Transcriber’s Notes:
Underscores “_” before and after a word or phrase indicate _italics_
in the original text.
Small capitals have been converted to SOLID capitals.
Typographical and punctuation errors have been silently corrected.
A DRAMATIZATION OF
LONGFELLOW’S
HIAWATHA.
A Spectacular Drama in Six Acts.
Delineating the Characteristics and Customs
OF
THE NATIVE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN.
_Re-written, Revised, Arranged and Dramatized
By A. L. DE VINE._
_Entered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1895
By A. L. DE VINE.
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington._
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
_Copyrighted in Great Britain and British Possessions,
France, Germany, Italy,
Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Switzerland._
INTRODUCTORY.
To ye whose hearts are fresh and simple
Who have faith in God and Nature,
Who believe that in all ages
Every human heart is human,
That in even savage bosoms
There are longings, yearnings, strivings
For the good they comprehend not,
That the feeble hands and helpless,
Groping blindly in the darkness,
Touch God’s right hand in that darkness
And are lifted up and strengthened,
Is submitted this portrayal of the primitive life of the American
Indians in their native forest home. Fully realizing how rapidly the
race is becoming extinct before the onward march of civilizing
influences, and how little the people of this and other countries
really know of such customs, dress, and peculiarities, it is believed
this spectacular drama will be found historical, an educator to the
young and interesting to ALL. In thus depicting the higher and better
life of the Indian race, their mode of living, dress, pastimes, feats
of skill, dances, wooings, wedding feasts, festivities, death scenes
and legends, the author has adhered to the original language of the
poem as closely as is consistent with a faithful dramatization thereof.
This is the first and only known drama of this kind or character in
existence, and no other subject, throughout the wide and varied field
of poetry, offers like opportunities to the facile pen of the skilled
playwright.
SYNOPSIS OF SCENES AND INCIDENTS.
ACT I. THE PEACE PIPE.
Gitche Manitou (Great Spirit) descends from
Heaven and admonishes the tribes to cease warfare
and bloodshed—Indians discard weapons and war
paint—Gitche Manitou promises to send Hiawatha as
a guide—Fashions a Peace Pipe—Sets fire to the
forest and vanishes in smoke.
ACT II. HIAWATHA’S CHILDHOOD.
Tribe of Ojibways—Hiawatha a babe in Indian
cradle—Nokomis swinging cradle—Indian lullaby.
ACT III. HIAWATHA’S WOOING.
Scene 1—Hiawatha grown to manhood—Desires to wed
Minnehaha, a Dakotah maiden—Discussion—Departs
on journey—Nokomis sorrowing. Scene 2—Hiawatha
in forest—Shoots a deer—Shoulders it. Scene
3—Tribe of Dakotahs—Minnehaha Falls—Wigwam of
Arrow-maker—Hiawatha’s arrival and welcome—Wooing
of Minnehaha—Departure of Hiawatha and
Minnehaha—Climbing of Falls—Arrow-maker’s
despondency—Tableaux.
ACT IV. WEDDING FEAST.
Forest—Ojibway village—Arrival of Hiawatha
and Minnehaha—Welcome—Festivities—Feasts,
songs, feats of skill, games, dancing and
specialties—Tableaux.
ACT V. FEVER, FAMINE AND MINNEHAHA’S DEATH.
Winter—Tepee of Nokomis—Starvation—Minnehaha
begs for food—Enter Famine and Fever—Hiawatha
hunting food—Disheartened—Appeal to
Great Spirit—Minnehaha’s sufferings
and death—Lamentations—Hiawatha’s
return—Grief—Indian funeral—Tableaux.
ACT VI. HIAWATHA’S DEPARTURE.
Summer—Indian village—Canoe approaches
from distance containing Minnehaha as
angel—Music—Colored lights—Indians’
astonishment—Hiawatha awaits her coming—Joins
her—Hiawatha’s farewell—Canoe disappears—Tableaux.
