Hiawatha Indian Play: by the Ojibway Indians

              HIAWATHA INDIAN PLAY

By the OJIBWAY INDIANS


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Libretto For The Indian Play

HIAWATHA

INTRODUCTION
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Inasmuch as the play represents the coming, the doings, the sacrifices, the teachings and the final departure of this sacred personage, Hiawatha, it has been aptly called 
The Hiawatha Indian Passion Play.




The chief characters in the play are Hiawatha as a child, as a boy and as a man; Minnehaha; Grandmother Nakomis; the Arrow Maker, Pau-Puk-Keewis; Chibabos, the sweet singer; lagoo, the traveler and talker; the Black Robe warriors, women and pappooses.




The play opens with the summons of the Great Spirit to all the tribes to gather in a great Peace Council.  There are songs and dances, a gambling scene, wedding ceremonies, the pursuit of Pau-Puk-Keewis, the coming of the white man, the final departure of Hiawatha.  The play is full of action and the nerves tingle all the way through.




The drama follows rather closely the events as narrated in the poem.  Beginning with the assembling of the tribes there is depicted a midnight surprise and assault.  As the brilliant spot-light is turned upon them, the attacking party may be seen stealthily stealing upon the peaceful encampment of its foes, but after the first wild whoop and struggle the voice of the Great Spirit is heard calling them to a peaceful settlement of their dispute.  With much ceremony the calumet, or great peace-pipe is brought forward and as a token of the friendship which is to exist between the peoples, is smoked in turn by the silent chiefs.




Next the infant Hiawatha, who is to be the deliverer of his people, is brought on the scene by old Nokomis.  Of miraculous birth, he grows up among these people and as he attains to boyhood and young manhood, his presence seems to bring them prosperity and peace.  His wooing of the fair Minnehaha, a maiden of the Dacotahs, is a pretty scene as depicted by the Indians.




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 forest and the prairies,


From the great lakes of the Northland,


From the land of the Ojibways,


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!



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Opening Scene
AN OJIBWAY INDIAN VILLAGEAll tribes smoke the pipe of peace together
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SCENE I

Gathering of the Tribes Together


On the Mountains of the Prairie,


On the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry,


Gitche Manito, the mighty,


He the Master of Life, descending,


On the red crags of the quarry


Stood erect, and called the nations,


Called the rtibes of men together,


Filled the pipe with bark of willow,


With the bark of the red willow;


Breathed upon the neighboring forest,


Made its great boughs chafe together,


Till in flame they burst and kindled;


And the smoke arose slowly, slowly,


Till it broke against the heaven,


Down the rivers, o'er the prairies,


Came the warriors of the nations,


All the warriors drawn together


By the signal of the Peace-Pipe,


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,


And they stood there,


With their weapons and their war-gear,


Wildly glaring at each other;


Painted like the leaves of Autumn,


Painted like the sky of morning,


In their faces stern defiance,


In their hearts the feuds of ages,


The hereditary hatred,


The ancestral thirst of vengeance.




Great Spirit Addresses the Indians



Gitche Manito, the mighty,


The creator of the nations,


Spake to them with voice majestic


As the sound of far-off waters


O my children!  My poor children!


Listen to the words of wisdom,


Listen to the words of warning,


From the lips of the Great Spirit,


From the Master of Life, who made you!


I have given you lands to hunt in,


I have given you streams to fish in,


I have given you bear and bison,


I have given you roe and reindeer,


I have given you brant and beaver,


Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl,


Filled the rivers full of fishes;


Why then are you not contented?


Why then will you hunt each other?


I am weary of your quarrels,


Weary of your wars and bloodshed,


Weary of your prayers for vengeance,


Of your wranglings and dissensions;


I will send a Prophet to you,


A Deliverer of the nations,


Who shall guide you and shall teach you,


Who shall toil and suffer with you.


If you listen to his consels


You will multiply and prosper;


If his warnings pass unheeded


You will fade away and perish!


