Wilderness Messiah: The Story of Hiawatha and the Iroquois

This unusual book is an interpretation of the Iroquois Indians' many-sided genius--their talent for government, their ways in war, their conduct in family living, their religious beliefs.  Throughout the book the real Hiawatha--not Longfellow's fictional brave--is a symbol of this genius, for it was he who persuaded the Iroquoian tribes to settle their suicidal differences and unite in the Great Peace of the 15th Century.  And it was this confederation that decided the fate of a continent.

Probably nowhere else in the world has the status of women been as high as among the Iroquois.  On the other hand, the Iroquois extended the Great Peace by making war.  Mr. Henry presents a bold and moving picture of these early Americans.