“HIAWATHA”
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
Gitche Manito; the Indian Great Spirit and Father of all Nations.
Hiawatha; the Prophet of Peace, of the tribe of Ojibways,
sent to guide the Indian nations.
Ancient Arrow-maker; Minnehaha’s Father.
Chibiabos; the Singer.
Pau-Puk-Keewis; the Dancer.
Bukadawin; Famine.
Ahkosewin; Fever.
Minnehaha; Hiawatha’s Bride, a Dakotah Maiden.
Old Nokomis; Hiawatha’s Grand-mother.
Miscellaneous Indian Braves.
Miscellaneous Indian Women.
SYNOPSIS.
Act 1st. The Peace Pipe.
Act 2nd. Hiawatha’s Childhood.
} Scene 1st. Hiawatha’s Discussion
Act 3rd. Hiawatha’s } with Nokomis and Departure.
Wooing. } Scene 2nd. Hiawatha’s Journey.
} Scene 3rd. Wooing of Minnehaha.
{ Home of Arrow-maker.
{ View of Minnehaha Falls.
Act 4th. Wedding Feast.
Act 5th. Fever and Famine and Minnehaha’s Death.
Act 6th. Hiawatha’s Reunion with Minnehaha and Departure.
ACT I.
THE PEACE PIPE.
_Scenery_:
_Description as nearly as possible to follow
description according to the poem. In background,
high mountains. In foreground, lower hills, with
forest trees and Indian tents in the distance:
GITCHE MANITO; The great Spirit and FATHER of
all NATIONS descends from the clouds encircled
in a flood of bright lights of various colors;
strains of soft sweet Music, as from a distance,
accompanying his descent as though from Heaven to
Earth or to the top of the mountain. The Indian
representatives from all Nations in their peculiar
distinct dress of the several different tribes,
grouped here and there among the trees and rocks
are attracted by the smoke signal and are then seen
coming from all directions in full Indian war paint
and costume; when signaled to by GITCHE MANITO, the
Great Spirit, as per the following poem_:
_Act and Description of Gitche Manito_:
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 craigs of the quarry
Stood erect, and called the Nations,
Called the tribes of men together.
From his footprints flowed a river,
Leaped into the light of morning,
O’er the precipice plunging downward
Gleamed like Ishkoodah, the comet.
And the Spirit, stooping earthward,
With his finger on the meadow
Traced a winding pathway for it,
Saying to it,
_Gitche Manito_:
Run in this way!
From the red stone of the quarry
With his hand he broke a fragment,
Moulded it into a pipe-head,
Shaped and fashioned it with figures;
From the margin of the river
Took a long reed for a pipe-stem,
With its dark green leaves upon it;
Filled the pipe with bark of willow,
With the bark of the red willow;
Breathed upon the neighboring forest,
Made its great bows chafe together,
Till in flame they burst and kindled;
And erect upon the mountains
Gitche Manito, the Mighty,
Smoked the calumet, the Peace Pipe,
As a signal to the nations,
And the smoke rose slowly, slowly,
Through the tranquil air of morning,
First a single line of darkness,
From the vale of Tawasenthena,
From the Valley of Wyoming
From the groves of Tuscaloosa,
From the far-off Rocky Mountains,
From the Northern lakes and rivers.
_Act, Indians_:
All the tribes beheld the signal,
Saw the distant smoke ascending,
The Pukwana of the Peace Pipe.
_Indian Warriors_ (_to each other, pointing_):
Behold it, the Pukwana!
By this signal from afar off,
Bending like a wand of willow,
Waving like a hand that beckons,
Gitche Manito, the Mighty,
Calls the tribes of men together,
Calls the warriors to his council!
_Act of Indian Tribes_:
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
To the Mountains of the Prairie,
To the great Red Pipe-stone Quarry.
