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
The Song of Hiawatha 1855, "The New York Times " carried an item on "Longfellow's New Poem", quoting an article from another periodical which said that it "is very original, and has the simplicity and charm of a Saga... it is the very antipodes [sic] of Alfred Lord Tennyson's "Maud," which is... morbid, irreligious, and painful." In October of that year, the "New York Times" noted that "Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha" is nearly printed, and will soon appear." By November its column, "Gossip: What has been most Talked About during the Week," observed that "The madness of the hour takes the metrical shape of