The scene of the poem is among the Ojibways on the southern shore of Lake Superior, in the region between the Pictured Rocks and the Grand Sable.

VOCABULARY

Adjidau’mo, the red squirrel. 
Ahdeek’, the reindeer. 
Ahkose’win, fever. 
Ahmeek’, the beaver. 
Algon’quin, Ojibway. 
Annemee’kee, the thunder. 
Apuk’wa. a bulrush. 
Baim-wa’wa, the sound of the thunder. 
Bemah’gut, the grapevine. 
Be’na, the pheasant. 
Big-Sea-Water, Lake Superior. 
Bukada’win, famine. 
Chemaun’, a birch canoe. 
Chetowaik’, the plover. 
Chibia’bos, a musician; friend of Hiawatha; ruler in the Land of Spirits. 
Dahin’da, the bull frog. 
Dush-kwo-ne’she or Kwo-ne’she, the dragon fly. 
Esa, shame upon you. 
Ewa-yea’, lullaby. 
Ghee’zis, the sun. 
Gitche Gu’mee, The Big-Sea-Water, Lake Superior. 
Gitche Man’ito, the Great Spirit, the Master of Life. 
Gushkewau’, the darkness. 
Hiawa’tha, the Wise Man, the Teacher, son of Mudjekeewis, the
    WestWind and Wenonah, daughter of Nokomis. 
Ia’goo, a great boaster and story-teller. 
Inin’ewug, men, or pawns in the Game of the Bowl. 
Ishkoodah’, fire, a comet. 
Jee’bi, a ghost, a spirit. 
Joss’akeed, a prophet. 
Kabibonok’ka, the North-Wind. 
Kagh, the hedge-hog. 
Ka’go, do not. 
Kahgahgee’, the raven. 
Kaw, no. 
Kaween’, no indeed. 
Kayoshk’, the sea-gull. 
Kee’go, a fish. 
Keeway’din, the Northwest wind, the Home-wind. 
Kena’beek, a serpent. 
Keneu’, the great war-eagle. 
Keno’zha, the pickerel. 
Ko’ko-ko’ho, the owl. 
Kuntasoo’, the Game of Plum-stones. 
Kwa’sind, the Strong Man. 
Kwo-ne’she, or Dush-kwo-ne’she, the dragon-fly. 
Mahnahbe’zee, the swan. 
Mahng, the loon. 
Mahn-go-tay’see, loon-hearted, brave. 
Mahnomo’nee, wild rice. 
Ma’ma, the woodpecker. 
Maskeno’zha, the pike. 
Me’da, a medicine-man. 
Meenah’ga, the blueberry. 
Megissog’won, the great Pearl-Feather, a magician, and the Manito
    of Wealth. 
Meshinau’wa, a pipe-bearer. 
Minjekah’wun, Hiawatha’s mittens. 
Minneha’ha, Laughing Water; wife of Hiawatha; a water-fall in a
stream running into the Mississippi between Fort Snelling and the
    Falls of St. Anthony. 
Minne-wa’wa, a pleasant sound, as of the wind in the trees. 
Mishe-Mo’kwa, the Great Bear. 
Mishe-Nah’ma, the Great Sturgeon. 
Miskodeed’, the Spring-Beauty, the Claytonia Virginica. 
Monda’min, Indian corn. 
Moon of Bright Nights, April. 
Moon of Leaves, May. 
Moon of Strawberries, June. 
Moon of the Falling Leaves, September. 
Moon of Snow-shoes, November. 
Mudjekee’wis, the West-Wind; father of Hiawatha. 
Mudway-aush’ka, sound of waves on a shore. 
Mushkoda’sa, the grouse. 
Nah’ma, the sturgeon. 
Nah’ma-wusk, spearmint. 
Na’gow Wudj’oo, the Sand Dunes of Lake