Hiawatha (1913 film) only an abridged copy of the film. Hiawatha (1913 film) Hiawatha is a 1913 American silent drama film directed by Edgar Lewis and based upon Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem "The Song of Hiawatha" (1855). The film stars Jesse Cornplanter of the Seneca people and Soon-goot, a 17-year-old unknown actress. The movie is the first feature film to use a cast of American Indians. The story begins along the Lake Superior Michigan shoreline with the appearance of a mighty spirit that tells the Indians a peacekeeper will bring wisdom and unite the warring tribes. Hiawatha is born to Wenonah and
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