The Song of Hiawatha

Hiawatha has endured hardship in the loss of his friends, but his trials are only beginning. One day, while Nokomis and Minnehaha wait for Hiawatha to return from hunting, two women arrive and sit in a corner of their home. When Hiawatha returns, they prepare a meal and allow the silent guests to take the best parts. For several days, Hiawatha, Nokomis, and Minnehaha allow the strangers to stay as the law of sacred hospitality dictates. One night, Hiawatha wakes to hear the strangers crying. They’ve been sent from the land of the dead to warn him that the dead can hear the mourning cries of the living. The women thank him for his hospitality and caution him against the struggle to come.

The winter that follows is one of the cruelest in memory. The snow is almost too deep to walk through, and no birds or animals can be found in the forest. The corn becomes depleted, and everyone is hungry. The spirits of Famine and Fever arrive at Hiawatha’s home and go to Minnehaha, who falls ill. Hiawatha prays for food for her, but receives no answer. He goes out hunting, remembering the day he brought Minnehaha home. While he is out, the spirits crowd closer to Minnehaha. She begins to hallucinate, and Nokomis tries to guide her back. However, Minnehaha sees Death. She calls out for Hiawatha, but by the time he hears her call and returns, she is gone. He stays by her bedside for seven days and nights before finally burying her. They light a fire for four days so that Minnehaha can find her way to the afterlife. Hiawatha promises to follow her soon.

In a lodge an old man sits while winter rages outside. A young man with a bouquet of wildflowers arrives to sit with him and smoke the peace pipe. The old man says that whenever he blows, the water becomes hard as stone. The young man says that when he blows, flowers rise. When the sun rises, the old man melts away into nothing, and a flower blooms in the hearth. It is spring, and Iagoo returns from his travels with stories. He tells the tribes about a great water and a huge canoe full of warriors, with white wings and sounds like thunder and lightning. The men don’t believe him, but Hiawatha has seen the same vision in a dream. He advises his people to welcome the new men, but cautions them not to fight with each other or they will be scattered until they are gone forever.

Hiawatha no longer lives in sorrow, facing a brighter future. The ship of visitors arrives, led by a man wearing a black robe and a cross. Hiawatha welcomes them as friends. He brings them to his home to share food and smoke the peace pipe, and the other men of Hiawatha’s tribe join them. The leader of the visitors tells them stories from the Bible, and the men consider their words. That evening, Hiawatha tells Nokomis that he is going away. He leaves the care of the visitors to her, and then he says goodbye to his people. Hiawatha gets into his canoe and sails away towards the setting sun. All of the tribes and everything in the forest wishes him farewell.