Hiawatha

Hiawatha is a central figure in Haudenosaunee oral tradition who worked with the Great Peacemaker to establish the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. After personal grief and conflict, he carried the message of peace among the nations and helped articulate the political order preserved in the Great Law of Peace.

The chronology and historical setting of Hiawatha’s life cannot be fixed with certainty because the tradition was transmitted orally for generations. Within Haudenosaunee accounts, however, his importance lies in carrying the Peacemaker’s message between communities, helping overcome cycles of vengeance and participating in the establishment of a confederated political order whose principles were preserved through oral tradition and wampum.

Hiawatha appears in W. Michael Gear’s Eclipse Dancer and People of the Black Sun, where the traditions surrounding Hiawatha, the Peacemaker and the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy are incorporated into the authors’ prehistoric North American narrative.

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Hiawatha (1 series)

The Peacemaker’s Tale in Order

by W. Michael Gear 8 books 4.5(4,172)

The Peacemaker’s Tale follows families and captives living through prolonged warfare among the Iroquoian nations before the formation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The first four volumes centre on Koracoo and Gonda’s pursuit of the child trader Gannajero, while the later books return to the surviving children as adults…