Bathe now in the stream before you,


Wash the war-paint from your faces,


Wash the blood-stains from your fingers,


Bury your war-clubs and your weapons,


Smoke the calumet together,


And as brothers live henceforward!


From the river came the warriors,


Clean and washed from all their war-paint;


On the banks their clubs they buried,


Buried all their war-like weapons.






SCENE II

Nokomis Arrives With the Infant Hiawatha


Downward through the evening twilight,


In the days that are forgotten,


In the unremembered ages,


From the full moon fell Nokomis,


Fell the beautiful Nokomis,


She a wife but not a mother.


See! a star falls!
 said the people;


From the sky a star is falling!


There among the ferns and mosses,


There among the prairie lilies,


On the Muskoday, the meadow,


In the moonlight and the starlight,


Fair Nokomis bore a daughter.


And she called her name Wenonah,


As the first-born of her daughters.


And the daughter of Nokomis


Grew up like the prarie lilies,


Grew a tall and slender maiden,


With the beauty of the moonlight,


With the beauty of the starlight.


And Nokomis warned her often,


Saying oft, and oft repeating,


Oh, beware of Mudjekeewis,


Of the West-Wind, Mudjekeewis;


Listen not to what he tells you;


But she heeded not the warning,


Heeded not those words of wisdom.


And the West-Wind came at evening,


Walking lightly o'er the prairie,


Whispering to the leaves and blossoms,


Bending low the flowers and grasses,


Found the beautiful Wenonah,


Lying there among the lilies,


Wooed her with his words of sweetness,


Wooed her with his soft caresses,


Till she bore a son in sorrow,


Bore a son of love and sorrow.


Thus was born my Hiawatha,


Thus was born the child of wonder;


But the daughter of Nokomis,


Hiawatha's gentle mother,


In her anguish died deserted


By the West-Wind, false and faithless,


By the heartless Mudjekeewis.


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;


Stilled his fretful wail by saying,


Hush! the Naked Bear will hear thee!


Lulled him into slumber, singing,


Ewa-yea! my little owlet!


Who is this, that lights the wigwam?


With his great eyes lights the wigwam?


Ewa-yea! my little owlet!


Many things Nokomis taught him


Of the stars that shine in heaven;


Showed him Ishkoodah the comet;


Showed the death dance of the Spirits;


Showed the broad, white road in heaven,


Crowded with the ghosts; the shadows.




SCENE III

Hiawatha at the Age of Seven is Taught to Shoot and Dance

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At the door on summer evenings


Sat the Little Hiawatha,


Heard the whisperings of the pine trees;


Saw the moon rise from the waters;


Saw the rainbow in the heavens;


Learned of every bird their language,


Called them Hiawatha's chickens;


Of all beasts he learned their language,


Learned their names and all their secrets;


How the beavers built their lodges;


Where the squirrels hid their acorns,


Talked with them wher'ere he met them,


Called them Hiawatha's brothers;


Then Iagoo, the great boaster,


Made a bow for Hiawatha.


Then he said to Hiawatha:


Go, my son, into the forest,


Where the red deer herd together,


Kill for us a famous roebuck,


Kill for us a deer with antlers!


Then, upon one knee uprising,


Hiawatha aimed an arrow;


Scarce a twig moved with his motion,


Scarce a leaf was stirred or rustled,


But the wary roebuck started,


Stamped with all his hoofs together,


Listened with one foot uplifted,


Leaped as if to meet the arrow;


Ah! the singing, fatal arrow;


Like a wasp it buzzed and stung him!


From the red deers hide, Nokomis


Made a cloak for Hiawatha;


From the red deers flesh


Made a banquet in his honor,


All the village came and feasted;


All the guests praised Hiawatha.





SCENE IV
Hiawatha Departs for the Land of the Dakotahs

As unto the bow the cord is,


So unto the man is woman.


Though she bends him, she obeys him,


Though she draws him, yet she follows,


Useless each without the other.


Said Hiawatha:


Dreaming still of Minnehaha:


Of the lovely laughing water


In the land of the Dacotahs.


