The Song of Hiawatha

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

with illustrations by Harrison Fisher

and decorations by E. Stetson Crawford

GLOSSARY

TOUCH FOR
LAST
CHAPTER
TOUCH FOR
KETCHAM’S
ANNOTATIONS
The first edition of The Song of Hiawatha did not include a glossary. Neither did the 1906 Bobbs-Merrill edition. This glossary is based on the 1900 A. L. Burt edition that was annotated by Henry Ketcham.
A

Ad·ji·dau´mo — the red squirrel

Ah·deek´ — the reindeer

Ah·kose´win

Ah·meek´ — the beaver

Ah´mo — the bee

An·ne·mee´kee — the thunder

A·puk´wa — a bulrush

B

Baim-wa´wa — the sound of the thunder

Be·mah´gut — the grapevine

Be´na — the pheasant

Big-Sea-Water — Lake Superior

Bu·ka·da´win — famine

C

Ca·lu·met´ — a ceremonial peace pipe; from the french word chalumet

Che·maun´ — a birch canoe

Che·to·waik´ — the plover

Chi·bia´bos — a musician; friend of Hiawatha; becomes ruler of the Land of Spirits

D

Dah·in´da — the bullfrog

Dush-kwo-ne´-she — or Kwo-ne-she the dragonfly

E

E´sashame on you

Es·co·na´ba´ — the Escanaba River in the upper peninsula of Michigan

E·wa-ye·a´ — lullaby

G

Ghee·zis — the sun

Git´che Gu´mee — The Big-Sea-Water, Lake Superior

Git´che Ma´ni·to — the Great Spirit, the Master of Life

Gush·ke·wau´ — the darkness

H

Hi·a·wa´tha — the Wise Man, the Prophet, the Teacher; son of Mudjekeewis, the West-Wind and Wenonah, daughter of Nokomis

I

I·a´goo — a great boaster and story-teller

In·in´e·wug — men, or pawns in the game Pugasaing, wedgemen

Ish·koo·dah´ — fire, a comet

J

Jee´bi — a ghost, a spirit

Joss´a·keed — a prophet

K

Ka·be·yun´

Ka·bi·bo·nok´ka — the North Wind

Kagh — the hedgehog

Ka´go — do not

Kah·gah·gee´ — the raven

Kaw — no

Ka·ween´ — no indeed

Ka·yoshk´ — the seagull

Kee´go — a fish

Kee·way´din — the Northwest wind, the Home Wind

Ke·na´beek — a serpent

Ke·ne·u´ — the great war-eagle

Ke·no´zha — the pike

Ko´ko-ko´ho — the owl

Kun·ta·soo´ — the Game of Plumstones

Kwa´sind — the Strong Man, Hiawatha’s friend

Kwo-ne´-she — or Dush-kwo-ne-she, the dragon-fly

M

Mah·nah·be´zee — the swan

Mahng — the loon

Mahn-go-tay´see — loon-hearted, brave

Mah·no·mo´nee — wild rice

Ma´ma — the woodpecker

Ma´ni·to — a spirit, a guardian spirit

Maiden of the Prarie — the prarie dandelion, Nothocalais cuspidata in the Aster family

Me´da — a healer

Me´da·min — the art of healing

Mee·nah´ga — the blueberry

Me·gis·sog´won — the great Pearl-Feather, a magician, and the Manito of Wealth

Me·shi·nau´wa — a pipe-bearer

Min·je·kah´wun — Hiawatha´s mittens

Min·ne·ha´ha — Laughing Water; wife of Hiawatha; a waterfall off the Mississippi in Minneapolis

Min·ne-wa´wa — a pleasant sound, as of the wind in the trees

Mi·she-Mo´kwa — the Great Bear

Mi·she-Nah´ma — the Great Sturgeon

Mis·ko·deed´ — the Spring-Beauty, the claytonia Virginica

Mit´che Ma´ni·to — spirit of evil

Mon·da´min — corn

Moon of Bright Nights — April

Moon of Leaves — May

Moon of Strawberries — June

Moon of the Falling Leaves — September

Moon of Snowshoes — November

Mud·je·kee´wis — the West Wind; father of Hiawatha

Mud·way-aush´ka — sound of waves on a shore

Mush·ko·da´sa — the grouse

Mus´ko·day — the meadow

N

Nah´ma — the sturgeon

Nah´ma-wusk — spearmint

Na´gow Wudj´oo — the Grand Sable sand dunes of Lake Superior

Na·na·boh´zo — a moral, heroic, and trickster figure in many First Nations storytellings, particularly among the Ojibwe. Longfellow’s Hiawatha character is based on Nanabozho, minus his trickster aspects.

