Hiawatha's Childhood from The Song of Hiawatha

The poem begins with a description of Hiawatha’s grandmother and how she fell to earth from the moon. Throughout the rest of the poem, the poet describes how Hiawatha was raised, what he learned, and how he drew close to all the living creatures around him. He learned what to be frightened of and what not to be frightened of from his grandmother, as well as details regarding how all the creatures in his environment lived.

This excerpt is part of the much longer poem, ‘The Song of Hiawatha.’ It follows the Native American protagonist from childhood into adulthood and through many challenges. He leads his people to prosperity, suffers losses (like his two best friends), and even loses his wife, Minnehaha, to fever. He has visions of white men arriving and teaching his people about Christianity; he then lives long enough to see this come true. At the end of the long poem, he travels away from the village, unsure if he’s ever going to return.