A small part of Hiawatha's Childhood, to accompany the fabulous video collection.
Dr Do-Diddily and the Dee - Dot's
Book of Hiawatha
Hiawatha (also known as Ayenwatha, Aiionwatha, or Haiëñ'wa'tha; Onondaga), who lived (depending on the version of the story) in the 1100s, 1400s, or 1500s, and was variously a leader of the Onondaga and Mohawk nations of Native Americans.
Hiawatha was a follower of The Great Peacemaker, a prophet and spiritual leader who was credited as the founder of the Iroquois confederacy, (referred to as Haudenosaunee by the people). If The Great Peacemaker was the man of ideas, Hiawatha was the politician who put the plan into practice.
Hiawatha was a skilled and charismatic orator, and was instrumental in persuading the Iroquois peoples, the Seneca's, Cayuga s, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawk's, a group of Native North Americans who shared similar languages, to accept The Great Peacemaker's vision and band together to become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. Later, the Tuscarora nation joined the Confederacy to become the Sixth Nation
Hiawatha's Childhood
Then the little Hiawatha learned of every bird its language,
Learned their names and all their secrets, how they built their nests in Summer,
Where they hid themselves in Winter, talked with them when e'er he met them,
Called them "Hiawatha's Chickens."
Of all beasts he learned the language, learned their names and all their secrets,
How the beavers built their lodges, where the squirrels hid their acorns,
How the reindeer ran so swiftly, why the rabbit was so timid,
Talked with them whene'er he met them, Called them "Hiawatha's Brothers."
Then Iagoo, the great boaster, he the marvellous story-teller,
He the traveller and the talker, he the friend of old Nokomis,
Made a bow for Hiawatha; from a branch of ash he made it,
From an oak-bough made the arrows, tipped with flint, and winged with feathers,
And the cord he made of deer-skin.
