The Song of Hiawatha is based on the legends and stories ofmany North American Indian tribes, but especially those of theOjibway Indians of northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.They were collected by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, the reknownedhistorian, pioneer explorer, and geologist. He was superintendentof Indian affairs for Michigan from 1836 to 1841.
Schoolcraft married Jane, O-bah-bahm-wawa-ge-zhe-go-qua (TheWoman of the Sound Which the Stars Make Rushing Through the Sky),Johnston. Jane was a daughter of John Johnston, an early Irishfur trader, and O-shau-gus-coday-way-qua (The Woman of the GreenPrairie), who was a daughter of Waub-o-jeeg (The White Fisher),who was Chief of the Ojibway tribe at La Pointe, Wisconsin.
Jane and her mother are credited with having researched,authenticated, and compiled much of the material Schoolcraftincluded in his Algic Researches (1839) and a revision publishedin 1856 as The Myth of Hiawatha. It was this latter revision thatLongfellow used as the basis for The Song of Hiawatha.
Longfellow began Hiawatha on June 25, 1854, he completed it onMarch 29, 1855, and it was published November 10, 1855. As soonas the poem was published its popularity was assured. However, italso was severely criticized as a plagiary of the Finnish epicpoem Kalevala. Longfellow made no secret of the fact that he hadused the meter of the Kalevala; but as for the legends, he openlygave credit to Sch