And they stood there on the meadow,
With their weapons and their war-gear,
Painted like the leaves of Autumn,
Painted like the sky of morning,
Wildly glaring at each other;
In their faces stern defiance,
In their hearts the feuds of ages,
The hereditary hatred
The ancestral thirst of vengeance.
_Act, Gitche Manito_:
Gitche Manito, the mighty,
The Creator of the nations,
Looked upon them with compassion,
With paternal love and pity;
Over them he stretched his right hand.
_Gitche Manito_:
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,
All your strength is in your union,
All your danger is in discord;
Therefore be at peace henceforward,
And as brothers live together.
“I will send a Prophet to you,
Hiawatha will I send 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 counsels,
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,
Break the red stone from this quarry,
Mould and make it into Peace Pipes,
Take the reeds that grow beside you,
Deck them with your brightest feathers,
Smoke the calumet together,
And as brothers live henceforward!”
_Act, Indians_:
Then upon the ground the warriors
Threw their cloaks and shirts of deer-skin,
Threw their weapons and their war-gear,
Leaped into the rushing river,
Washed the war-paint from their faces.
Clear above them flowed the water,
Clear and limpèd from the footprints
Of the Master of Life descending;
Dark below them flowed the water,
Soiled and stained with streaks of crimson,
As if blood were mingled with it.
From the river came the warriors.
Cleaned and washed from all their war-paint,
On the banks their clubs they buried,
Buried all their warlike weapons.
_Act, Gitche Manito_:
Gitche Manito, the Mighty,
The Great Spirit, the Creator,
Smiled upon his helpless children.
_Act, Indians_:
And in silence all the warriors
Broke the red stone of the quarry,
Smoothed and formed it into Peace Pipes,
Broke the long reeds by the river.
Decked them with their brightest feathers.
_A beautiful transformation. Scene and tableaux can
be given here with the groups of Indians, Bright
colored lights, soft Heavenly music, and GITCHE
MANITO ASCENDING again to Heaven in a CLOUD of
SMOKE._
(_See following description._)
While the Master of Life, ASCENDING
Through the opening of cloud-curtains,
Through the doorways of the HEAVEN
Vanished from before their faces,
In the smoke that rolled around him.
[Illustration]
ACT II.
HIAWATHA’S CHILDHOOD.
_Scenery_:
_A short scene or acting tableaux, can be given
here, the scenery to follow the description in the
poem, HIAWATHA, a baby, in an Indian cradle swung
between the trees which is being rocked by old
NOKOMIS (his grandmother) while she is singing the
Lullaby song, Little Owlet._ (_See following
description._)
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis.
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
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,
_Nokomis_:
Hush! the Naked Bear will hear thee!
Lulled him into slumber singing,
_Nokomis Song_:
Ewa-yea! my little owlet!
Who is this, that lights the wigwam?
With his great eyes lights the wigwam?
Ewa-yea! my little owlet!
Wah-wah-taysee, little fire-fly,
Little, flitting, white-fire insect,
Little, dancing, white-fire creature,
Light us with your little candle,
Ere upon your bed I lay you
Ere in sleep you close your eyelids!
[Illustration]
ACT III.
HIAWATHA’S WOOING,
TRIBE OF OJIBWAYS.
Scene First. Hiawatha’s Discussion with Nokomis and Departure.
_Scenery_:
_Same as Act II. This is supposed to be the TRIBE and
land of THE OJIBWAYS. Showing the INTERIOR of the
TEPEE of Old NOKOMIS. HIAWATHA; (tall, straight,
of majestic figure, commanding aspect, dashing
and handsome,) is seen shaping an arrow to fit a
bow. NOKOMIS; a majestic Indian woman as befits
HIAWATHA’S grandmother, sits making a robe of deer
skin or work of like kind. HIAWATHA sits working,
thinking, pondering._
_Description of Hiawatha_:
Out of childhood into manhood
Now had grown my Hiawatha.
