35
untouchable [5, 88-95]. The guest was treated with high respect and no one could dare to hurt his
guest, as it was rude towards the guest and against the traditions of Indians. Indians shared all the
best
they had with their guests, they brought the best food and drink for them. This is described very
lively and clear in the part “Ghosts” in “The Song of Hiawatha”. Here ghosts came without asking
permission to Hiawatha’s wigwam and stayed there as long as they wished. Minnehaha and
Hiawatha welcomed them and did no gesture of displeasure [5, 152-159].
From the poem we also get information about the dishes from what Indians ate their food.
Indians made their dishes from the bass-wood and polished them very smoothly. Their spoons were
black and they made them from the horns of bison and smoothed them carefully. In Hiawatha’s
wedding Nokomis brings food in these dishes. In Hiawatha’s wedding-feast Longfellow gives us
full description of what Indians eat. First meal in the feast was made of sturgeon and the pike. Then
they feasted on pemmican. Pemmican is a paste of dried and pounded meat mixed with melted fat
and other ingredients, originally made by North American Indians. Pemmican was made of buffalo
meat in most times and was eaten with buffalo marrow. Pemmican and buffalo marrow were
inseparable and were used together among the aborigines as bread and butter are used in our daily
life. To take marrow fat buffalo’s bones were broken into pieces. Then the marrow was boiled
without bones and put into buffalo bladders. After that the marrow were cooled, it became quite
hard as tallow and as appearance looked like yellow butter. At feasts slices of marrow were placed
with pemmican in a bass-wood bowls and were eaten together. Then the old Nokomis served
haunch of deer, hump of bison, yellow cakes made from maize and the wild rice. Maize and the
wild rice were cultivated in the region of the Great Lakes. It is interesting fact that Longfellow
reveals that the food for the feast is cooked. Contrary to popular belief ( that the Indians eat
uncooked food) The Indians preferred cooked food. Roasting, baking and boiling were known to
The Indians as we see from the poem.
It is impossible to image a weeding-feast without dance. For Indians dances were important.
Each dance has some important purpose. Some were religious, some were war and scalp dances and
some were social. Dances were always accompanied by music. The most popular Indian musical
instruments were simply time beaters. And the most used one was the rattle. There are some old
rattles made and used by Shaman which are still exist [2, p-86]. Indian social dances in celebrating
some important occasions, like wedding-feasts. It is the social dance which Longfellow describes in
the poem was for amusement at the wedding feast. Old Nokomis asks the great Yenadizze, Pau-
Puk-keewis among the guests with pride and haughtiness. Under the sounds of flutes and drums he
begins his mystic dance. He was well prepared with his hair beautifully combed and face brightly
painted to show him in dance and among the maiden through the guests. He starts his dance first
with slow movements and then the dance becomes faster and faster. He continues his dance
whirling, leaping over the guests, spinning in circles and eddying around the wigwam. This is
traditional Beggar’s Dance which is described in the poem with the vivid description by
Longfellow. This was a spirited performance usually given by the most independent young man in
the tribe. The Indians prepared for Beggar’s Dance with much care. The hair is combed and
arranged beautifully. The face and body are painted with the brightest colors. For this dance there
was a special dress and it often had ancient form and decoration. All these special preparations were
just to make the dancers look pretty and attractive. For Indians dress and decorations had some
meanings. In most cases they mimed some creatures or animals, and repeated their gestures,
movements, even their voices. Sometimes they wore the dress just to be like some great persons of
their legends. For example, in Buffalo and bear dances, they wore skins and horns, skins of bear in
order to look like these animals. Also the meanings and usage of dances were different. Each dance
had its own occasion. For example, before the wars Indians danced a war dance. They painted their
faces with war colors, and had about them everything that can make them think of war. It was
believed that war dance gives inspiration to the warriors for battle. In war dance the music, songs,
İsgandarova N.V., Alizadeh N.Sh.
36
movements and prayers all related to the forthcoming battle. Some Indian dances gives a story is
told from the beginning till the end of the dance. They could tell the story of the world and how
men learned to survive in life. The dancers were dressed to represent the spirits or beings who
made, helped or taught the tribe [2, 86-88]. Not only dance but also music plays a large part in
Indians’ life. For an Indian man music is a part of his expression of feelings. Indians use music as a
religious aspiration. With the help of music they communicate with the unseen world. Indians tell
different stories like religious, tribal and their personal experiences with music. They express their
feelings through the music [4, 3]. They sing for gods, friends, enemies, for the animals they hunt,
the maiden they woo. Indians also sing for the nature around them, for the forests, lakes, mountains
and etc. In short, everything that surrounds them and makes interest for them becomes the subject
for a new song. Indian songs are divided into two general divisions. To the first division includes
songs those made by men. These songs are to
please the ear,
they rouse the feelings, encourages one
to do brave deeds. The second division includes songs that come in dreams through the spirits.
These songs are considered holy; they are belonging to sacred rites and ceremonies. They are
supposed to do wonders. Indians believe that spiritual songs have magic power and they can make
something better. They sang these songs especially for ill people believing that it will help them to
recover. Indians believed that each song that came to man in dream was the individual property of
that man who dreamed it. It belonged to him and no one else could sing it except that person. He
could give it to someone by will with his own desire. Otherwise the song dies with him and after his
death no one has the right to sing a dream song of another without permission. Dream songs are
supposed to have power to invoke divine aid and to protect its owner from evil. Surely there should
be text of a song. But the text in Indian song is less important than its melody. In Indian songs there
is only one idea and it is expressed too short. Two or three words are enough in one song to express
the idea of a song and to show the song’s aim. Often it is impossible to understand the idea of a
song without explanation. For a stranger an Indian song has no sense, because it needs an
explanation. For example, there is a song of Indians which has only these words: “Warm door in
winter, door, and warm door”. If someone listens to this song without knowing its origin and story,
he will understand nothing. He will think that this song has no sense and it’s ridiculous. But an
Indian who sings it, first tells the story of this song is about a man who was about to die in the
freezing weather. He was all alone; no one was near to help him. Suddenly he hears the voice of a
drum. He understands that there is an Indian village near him, but he doesn’t know whether they are
hospitable or not. With insurance he goes towards the voice of a drum, but still he had hesitation.
But it was better to go and see rather than to die in frost. When he reaches the village he hears the
Indian within, singing this song of hospitality, so he knew that the Indian would be his friend. So
the words “door in winter” are only a sign of the story of the song [4, 14].
Speaking about songs we have to mention Chibiabos’s name. He was the sweetest musician
and singer of Ojibway tribe and Hiawatha’s friend. In Hiawatha’s wedding Nokomis asks him to
sing with his sweetest voice to entertain their guests and to have great time. Chibiabos sings of love
with his sweetness and gives pleasure to the guests. He sings of love and sadness of a maiden’s
lamentation for her lover:
“When I think of my beloved
Ah me! Think of my beloved
When my heart is thinking of him
O my sweetheart, my Algonquin.”[5, 94]
Longfellow wrote this song not as possessing to Chibiabos. This song was connected with real
historical events. Under the control of General Montealm the French Indian department tried to bring
a group of Indians into the valley of the lower St. Laurence in 1759. Their invitations for the purpose
reached the farthest shores of Lake Superior, where came French warriors and an Indian girl from
Chippewa tribe whose name was Paig-wain-e-osh-e, or White Eagle. She was gazing after the canoes
Indian feasts in Henry Wordsworth Longfellow’s “The song of Hiawatha”