Hiawatha essay in 60 words
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This homelands assignment is designed to help discover the Indigenous heritage in the area we grew up in. I have two different homes, which means I have two different options, but when I started looking at the Indigenous communities each town I live in, I felt like I was doing my ancestors an injustice. My Indigenous heritage has remained a closed topic issue within my family for reasons unknown, but this paper has given me an opportunity to at least discover the history and current events of the reserve that my ancestry came from. Since I am currently living in Peterborough, I have returned home, to the place where parts of my history began and I am ready to begin the discovery of my heritage. The Hiawatha First Nation reserve south of Peterborough will be the central focus of this paper. The history of the Mississauga’s journey to Peterborough and their pre-contact history will set the frame work to discuss their developing history with the arrival of settlers and newly implied government rules, and their present conflicts and triumphs.The Indigenous peoples of Canada are a largely marginalized group, the Canadian government has “reserved” land for the peoples to live on and practice their traditional ways. However the imagery associated with the word reserve in the context of indigenous peoples is not related to something being put aside because it is special. The government did not reserve thelands because they thought the indigenous peoples were special. The reserves were created to silence the indigenous people who were fighting back against the encroaching white people. They enclosed them on reserves to contain them and control them in hopes they would become “civilized enough to be citizens” and in some cases hope that they would “melt away” (Hoxie, 1996, p.279). Hiawatha First Nation on Rice Lake is no exception; the peoples of this reserve were placed there with the creation of the Williams Treaty. The treaty infringed upon and evidentially took land that had traditionally belonged to the Mississauga’s people who 2
Although virtually unread today, there is still much in The Song of Hiawatha to appeal to young readers. In addition to the conventional epic features of heroic action, supernatural event, and thrilling adventure, The Song of Hiawatha is an entertaining source of American Indian lore. The epic story of Hiawatha is as much a rhetorical excuse for narrating tales of American Indian mythology as it is important for its own sake.
These tales are highly imaginative and interesting, such as how the lonely Wabun, the East-Wind, yearned for a lovely maiden, whom he wooed with “sighing and singing,” eventually changing her into the star of morning that is visible each dawn as the East-Wind gently blows. Many of the tales are mighty adventures of bravery and magic. In order to fight off a fever plaguing his people, Hiawatha challenges Megissogwon, the powerful magician who is the cause of the fever. After striding a mile per step in his magic mocassins, Hiawatha arrives in the land of the magician, where he battles poison serpent guards. When finally face to face with Megissogwon, Hiawatha finds that his expert bowmanship is of no avail because the magician’s wampum shirt is enchanted and protects him. A woodpecker reveals to Hiawatha the magician’s vulnerable spot, which enables Hiawatha to vanquish Megissogwon and save his village from the fever. To reward the woodpecker, Hiawatha dyes the bird’s head red with the magician’s blood as...