"HIAWATHA"
The story of Hiawatha has been much used for oral treatment in primary grades, and as a basis for exercises in learning to read. Later the complete poem has been much read in third, fourth, or fifth grade as a piece of choice literature.
A story which is growing so rapidly in favor with primary teachers may explain our effort to determine its educational value.
That the story begins with the early childhood of Hiawatha and describes his home and early training at the feet of Nokomis, is at least one point in its favor.
By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
There the wrinkled, old Nokomis
Nursed the little Hiawatha,
Rocked him in his linden cradle,
Bedded soft in moss and rushes,
Safely bound with reindeer sinews.
The traditions and stories he learned from the lips of Nokomis will remind children of their own home life, while his companionship with birds and animals will touch them in a sympathetic place.
Then the little Hiawatha
Learned of every bird its language,
Learned their names and all their secrets,
How they built their nests in Summer,
Where they hid themselves in Winter,
Talked with them whene'er he met them,
Called them "Hiawatha's Chickens."
The games and exercises of his youth will remind them of their own sports and introduce them to Indian life. This home of Hiawatha, and the description of his childhood, are a happy introduction to the simple surroundings of Indian life on the shores of the northern sea.
Primitive Indian modes of life, traditions and myths, appeal naturally to children, and the whole story has this setting of early simplicity which adapts it in many ways to child study. The Indian nature myths, which in themselves are attractive, are here woven into a connected series by their relation to Hiawatha in the training of his childhood and in the exploits of his manhood.
The number of pure fairy tales scattered through the story adapts it especially for young children, while the descriptions of home customs, feasts, weddings, merrymaking, and games, show the happier side of their life.
Ye who love a nation's legends,
Love the ballads of a people,
That like voices from afar off
Call to us to pause and listen,
Speak in tones so plain and childlike,
Scarcely can the ear distinguish
Whether they are sung or spoken;—
Listen to this Indian Legend,
To this song of Hiawatha!
Ye whose hearts are fresh and simple,
Who have faith in God and Nature,
Who believe, that in all ages
Every human heart is human,
That in even savage bosoms
There are longings, yearnings, strivings
For the good they comprehend not,
That the feeble hands and helpless,
Groping blindly in the darkness,
Touch God's right hand in that darkness,
And are lifted up and strengthened;—
Listen to this simple story,
To this Song of Hiawatha!
The description of husking time is such a pleasing scene, while the picture writing of the Indians, their totems and rude drawings, are in harmony with their traditions and religion.
On the border of the forest,
Underneath the fragrant pine-trees,
Sat the old men and the warriors
Smoking in the pleasant shadow.
In uninterrupted silence
Looked they at the gamesome labor
Of the young men and the women;
Listened to their noisy talking,
To their laughter and their singing,
Heard them chattering like the magpies,
Heard them laughing like the blue jays,
Heard them singing like the robins.
And whene'er some lucky maiden
Found a red ear in the husking,
Found a maize-ear red as blood is,
"Nushka!" cried they all together,
"Nushka! you shall have a sweetheart,
You shall have a handsome husband!"
"Ugh!" the old men all responded
From their seats beneath the pine-trees.
And the Jossakeeds, the Prophets,
The Wabenos, the Magicians,
And the Medicine-men, the Medas,
Painted upon bark and deer-skin
Figures for the songs they chanted,
For each song a separate symbol,
Figures mystical and awful,
Figures strange and brightly colored;
And each figure had its meaning,
Each some magic song suggested.
One of the most striking features of this story is its setting in nature. More than any other piece of literature now used in the school, it is redolent of fields and forest.
Should you ask me, whence these stories,
Whence these legends and traditions,
With the odors of the forest,
With the dew and damp of meadows,
With the curling smoke of wigwams,
With the rushing of great rivers,
With their frequent repetitions,
And their wild reverberations,
As of thunder in the mountains?
I should answer, I should tell you,
"From the forests and the prairies,
From the great lakes of the Northland,
From the land of the Ojibways,
From the land of the Dacotahs,
From the mountains, moors, and fenlands,
Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,
Feeds among the reeds and rushes."
Should you ask where Nawadaha
Found these songs, so wild and wayward,
Found these legends and traditions,
I should answer, I should tell you,
"In the birds'-nests of the forest,
In the lodges of the beaver,
In the hoof-prints of the bison,
In the eyry of the eagle!
All the wild-fowl sang them to him,
In the moorlands and the fenlands,
In the melancholy marshes;
Chetowaik, the plover, sang them,
Mahng, the loon, the wild-goose, Wawa,
The blue heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,
And the grouse, the Mushkodasa!"