Wed a maiden of your people,


Warning said the old Nokomis;


Go not Eastward, go not Westward,


For a stranger, whom we know not!


Like a fire upon the hearthstone


Is a neighbor's homely daughter,


Like the starlight or the moonlight


Is the handsomest of strangers.


And my Hiawatha answers:


Dear old Nokomis,


Very pleasant is the firelight,


But I like the starlight better,


Better do I like the moonlight!


Gravely then said old Nokomis:


Bring not here an idle maiden,


Bring not here a useless woman,


Hands unskillful, feet unwilling;


Bring a wife with nimble fingers.




SCENE V
Hiawatha Shoots a Deer to Lay at the Feet of Minnehaha


On the outskirts of the forest,


Twixt the shadow and the sunshine,


Herds of fallow deer were feeding,


But they saw not Hiawatha;


To his how he whispered, 
Fail not!


To his arrow whispered, 
Swerve not!


Sent it singing on its errand,


To the red heart of the roebuck;


Threw the deer across his shoulder,


And sped forward without pausing.


At the doorway of his wigwam


Sat the ancient Arrow-maker,


At his side, in all her beauty,


Sat the lovely Minnehaha,


Sat his daughter, Laughing Water;


Plaiting mats of flags and rushes;


Of the past the old man's thought were,


And the maiden's of the future,


She was thinking of a hunter,


From another tribe and country,


Young and tall and very handsome,


Who one morning, in the Spring-time,


Came to buy her father's arrows,


Sat and rested in the wigwam,


On the mat her hands lay idle,


And her eyes were very dreamy,


Through their thoughts they heard a


Heard a rustling in the branches, [footstep


And with glowing cheek and forehead,


With the deer upon his shoulders,


Suddenly from out the woodlands


Hiawatha stood before them.


Straight the ancient Arrow-maker


Looked up gravely from his labor,


Laid aside the unfinished arrow.




SCENE VI
A Wooing Scene at the 
Arrow-Makers
 Tepee
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Then uprose the Laughing Water,


From the ground fair Minnehaha


Yes, as in a dream she listened


To the words of Hiawatha,


Thus continued Hiawatha:


After many years of warfare,


Many years of strife and bloodshed,


There is peace between the Ojibways


And the tribe of the Dacotahs.


That this peace may last forever,


And our hands be clasped more closely,


And our hearts be more united,


Give me as my wife this maiden,


Minnehaha, Laughing Water,


Lovliest of Dacotah women!


And the Ancient Arrow-maker


Paused a moment ere he answered,


Yes, if Minnehaha wishes;


Let your heart speak, Minnehaha!


And the lovely Laughing Water


Seemed more lovely, as she stood there,


Neither willing nor reluctant,


As she went to Hiawatha.


Softly took the seat beside him,


While she said, and blushed to say it,


I will follow you, my husband!


From the wigwam


Hand in hand they went together,


Thus it was they journeyed homeward.




SCENE VII
Hiawatha Returns With His Bride to the Ojibways

And the ancient Arrow-maker


Turned again unto his labor,




Sat down by his sunny doorway,


Murmuring to himself, and saying:


Thus it is our daughters leave us,


Those we love, and those who love us!


Just when they have learned to help us,


When we are old and lean upon them


Comes a youth with flaunting feathers,


Beckons to the fairest maiden,


And she follows where he leads her,


Leaving all things for the stranger!

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SCENE VIII
The Wedding Feast

Sumptuous was the feast Nokomis


Made at Hiawatha's wedding.


She had sent through all the village


Messengers with wands of willow,


As a sign of invitation,


As a token of the feastings;


And the wedding guests assembled,


Clad in all their richest rainment,


Then they said to Chibiabos,


To the friend of Hiawatha,


To the sweetest of all singers,


To the best of all musicians,


Sing to us, O Chibiabos!


Songs of love and songs of longing,


That the feast may be more joyous,


That the time may pass more gaily,


And our guests be more contented!


