Facts about Hiawatha
Hiawatha was the first chief to accept the vision of his new teacher.
The Hiawatha Wampum Belt is a visual record of the creation of the Iroquois Confederacy.
According to some traditions, he had another name before meeting The Great Peacemaker, who gave him the name Hiawatha.
Hiawatha was a Mohawk chief who came to symbolize the whole concept of peace and unity.
At the center of the Hiawatha Belt is the Confederacy's symbol, the "Great White Pine," also known as the "Tree of Peace."
Recent archaeological evidence points to a much earlier date of the union of the five tribes than the fifteenth century, thus dating Hiawatha's life to an earlier time, perhaps by 500 years.
The exact years of Hiawatha's life are not known, though the most accepted years are those of the early to mid-sixteenth century, but there is no written record of him until the seventeenth century.
Hiawatha brought Deganawida's philosophy to the five nations; Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and Mohawk.
Hiawatha's charisma and great skills of oratory were the means of conveyance that the prophet needed.
At the time of their meeting, Hiawatha was unable to function as a leader to his people due to his inconsolable grief.
The rituals that Deganawida passed on to Hiawatha for his healing continue to be used by the Iroquois today.
An enemy of Hiawatha named Atotarho, killed the daughters one by one as they refused his advancements.
Hiawatha (also known as Hienwentha, Ayonwatha (He Who Combs), Aiionwatha, or A-yo-went-ha) is believed to have lived circa 1525 to 1575.
The Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant, wrote Hiawatha's biography in the early 1800s, as he had learned it from oral tradition.
