "In the end the mind of [Tadodaho] was made straight, the crooks were taken out of his body, and Hiawatha combed the snakes out of his hair." Hiawatha was noted for his speaking skills and message of peace. Dekanawidah,

1386-631: The sky. Now shall thou do thy thinking in peace ...". Afterwards, Hiawatha joined Dekanawidah in composing the laws of the Great Peace, and the Peace Hymn. Then Hiawatha and Dekanawidah, together with the Mohawk chiefs, visited each of the other four Nations. They had no trouble with the Oneidas and the Cayugas, but the Senecas were divided against themselves and the Onondagas were afraid of

1428-467: The snakes out of [Tadodaho's] hair." He gave him the name Hiawatha, which means "he who combs." After Dekanawidah left, Hiawatha presented his proposals to the Onondaga in councils, but Tadodaho kept frustrating all his efforts and disrupting the councils. It was claimed he has caused the death of Hiawatha's three daughters and his wife by magic. Grief-stricken, Hiawatha left his village and wandered, "stringing wampum and seeking someone who should understand

1470-504: The thirteen-string ceremony of condolence and take away his grief by the spell of the wampum." Finally, he came to the territory of the Mohawk, where Dekanawidah had converted the entire nation. Dekanawidah chanted the words that have since been part of the Iroquois Requickening Ceremony : "I wipe away tears from thy face, using the white fawn-skin of pity ... I make it daylight for thee ... I beautify

1512-564: The two documents, or reason to believe the Six Nations had a meaningful influence on the American Constitution, and that it is unclear how much impact Canassatego 's statement at Lancaster actually had on the representatives of the colonies. Stanford University historian Jack N. Rakove argued against any Six Nations influence, pointing to lack of evidence in U.S. constitutional debate records, and examples of European antecedents for democratic institutions. Journalist Charles C. Mann has noted other differences between The Great Law of Peace and

1554-428: The two forms of government, notably that all decisions were made by a consensus of male chiefs who gained their position through a combination of blood descent and selection by female relatives, that representation was on the basis of the number of clans in the group rather than the size or population of the clans, that the topics discussed were decided by a single tribe. Tooker concluded there is little resemblance between

1596-402: Was a leader from the Mohawk tribe. There, he was well known and highly thought of by all of the tribes. He was a great speaker, and would eventually become the representative for the Great Peacemaker. The Great Peacemaker was a man who hoped to spread peace throughout all of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Territory. Due to the fact that he had a severe speech impediment, the Great Peacemaker needed

1638-489: Was in 1899. Gibson then participated in a collective version with many Chiefs from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve in 1900 which was reprinted a number of times: first in 1910/1, and then included in another work. A final version was offered to Alexander Goldenweiser but wasn't finished translated and published until 1992 by Hanni Woodbury. Newspaper editor William Walker Canfield published

1680-606: Was not a chief of the people after 1884. In 1885 he arranged a manuscript version of the Great Law of Peace , which has been analyzed since, particularly for its faithfulness to the original. Despite Newhouse's efforts, it was never formally endorsed by the Grand River Council. Some information preserved by Newhouse and others was published in 1916 in the New York State Museum bulletin. He died on 11 June 1921. Great Law of Peace Among

1722-663: Was not at all like the Great Law." Other critics of the Iroquois-influence theory include Samuel Payne, who considered the Iroquois division of powers as seen by Adams as being unlike those in the U.S. Constitution; William Starna and George Hamell, who described errors in Grinde's and Johansen's scholarship, particularly on Canassatego and the Lancaster Treaty; and Philip Levy, who also wrote that Grinde and Johansen had misused Adams's material, stating that he

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1764-412: Was reprinted by William N. Fenton , following Arthur Caswell Parker , in 1968. J. N. B. Hewitt published one in 1928 based on a much earlier fragment. Joseph Brant and John Norton commented on details of the narrative as early as 1801 and published since. Dayodekane, better known as Seth Newhouse , arranged for some versions that were published differently near 1900 - first from 1885 included in

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