And the gentle Chibiabos


Sang in accents sweet and tender,


Sang in tones of deep emotion,


Songs of love and songs of longing;


Then she said, O Pau-Puk-Keewis,


Dance for us your merry dances,


Dance the Beggar's Dance to please us,


That the feast may be more joyous,


First he danced a solemn measure,


Very slow in step and gesture,


In and out among the pine-trees,


Through the shadows and the sunshine,


Treading softly like a panther.


Then more swiftly and still swifter,


Whirling, spinning round in circles,


Leaping o'er the guests assembled,


Eddying around and round the wigwan,


Till the leaves went whirling with him,


Till the dust and wind together


Swept in eddies round about him.


Thus the merry Pau-Puk-Keewis


Danced his Beggar's Dance to please them,


And, returning, sat down laughing


There among the guests assembled,


Sat and fanned himself serenely


With his fan of turkey-feathers.




SCENE IX
The Gambling Scene

Hark you,
 shouted Pau-Puk-Keewis


As he entered at the doorway;


I am tired of all this talking,


Tired of old Iagoo's stories,


Tired of Hiawatha's wisdom.


Here is something to amuse you,


Better than this endless talking.


Then from out his pouch of wolf-skin


Forth he drew, with solemn manner,


All the game of Bowl and Counters,


So they sat and played together,


Till the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis,


All the old men and the young men,


Of their treasures had despoiled them,


Twenty eyes glared wildly at him,


Like the eyes of wolves glared at him,


Said the lucky Pau-Puk-Keewis:


In my wigwam I am lonely,


I will venture all these winnings,


On a single throw will venture


All against the young man yonder!




Pau-Puk-Keewis Wins the Boy But is Driven From the Village; Stealing Back Again While the Warriors are Away Hunting



All are gone! the lodge is empty


Thus it was spake Pau-Puk-Keewis,


In his heart resolving mischief,—


Gone is wary Hiawatha,


Gone the silly Laughing Water,


Gone Nokomis, the old woman,


With a stealty step he entered,


Round the lodge in wild disorder


Threw the household things about him,


Piled together in confusion


Bowls of wood and earthen kettles,


Robes of Buffalo and beaver,


Skins of otter, lynx and ermine,


As an insult to Nokomis,


As a taunt to Minnehaha.






SCENE X
The Death of Minnehaha

Oh, the long and dreary Winter!


Oh, the cold and cruel Winter!


Ever thicker, thicker, thicker


Froze the ice on lake and river,


Into Hiawatha's wigwam


Came two other guests as silent


And the foremost said: 
Behold me!


I am Famine, Bukadawin!


And the other said: 
Behold me!


I am Fever, Ahkosewin!


And the lovely Minnehaha


Shuddered as they looked upon her,


Forth into the empty forest


Rushed the maddened Hiawatha;


In his heart was deadly sorrow,


And the desolate Hiawatha,


Far away amid the forest,


Heard the voice of Minnehaha


Calling to him in the darkness,


Over snow-fields waste and pathless,


Under snow-encumbered branches,


Homeward hurried Hiawatha,


Empty-handed, heavy-hearted,


Wrapped her in her robes of ermine,


Covered her with snow, like ermine;


Thus they buried Minnehaha.


Farewell!
 said he, Minnehaha!


Farewell, O my Laughing Water!


All my heart is buried with you,


All my thoughts go onward with you!




SCENE XI
The Arrival of the Black Robe

From his wanderings far to eastward,


From the regions of the morning,


From the shining land of Wabun,


Homeward now returned Iagoo,


The great traveler, the great boaster,


Full of new and strange adventures,


Marvels many and many wonders.


And the people of the village


Listened to him as he told them


Of his marvelous adventures,


He had seen, he said, a water


Bigger than the Big-Sea-Water,


O'er it, said he, o'er this water


Came a great canoe with pinions,


From its mouth, he said, to greet him,


Came Waywassimo, the lightening,


In it, said he, came a people,


In the great canoe with pinions


Came he said, a hundred warriors;


Painted white were all their faces,


And with hair their chins were covered!


Kaw!
 they said, 
We don't believe it!


