Hiawatha

Deceased Person

32

Who is Hiawatha?

Hiawatha is a legendary Native American leader and co-founder of the Iroquois confederacy. Depending on the version of the narrative, Hiawatha lived sometime between the 11th and 16th centuries and was a leader of the Onondaga or the Mohawk, or both. According some versions, he was born an Onondaga, but also adopted into the Mohawk.

Hiawatha was a follower of The Great Peacemaker, a Huron prophet and spiritual leader, who proposed the unification of the Iroquois peoples, who shared common ancestry and similar languages. The Great Peacemaker was a compelling spiritual presence, but was impeded in evangelizing his prophecy by foreign affiliation and a severe speech impediment. Hiawatha, a skilled and charismatic orator, was instrumental in persuading the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, 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 in 1722 to become the Sixth Nation.

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Ethnicity
  • Iroquois
  • Indigenous peoples of the Americas

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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"Hiawatha." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/hiawatha>.

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