...able lack of the warrior themes that occupy the epics of the old world. The Amerind hero is a culture hero, introducer of agriculture, of irrigation, and of improved house-building. Hiawatha, not Longfellow 's Ojibway composite, but the original Haion 'hwa'tha of the Mohawks, was a statesman, a reformer, and a prophet. His very name (he makes rivers) refers to his establishment of canoe routes among th...