The Song of Hiawatha

Family and relationships play a strong role in Hiawatha’s story, from his love for Minnehaha and Nokomis, to his bond with Chibiabos and Kwasind, to the vendetta against his father, Mudjekeewis. Interestingly, blood relations have only a little precedence over friendships or romantic connections. This narrative choice enhances themes of tribal unity and community often romanticized by more isolationist western cultures.

Hiawatha’s vengeance on Mudjekeewis features a complex dynamic. Although Hiawatha has met neither of his parents, he is willing to seek retribution for the wrongs done to his mother—a filial obligation typical in tribal cultures. In this case, however, confronting his mother’s assailant means disregarding any loyalty due to his father. Hiawatha recognizes and honors the protection he owes to his blood kin, but refuses to similarly honor Mudjekeewis, whose abandonment of the family was an abdication of paternal responsibility. This divided loyalty is complicated further by the influence of Nokomis—the only parent Hiawatha has known, and the one whose pain at losing Wenonah would have imprinted on Hiawatha. Actual relationship trumps blood relation.

The poem’s other important connections are those between Hiawatha and his closest friends, Chibiabos and Kwasind: “to whom he gave the right hand / Of his heart, in joy and sorrow” (7.4-5). Positioned in some ways as foils to the tribal leader whose physical and intellectual strength are well balanced, the artistic Chibiabos and the over-strong Kwasind are like brothers to Hiawatha. Their adventures and deaths become pivotal turning points in Hiawatha’s understanding of his role in the world. The bond between Hiawatha and Chibiabos is so idealized that it invites supernatural jealousy from jealous spirits; Hiawatha’s grief over Chibiabos reveals to the tribes new elements of Indigenous cosmology, as Chibiabos becomes the ruler of the Land of the Dead. Kwasind’s destruction at the hands of the much less powerful, but canny, Little People who fear his strength is a warning to Hiawatha to beware the enmity of the seemingly powerless. Unlike in the stories about Hiawatha’s family, here, Hiawatha does not feel the obligation to avenge the deaths of his friends—just as he does not seek retribution for Minnehaha’s death later—they are part of his community, but not blood relatives.

Still, the relative lack of distinction between found family and blood family in Hiawatha’s inner circle presents a world where the formation of community takes precedence over individualism and self-serving desires.