This description of primitive man is as complete an absorption into his natural surroundings as is possible. His food and clothing, his tents and boats, his weapons and war gear, are drawn directly from nature's first supplies, and man, in this case, seems almost a part of nature, so completely are his thoughts and activities determined and colored by his environment. Like the animals, in their protective coloring, he becomes an undistinguishable part of his surroundings. His nature myths and superstitions are but phases and expressions of the contact of his crude mind with forces and objects in nature. In this respect there are many interesting suggestions of similar interpretations among the Norse and Greek mythologies.
The close and friendly contact of Hiawatha with trees and animals, his companionship with the squirrel, the woodpecker, and the beaver, his talking acquaintance with trees of the forest, with the fishes in the Big-Sea-Water, and with the masters of the winds, the storm, and the thunder, make him an interesting guide for the children among the realms of nature.
Ye who love the haunts of nature,
Love the sunshine of the meadow,
Love the shadow of the forest,
Love the wind among the branches,
And the rain-shower and the snow-storm,
And the rushing of great rivers
Through their palisades of pine-trees,
And the thunder in the mountains,
Whose innumerable echoes
Flap like eagles in their eyries;—
Listen to these wild traditions,
To this Song of Hiawatha!
A happy, sympathetic love for the sights and sounds in nature is a fortunate beginning of nature lore. The imaginative interpretations are common to all the early races and in full harmony with the temper of childhood. Even from the standpoint of nature study, this early poetic joy in nature descriptions is profitable. The matter-of-fact, analytic study of natural science in succeeding years need not begrudge the children this happiness, this interpretative play of the imagination, this music of field and forest. In early childhood, nature and poetry are one, and as Lowell says, "Let us not go about to make life duller than it is."
The simplicity and beauty of the language and figure of speech make many parts of this poem especially appropriate for children.
Young and beautiful was Wabun;
He it was who brought the morning,
He it was whose silver arrows
Chased the dark o'er hill and valley;
He it was whose cheeks were painted
With the brightest streaks of crimson,
And whose voice awoke the village,
Called the deer, and called the hunter.
He meanwhile sat weary waiting
For the coming of Mondamin,
Till the shadows, pointing eastward,
Lengthened over field and forest,
Till the sun dropped from the heaven,
Floating on the waters westward,
As a red leaf in the Autumn
Falls and floats upon the water,
Falls and sinks into its bosom.
And the pleasant water-courses,
You could trace them through the valley,
By the rushing in the Spring-time,
By the alders in the Summer.
By the white fog in the Autumn,
By the black line in the Winter.
The simple music and rhythm of the poetic form is so delightful to children that they absorb whole passages into their memory without conscious effort. The mere re-reading of parts of the poem to little children under six years will often produce this happy result. A little girl of three years picked up, among others, this passage:—
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
The repetitions of the same or similar passages, so common throughout the poem, is a successful appeal to children's favor. It gives the story a sort of Mother Goose flavor which is delightful.
While the story centres in Hiawatha, it has a variety of interesting personalities, giving expression to the striking features of this primitive society. Hiawatha's loved ones, Minnehaha and old Nokomis, stand first, and his chosen friends are next.
Two good friends had Hiawatha,
Singled out from all the others,
Bound to him in closest union,
And to whom he gave the right hand
Of his heart in joy and sorrow;
Chibiabos, the musician,
And the very strong man, Kwasind.
And these two, as I have told you,
Were the friends of Hiawatha,
Chibiabos, the musician,
And the very strong man, Kwasind.
Long they lived in peace together,
Spake with naked hearts together,
Pondering much and much contriving
How the tribes of men might prosper.
In connection with these persons is a most pleasing series of adventures, bringing to notice those heroic qualities which children love to witness. The very strong man, Kwasind, is a fitting companion in their thoughts to Samson and Hercules; and Chibiabos,
He the best of all musicians,
He the sweetest of all singers,
has had many a prototype since the days of Orpheus.
Pau-Puk-Keewis, with his dancing and tricks, will also prove a curious character, something like Proteus of old.
You shall hear how Pau-Puk-Keewis
He, the handsome Yenadizze,
Whom the people called the Storm Fool,
Vexed the village with disturbance;
You shall hear of all his mischief,
And his flight from Hiawatha,
And his wondrous transmigrations,
And the end of his adventures.