Skilled in all the craft of hunters,
Learned in all the lore of old men,
In all youthful sports and pastimes,
In manly arts and labors.
Swift of foot was Hiawatha;
He could shoot an arrow from him,
And run forward with such fleetness,
That the arrow fell behind him!
Strong of arm was Hiawatha;
He could shoot ten arrows upward,
Shoot them with such strength and swiftness,
That the tenth had left the bow-string
Ere the first to earth had fallen!
He had mittens, Minjekahwun,
Magic mittens made of deer-skin;
When upon his hands he wore them,
He could smite the rocks asunder
He could grind them into powder.
He had moccasins enchanted,
Magic moccasins of deer-skin:
When he bound them round his ankles,
When upon his feet he tied them,
At each stride a mile he measured!
_Hiawatha_; (_speaking meditatively_):
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!
_Nokomis_; (_in a warning and dissuading voice_):
Wed a maiden of your people,
Go not eastward, go not westward,
For a stranger, whom we know not!
Like a fire upon the hearth-stone
Is a neighbor’s homely daughter,
Like the starlight or the moonlight
Is the handsomest of strangers!
_Hiawatha_; (_persuadingly_):
Dear old Nokomis,
Very pleasant is the firelight.
But I like the starlight better,
Better do I like the moonlight!
_Nokomis_; (_gravely_):
Bring not here an idle maiden,
Bring not here a useless woman,
Hands unskillful, feet unwilling;
Bring a wife with nimble fingers,
Heart and hand that move together,
Feet that run on willing errands!
_Hiawatha_, (_Smiling_):
In the land of the Dacotahs
Lives the Arrow-maker’s daughter,
Minnehaha, Laughing water,
Handsomest of all the women.
I will bring her to your wigwam,
She shall run upon your errands,
Be your starlight, moonlight, firelight,
Be the sunlight of my people!
_Nokomis_, (_still dissuading_):
Bring not to my lodge a stranger
From the land of the Dacotahs!
Very fierce are the Dacotahs,
Often is there war between us.
There are feuds yet unforgotten,
Wounds that ache and still may open!
_Hiawatha_, (_laughing_):
For that reason, if no other,
Would I wed the fair Dacotah,
That our tribes might be united,
That old feuds might be forgotten,
And old wounds be healed forever!
_During this conversation HIAWATHA stops his work and
prepares for his journey, OLD NOKOMIS becoming more
and more earnest and entreating as his preparations
proceed: when he goes, she follows and tries to
detain him, then watches him out of sight, and the
curtain falls while she stands alone, weeping,
despondent and sorrowing at the door of her wigwam._
_Description of Hiawatha_:
Dressed for travel, armed for hunting;
Dressed in deer-skin shirt and leggings,
Richly wrought with quills and wampum;
On his head his eagle-feathers.
Round his waist his belt of wampum,
In his hand his bow of ash-wood,
Strung with sinews of the reindeer;
In his quiver oaken arrows,
Tipped with jasper, winged with feathers;
With his mittens, Minjekahwun,
With his moccasins enchanted.
_Act, Hiawatha_:
Thus departed Hiawatha
To the land of the Dacotahs,
To the land of handsome women;
_Act, Nokomis_:
Homeward weeping went Nokomis
Sorrowing for her Hiawatha.
ACT III.
Scene Second. Hiawatha’s Journey.
_Scenery:_
_A short scene can be given here, showing a deep
forest, also giving a view of Hiawatha upon his
journey and with his bow and arrow, shooting the
deer which he takes MINNEHAHA as a gift, and lays
at her feet on his arrival._
_Act, Hiawatha_:
Through the forest deep and lonely,
Then he journeyed without resting,
Till he heard the cataract’s laughter,
Heard the Falls of Minnehaha
Calling to him through the silence.
Standing, Listening, he murmured,
_Hiawatha_:
Pleasant is the sound!
Pleasant is the voice that calls me!
