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The Resume
Bride of Hiawatha
Follower of Deganawidah, founder of the Iroquois confederacy
Would have lived between the years 1525-1575
Name roughly translates to 'Laughing Water' or 'Waterfall' in the Dakota language
Namesake for several prominent locations throughout the Great Lakes area
Figures prominently into Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, 'The Song of Hiawatha'
Why she might be annoying
That name...
Recent archaeological findings would seem to point to date their life story much earlier than is generally accepted, putting it as far back as the 12th-century (as opposed to the generally accepted 1500's).
Her name was 'Germanized' for a 1905 'book of manners,' by Frank Wedekind, called 'On the Bodily Education of Young Girls.'
While Hiawatha almost certainly existed in some form, it is less clear if any such person as Minnehaha really existed at all.
If the Council of the Confederacy is to be believed, she would have resorted to acts of cannibalism, along with her husband (before eventually switching to venison).
She may just have been a complete figment of Longfellow's imagination, merely there to perpetuate a romance that had little to do with his actual life.
Longfellow had based his poem on the extensive research of his colleague, linguist Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, whose references to Hiawatha's marriage are very scant.
Why she might not be annoying
She had seven daughters with Hiawatha.
All seven were then killed by a rival chief of Hiawatha's named Atotarho, in retaliation for refusing his hand.
In the aftermath, her husband created a condolence ceremony to serve in place of violent revenge.
She’s the namesake for the Minnehaha Falls and Minnehaha Park, in Minnesota.
She and Hiawatha both are namesakes for streets in downtown Minneapolis, which run parallel to one another.
‘The Death of Minnehaha’ inspired works by composers Antonin Dvorak, Hugo Kaun, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Her 'death' was a favorite subject among 19th-century painters, including Frederic Remington William de Leftwich, and Albert Biernstadt.
There probably is something to the idea that she was from a rival tribe of Hiawatha's, considering that he was instrumental in persuading the Iroquois, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, the Seneca, and the Mohawk to unite under the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.
Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair
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Year In Review:
In 2017, Out of 9 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
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