The character of Hiawatha, as of the benefactor, of one devoted, with high purpose, to the welfare of his people, may be regarded as the deeper motive of the author. It is the thought of ideal good in Hiawatha which gives tone and meaning to the whole poem.
You shall hear how Hiawatha
Prayed and fasted in the forest,
Not for greater skill in hunting,
Not for greater craft in fishing,
Not for triumphs in the battle,
And renown among the warriors,
But for profit of the people,
For advantage of the nations.
The views of geography and history at the beginning and close of the poem not only give a broad scope to the story, but have an interesting bearing upon the study of geography and history in those years of school which immediately follow. The narrative reaches from the Vale of Tawasentha in New York, across the great lakes and shining Big-Sea-Water to Minnehaha and the Upper Mississippi, and even to the prairies and the distant Rocky Mountains beyond. In the summoning of the tribes at the Great Pipe Stone Quarry there is a broad survey of the Indian tribes of the United States.
From the vale of Tawasentha,
From the Valley of Wyoming,
From the groves of Tuscaloosa,
From the far-off Rocky Mountains,
From the Northern lakes and rivers
All the tribes beheld the signal,
Saw the distant smoke ascending,
The Pukwana of the Peace-Pipe.
Down the rivers, o'er the prairies,
Came the warriors of the nations.
A map of North America is necessary for showing the meaning of this description to the children.
In the last part the coming of the white man and the prophecy of his spreading over the land, and the dwindling of the native tribes to the westward, are given.
Iagoo's description of the white men, their ships and appearance, to his people on the return from his travels, will greatly please the children.
He had seen, he said, a water
Bigger than the Big-Sea-Water,
Broader than the Gitche Gumee,
Bitter so that none could drink it!
At each other looked the warriors,
Looked the women at each other,
Smiled, and said, "It cannot be so!
Kaw!" they said, "It cannot be so;"
"O'er it," said he, "o'er this water
Came a great canoe with pinions,
A canoe with wings came flying,
Bigger than a grove of pine-trees,
Taller than the tallest tree-tops!"
And the old men and the women
Looked and tittered at each other;
"Kaw!" they said, "we don't believe it!"
The story of Hiawatha has been used sufficiently in primary grades to show how many are its suggestions for drawing and constructive work. Little children take delight in drawing the Indian tents, bows and arrows, pine forests, Indian warriors and dress, the canoe, the tomahawk, the birds and animals. The cutting of these forms in paper they have fully enjoyed.
Pictures of Indian life, collections of arrow-heads, the peace-pipes, articles of dress, cooking utensils, wampum, stone hatchets, red pipe-stone ornaments, or a visit to any collection of Indian relics are desirable as a part of this instruction. The museums in cities and expositions are rich in these materials, and in many private collections are just the desired objects of study.
It is well known that children love to construct tents, dress in Indian style, and imitate the mode of life, the hunting, dancing, and sports of Indians. Teachers have taken advantage of this instinct to allow them to construct an Indian village on a small scale, and assume the dress and action of Hiawatha and his friends, and even to dramatize parts of the story.
It is only certain selected parts of the "Hiawatha" that lend themselves best to the oral treatment with children, and that, at first, not in the poetic form. In fact, the oral treatment of a story in beautiful poetic form demands a peculiar method.
For example, in treating the childhood of Hiawatha as he dwelt with old Nokomis in the tent beside the sea, the main facts of this episode, or a part of it, may be talked over by means of description, partly also by development, question, and answer, and when these things are clear, let this passage of the poem be read to the children. The preliminary treatment and discussion will put the children in possession of the ideas and pictures by which they can better appreciate and assimilate the poem. This mode of introducing children to a poem or literary masterpiece is not uncommon with children in later years, at least in the middle grades.
It has been customary to use nearly the whole poem in fourth or fifth school year for regular reading, and it is well suited to this purpose. Its use in primary grades for such oral treatment as we have described will not interfere with its employment as reading matter later on, but rather increase its value for that purpose.
The method of handling such a poem as reading has been discussed in the Special Method in the Reading of Complete English Classics.
A number of books have been written by practical teachers on the use of "Hiawatha" in primary grades:—
"The Hiawatha Primer." Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.
"Hints on the Study of Hiawatha" (Alice M. Krackowizer). A. Flanagan, publisher.
The best edition of the "Hiawatha" is "Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha," which is well illustrated. Published by Houghton, Mifflin, & Co.
Other editions are "The Song of Hiawatha." The Educational Publishing Co.
"Longfellow's Hiawatha." The Macmillan Co.
"Song of Hiawatha." University Publishing Co.