On the outskirts of the forest,
Twixt the shadow and the sunshine,
Herds of fallow deer were feeding.
But they saw not Hiawatha;
_Hiawatha (whispering to his bow)_:
Fail not!
_Hiawatha (whispering to his arrow)_:
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.
ACT III.
“TRIBE OF THE DACOTAHS,”
HOME OF THE ARROW-MAKER.
Scene Third. Wooing of Minnehaha.
_Scenery_:
_As perfect an imitation as possible of the Scenery
of and about MINNEHAHA FALLS. With the FALLS,
also Very High Rocks in the background. In the
foreground, at the base of Minnehaha Falls, a
wigwam, representing the appearance and interior
of a wigwam of the DACOTAH TRIBE. MINNEHAHA to be
tall, straight, dashing and handsome. (See the
following Description.)_
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Where the Falls of Minnehaha
Flash and gleam among the oak-trees,
Laugh and leap into the valley.
Very spacious was the wigwam,
Made of deer-skin dressed and whitened,
With the Gods of the Dacotahs
Drawn and painted on its curtains,
And so tall the doorway, hardly
Hiawatha stooped to enter,
Hardly touched his eagle-feathers
As he entered at the doorway.
_Act, Arrow-maker_:
At the doorway of his wigwam
Sat the ancient Arrow-maker,
In the land of the Dacotahs,
Making arrow-heads of jasper,
Arrow-heads of chalcedony.
_Description of Minnehaha_:
At his side in all her beauty,
Sat the lovely Minnehaha,
Sat his daughter, Laughing water
Plaiting mats of flags and rushes;
Feet as rapid as the river,
Tresses flowing like the water,
And as musical a laughter;
And he named her from the river,
From the water-fall he named her,
Minnehaha, Laughing Water
_Act, Minnehaha_:
She was thinking of a hunter,
From another tribe and country,
Young and tall and very handsome.
On the mat her hands lay idle,
And her eyes were very dreamy.
Through her thoughts she heard a footstep,
Heard a rustling in the branches,
_Act, Hiawatha_:
And with glowing cheek and forehead,
With the deer upon his shoulders,
Suddenly from out the woodlands
Hiawatha stood before them.
_Act, Arrow-maker_:
Straight the ancient Arrow-maker
Looked up gravely from his labor,
Laid aside the unfinished arrow,
Bade him enter at the doorway,
Saying, as he rose to meet him,
_Arrow-maker_:
Hiawatha, you are welcome!
_Act, Hiawatha_:
At the feet of Laughing Water
Hiawatha laid his burden,
Threw the red deer from his shoulders;
_Act, Minnehaha_:
And the maiden looked up at him,
Looked up from her mat of rushes,
Said with gentle look and accent.
_Minnehaha_:
You are welcome, Hiawatha!
_Act, Minnehaha_:
Then uprose the Laughing Water,
From the ground fair Minnehaha,
Laid aside her mat unfinished,
Brought forth food and set before them,
Water brought them from the brooklet,
Gave them food in earthen vessels,
Gave them drink in bowls of bass-wood.
_The following conversation to be carried on between
the ARROW-MAKER and HIAWATHA while MINNEHAHA brings
the food etc., and sets before them._
_Hiawatha, (with much expression)_:
“You know of my wondrous birth and being,
How I prayed and how I fasted,
How I lived, and toiled, and suffered,
That the tribes of men might prosper,
That I might advance my people!”
Dear Old Nokomis who has nursed me in my childhood
needs a daughter now to help her.
To the lodge of old Nokomis
I would bring the moonlight, starlight, firelight,
Bring the sunshine to my people,
Give me Minnehaha, Laughing Water,
Handsomest of all the women
In the land of the Dacotahs,
In the land of handsome women.
There is happiness and plenty
In the land of the Ojibways,
In the pleasant land and peaceful.
