Native Jewelry

In “The Song of Hiawatha”, a popular poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the character of Hiawatha is actually drawn from the writings of Henry R. Schoolcraft, who had confused the real Hiawatha with a Chippewa deity.  Longfellow’s version of events and character, therefore, in any way relates to the great Iroquois reformer.  Unfortunately, there are no known images of Hiawatha.
Hiawatha was a skilled statesman and charismatic orator who was instrumental in persuading the Iroquois peoples, the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks, a group of Native North Americans who shared similar languages, to accept The Great Peacemaker’s vision and band together to become the Five Nations of the Iroquois confederacy. Thus the notion of the native politics emerges.
In our mind’s eye we can see Hiawatha on the banks of a river but also, perhaps, a maiden on the other bank  resplendent in Native clothing and Native Jewelry waiting for her love on the other side.
We can all enjoy the Native Jewelry even in this modern day as the ability to work with silver and gems has been handed down from generation to generation.  Some of the most gifted silversmiths are native and they are proud to share their culture with anyone who so desires.