Only Hiawatha laughed not,


But he gravely spake and answered


True is all Iagoo tells us;


I have seen it in a vision,


In a circle 'round the doorway,


With their pipes they sat in silence,


Waiting to behold the strangers,


It is well,
 they said, 
O brother,


That you come so far to see us!


Then the Black-Robe chief, the prophet,


Told his message to the people,




SCENE XII
The Departure

From his place rose Hiawatha,


Bade farewell to old Nokomis,


Spake in whispers, spake in this wise,


Did not wake the guests that slumbered;


I am going, O Nokomis,


On a long and distant journey,


To the portals of the Sunset,


To the regions of the home-wind,


Of the Northwest Wind, Keewaydin,


Forth into the village went he,


Bade farewell to all the warriors,


Bade farewell to all the young men,


Spake persuading, spake in this wise:


I am going, O my people,


On a long and distant journey;


Many moons and many winters


Will have come and will have vanished,


Ere I come again to see you.


And they said 
Farewell forever!


Said, 
Farewell, O Hiawatha!


And the forests, dark and lonely,


Moved through all their depths of darkness,


Sighed, 
Farewell, O Hiawatha!


Thus departed Hiawatha,


Hiawatha the Beloved,


In the glory of the sunset,


In the purple mists of evening,


To the regions of the home-wind,


Of the Northwest Wind, Keewaydin,


To the Islands of the Blessed,


To the kingdom of Ponemah,


To the land of the Hereafter.


On the clear and luminous water


Launched his birch canoe for sailing


Whispered to it, 
Westward! Westward!


And with speed it darted forward.



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Something New and Different for Chautauquas



Who Are These Indians?



The Hiawatha Indian Company is made up of ten Ojibway Indians from Canada—part of the very band that originated the Hiawatha Play.  For the most part they have been taking their parts for several seasons and are trained and finished actors.  The most of them have traveled in Europe where they rendered this beautiful production before the Nobility.





What Do They Do?



They give two full Chautauqua programs.  In the afternoon there is a depiction of Indian life.  At night they render the beautiful Hiawatha Play.





Their Chautauqua Record



They made the greatest hit of the 1912 Chautauqua season and are one of the very best drawing attraction on the platform.





Gate Receipts Talk





Pontiac


$215.00




Bellfontaine


250.00




Litchfield


320.00




Shelbyville


345.00




Buckeye Lake


348.00




Havana


369.00




Pana


377.00




Dixon


$500.00




Red Cloud, Neb.


369.00




Superior, Neb.


623.00




Nebraska City, Neb.


255.00




Tipton, Ind.


332.00




Noblesville, Ind.


367.00




Shelbyville, Ind.


268.00




Red Oak, Ia.


254.00







Just A Few Testimonials — Many More Just Like Them



The Hiawatha Indian Company gave us a great day at the Delavan Lake Assembly.




MR. E. W. WALKER, Pres. Delavan Lake Assembly, Wis.




The Ojibway Indians proved a most novel and satisfactory feature of our 1912 Chautauqua.




REV. J. H. SALISBURY, D. D. Platform Manager, Auburn, Neb.




The Hiawatha Company made good at York Chautauqua drawing one of the largest crowds ever on the grounds.  Every person ought to see the Indians in Hiawatha.  We had a successful day in every way.




ALEXANDER G. BENNETT, Pastor M. E. Church. President, York Chautauqua.




The Ojibway Indians appeared on the Chautauqua program and delighted the immense audience to the full.  In the six years of our Assembly no attraction has ever had such large gate receipts.




E. N. TOMPKINS, Platform Manager. Red Cloud, Chautauqua.




The Ojibway Indians gave two fine entertainments.  They were novel, interesting and instructive.  There was variety and action, and interest did not lag.  Both old and young were pleased and satisfied.




C. J. FULTON, Secretary, Fairfield Iowa Chautauqua.




The most beautiful thing we have ever had at Epworth and we have been in business eighteen years.




ELVIN SWARTHOUT, Secretary Epworth Assembly, Ludington, Mich.