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That Erroneous Hiawatha. 



By Albert B. Reagan. 



Hiawatha, hero of Longfellow's poem of the same name, is not recog- 

 nized as a hero god by the Chippewa Indians. Neither the name nor the 

 person designated occurs in the mythology of these people. Their god is 

 Menibusha, and the only word approaching Hiawatha is Ket'-che-wah'-sah. 

 which means "afar off." Through the kindness of the Indian missionary 

 and court-agency interpreter here. Rev. Frank H. Pequette, who is himself 

 a Chippewa and has lived and preached in various parts of the Chippewa 

 country. I quote his own summing up of this subject : 



"When a white man asks an American who is the greatest man of his 

 country he answers, 'George Washington.' But I am here to declare that 

 Hiawatha is not the hero of my race. This personage is unknown to the 

 Chippewa Indian. 



"The Indian lad sitting in the forest with his bow and arrow, observ- 

 ing the trees and the sky and the sand and the water of the Great Lakes 

 and the animals and the fishes, asks himself, 'Who made these?' He cannot 

 answer the question himself, so he asks the old medicine man of his tribe. 

 'Menibusha,' answers the sage. 'Menibusha made the earth, sky, the sun, 

 moon and stars, and the wild things and the fishes, and he made you also, 

 my son.' So says the medicine man of the tribe. Menibusha also made 

 the land, the island-continental surface on which we now live. He is the 

 first brother of all mankind and now lives in the Bast. 



"All the Indians before they became Christians (that is, all Chippe- 

 was) supposed that Menibusha was the Supreme, the greatest man and god 

 of his nation. And when the first white man asked the Indian the ques- 

 tion who was their greatest personage the Indian replied, 'Menibusha.' 

 'Where does he live?' of course asked the white man. 'Ket'-che-wah'-sah.' 

 replied the Indian — meaning (that ho was) afar off. The white man's 

 ears were not tuned to the Indian sounds used in pronunciation and he 

 caught it Hiawatha, which did not mean god. lad 'afar oft"; and one great 

 white follow. Longfellow by name, wrote our legends with this unknown 

 Hiawatha. But this Hiawatha is not known to us Indians." 



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