_Act, Minnehaha_:
See the face of Laughing Water,
Peeping from behind the curtain,
Hear the rustling of her garments
From behind the waving curtain,
Listened while the guest was speaking,
Listened while her father answered,
But not once her lips she opened,
Not a single word she uttered.
Yes, as in a dream she listened
To the words of Hiawatha.
_Hiawatha, (with deep feeling)_:
After many years of warfare,
Many years of strife and bloodshed,
There is peace between the Ojibways
And the tribe of the Dacotahs.
_Hiawatha; In his earnestness rising, speaking
slowly, with Great Expression, and turning toward
Minnehaha._
“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,
Loveliest of Dacotah women!”
_Act, Hiawatha_:
_Reseats himself, looking expectantly and earnestly
at the Arrow-maker for his reply._
_Act, Arrow-maker_:
And the ancient Arrow-maker
Paused a moment ere he answered,
Smoked a little while in silence,
Looked at Hiawatha proudly,
Fondly looked at Laughing Water,
Then made answer very gravely:
_Arrow-maker (with deep feeling)_:
Yes, if Minnehaha wishes;
Let your heart speak, Minnehaha.
_Act, Minnehaha_:
And the lovely Laughing Water
Seemed more lovely, as she stood there,
Neither willing nor reluctant.
_Act, Minnehaha_:
_Turns FIRST to ONE and THEN to the OTHER, hesitates
at thought of leaving her father, goes to him, then
turning, looking at Hiawatha, hesitates._
_Act, Minnehaha_:
Then, she went to Hiawatha
Softly took the seat beside him,
While she said, and blushed to say it.
_Minnehaha_:
I will follow you my husband!
_Arrow-maker_:
_Rising, going over and speaking to Hiawatha._
You have wooed and won my maiden,
With your stories of the North-land!
Happy are you, Hiawatha,
Having such a wife to love you!
_Arrow-maker; turning, speaking to his daughter_:
Happy are you, Laughing Water,
Having such a noble husband!
_Arrow-maker, (to both)_:
O my children,
Love is sunshine, hate is shadow,
Life is checkered shade and sunshine,
Rule by love, O Hiawatha!
“O my children,
Day is restless, night is quiet,
Man imperious, women feeble;
Half is hers although she follows
Rule by patience, Laughing Water!”
_Act, Hiawatha and Minnehaha_:
From the wigwam he departed,
Leading with him Laughing Water;
Hand in hand they went together,
Left the old man standing lonely
At the doorway of his wigwam.
_Arrow-maker, very sorrowfully_:
Fare thee well, O Minnehaha!
_Act, Arrow-maker_:
And the ancient Arrow-maker
Turned again unto his labor,
Sat down by his sunny doorway,
Murmuring to himself, and saying:
_Arrow-maker, (meditatively and with much expression)_:
“Thus it is our daughters leave us
Those we love, and those who love us!
Just when they have learned to help us,
Just when we are old and lean upon them,
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers,
With his flute of reeds, a stranger
Wanders piping through the village,
Beckons to the fairest maiden,
And she follows where he leads her,
Leaving father, mother, home, friends,
Leaving ALL things, for the Stranger.”
_Hiawatha and Minnehaha are to be seen (while
Arrow-maker is thus sitting at the doorway and
meditating); first winding in and out among the
trees, then climbing the rocks, coming into view,
then disappearing behind rocks; then again being
seen wending their way higher and higher upon the
rocks, and when the SUMMIT of the MINNEHAHA FALLS
is reached, they are seen, Hiawatha, with his arm
around Minnehaha, pointing to the wigwam in the
valley below. The Old Arrow-maker sees them at the
same time, rises, (shading his eyes with his hand)
and looks upward at them. HOME SWEET HOME is played
behind the scenes, soft and low, with stringed
instruments, while they are climbing the rocks, and
various colored lights are thrown upon the scene,
making an effective and beautiful tableaux._