Na·wa·da´ha — a sweet singer; the teller of this tale

Nee-ba-naw´-baigs — water-spirits

Ne·ne·moo´sha — sweetheart

Ne·pah´win — spirit of sleep

No·ko´mis — a grandmother; Hiawatha’s grandmother, mother of Wenonah

No´sa — my father

Nush´ka — look! look!

O

O·dah´min — the strawberry

O·jeeg´ — the summer-water, the Fisher Weasel

O·kah·ha´wis — the fresh-water herring

O·me´mee — the pigeon

O·na´gon — a bowl

On·a·way´ — awake

O·pe·chee´ — the robin

Os·se´o — Son of the Evening Star

O·wais´sa — the blue-bird

O·wee·nee´ — wife of Osseo

O·za·wa´beek — a round piece of brass or copper in the game Pugasaing

P

Pah-puk-kee´na — the grasshopper

Pai·mo·said´ — the stealthy walker, thief

Pau´guk — death

Pau-Puk-Kee´wis — the handsome Yenadizze, the son of Storm Fool

Pau·wa´ting — Sault Sainte Marie

Pe´bo·an — Winter

Pem´i·can — meat of the deer or buffalo dried and pounded; jerky

Pez·he·kee´ — the bison

Pish·ne·kuh´ — the brant, Branta bernicla, a small black-feathered goose the size of a mallard

Po·ne'mah — hereafter

Pu·ga·saing´ — to throw; the game of bowl-and-counters, a dice game

Pug·ga·wau´gun — a war-club

Puk·wa·na´ — smoke of the peace pipe

Puk-Wudj´ies or Puk-Wudj-Ininnes — little wild men of the woods; pygmies; fairies

S

Sah-sah-je´wun — rapids

Sah´wa — the perch

Seg·wun´ — Spring

Sha´da — the pelican

Shah·bo´min — the gooseberry

Shah-shah — long ago

Shau·go·da´ya — a coward

Shaw·ga·shee´ — the crawfish

Sha·won·da´see — the South-Wind

Shaw-shaw — the swallow

Shesh´eb·wug — ducks; pieces in the game Pugasaing

Shin´ge·bis — the duck, a diver, resilient despite harsh conditions

Sho·wain´ne·me´shin — pity me

Shuh-shuh-gah´— the blue heron

Soan-ge-ta´ha — strong-hearted

Se·bo·wi´sha — a brook, a rivulet

Sub·be·ka´she — the spider

Sug·ge´me — the mosquito

T

Ta·que·me´naw — the Tahquamenon River and Whitefish Bay

Ta·ma·rack´— the larch tree

Ti´pi — a conical lodge tent made of animal hides or pelts stretched over wooden poles. Also spelled tepee. Should not be confused with a wigwam.

To´tem — family coat-of-arms, sigil

U

Ugh — yes

U·gud·wash´ — the sunfish

Unk·ta·hee´ — the God of Water

W

Wa·bas´so — the rabbit, the North

Wa·be´no — a magician, a juggler

Wa·be´no-wusk — yarrow

Wa´bun — the East Wind

Wa´bun An´nung — the Star of the East, the Morning Star

Wa´ge·min — crooked grain, thief of cornfields

Wa·ho·no´win — a cry of lamentation

Wah-wah-tay´see — the firefly

Wam´pum — strings of beads made from shells possessing symbolic cultural value. Sequences of colored beads encode information like a name or office; or a message.

Wau·beek´— the black rock

Wau·be·wy´on — a white skin wrapper

Wa´wa — the wild goose

Waw-be-wa´wa — the white goose

Wa·wo·nais´sa — the whippoorwill

Way-muk-kwa´na — the caterpillar

Way-was·si´mo — the lightning

Wen´di·goes — giants

We·no´nah — the eldest daughter; Hiawatha’s mother, daughter of Nokomis

Wig´wam — a semi-permanent domed dwelling. Should not be confused with a tipi.

Y

Ye·na·diz´ze — an idler and gambler; a dandy


The Song of Hiawatha • 2024 Online Illustrated Edition