Hiawatha and Minnehaha Hiawatha and Minnehaha Hiawatha and Minnehaha is a sculpture by Jacob Fjelde that has stood in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis since the early twentieth century. Now a popular fixture of the park, its placement there was originally controversial. In 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published a book-length poem entitled "The Song of Hiawatha". Longfellow never visited Minnesota, but he set his poem among the Ojibwe and Dakota of the region. The poem's story line was based on traditional Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tales, as recorded, sometimes incorrectly, by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. "The Song of Hiawatha" was widely read and had significant cultural influence
Hiawatha (1913 film) cast smeared with bronze paint" was a target for ridicule. Laemmle's story ended with Hiawatha and Minnehaha happily embracing, but Moore's "Hiawatha" follows Longfellow's poem in which Minnehaha dies and Hiawatha welcomes the arrival of the missionary, who converts the Indians to the Christian faith. In 1910, Laemmle followed up his 1909 version of "Hiawatha" with the sequel, "The Death of Minnehaha". "Hiawatha" opened at New York City's Berkeley theater where it achieved "splendid sales", according to the "Moving Picture News". Moore distributed "Hiawatha" selling the film by states rights to 12 states. A review in "Moving Picture World" praised