BəDİİ ƏSƏRLƏRİn diLİNDƏ DİalektizmləRİn yeri VƏ MÖvqeyi

İsgandarova N.V., Alizadeh N.Sh. 

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Longfellow writing about the Mondamin Feast, assures that the real origin of Thanksgiving Day 
goes back to The Indians. Anyway this holiday is a traditional day for all American families and 
they often have great meals which include a turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie 
and vegetables [8]. 
The greatest feast given in the poem is Hiawatha’s wedding-feast. Each nation has different 
wedding traditions. Weddings in all cultures were always an interesting issue. In the “Song of 
Hiawatha” Longfellow introduces us the Indian wedding feast. We get more acquainted with their 
food dance, way of feasting from the Hiawatha’s wedding feast. Hiawatha’s marriage had a special 
purpose. As he was a prophet sent to his nation, he didn’t do anything only for himself. His every 
deed served to his nation. Also his marriage served for bringing peace to his people. When 
Hiawatha expresses his desire to marry, Nokomis warns him. She advices him to marry a maiden of 
his nation, and not bring a girl from other tribe to his wigwam. But it was too late to warn 
Hiawatha, because he had already chosen his maiden who was not from their tribe. She was from 
the tribe of Dakotas, the enemies to Ojibways. He wanted to unite the two nations and hoped the old 
feuds would be forgotten. The most interesting tradition before the wedding is Hiawatha’s wooing 
his maiden, Laughing Minnehaha. He takes his way towards the lands of Dakotah, where he saw his 
lovely, beautiful Minnehaha. It was a custom for Indians to bring a food from hunt, for the family of 
the maiden when the Indian man comes to woo her. Thus did Hiawatha, brought a red deer on his 
shoulders to the wigwam of the Arrow-Maker, the father of Minnehaha. This shows how the man 
successful and skillful in hunting, can afford his family with food. While the Arrow-Maker and 
Hiawatha were talking, she brought food and drinks for them and kept silence, even didn’t say a 
word. Hiawatha offers to the Arrow-Maker to clasp their hands forever and to unite their hearts. He 
asks the old man to give his beautiful girl to him as a wife to make the two tribes, Ojibways and 
Dakotahs united and live in peace. With Minnehaha’s agreement, her father lets her follow her 
husband to the lands of Ojibway [5, 79-87]. Another interesting point in Hiawatha’s wooing is the 
father’s words after his lovely daughter leaves him all alone. The feelings of the Arrow-Maker are 
given with a high accuracy by Longfellow:
“Thus it is our daughters leave us, 
Those we love, and those who love us! 
Just when they have learned to help us, 
When we are old and lean upon them, 
Comes a youth with flaunting feathers… 
…And she follows where he leads her, 
Leaving all things for the stranger! ” [5, 85]. 
Though the father understands that his daughter will leave him as soon as she reaches her 
beauty, he nevertheless feels jealousy. His daughter leaves him, when he is old and needs her help. 
But he cannot accept his loneliness as his daughter was his only friend in life, and now he is alone 
in his silent wigwam. In the other tribe, in the lands of Ojibway, the great feast was given to the 
honor of Hiawatha and Minnehaha. As a sign of invitation Nokomis sent the messengers with 
wands of willow. This is how Indians invited their guests to the wedding-feast. All the people from 
the Ojibway were gathered to Hiawatha’s wedding. All of them were joyous and happy for 
Hiawatha. The guests were dressed in their robes of fur, belts of wampum. Wampum was a quantity 
of small cylindrical beads made by North American Indians from quahog shells, strung together and 
worn as a decorative belt or other decoration, or used as money. Also guests were splendid with 
their paint and plumage beautiful with beads and tassels. In the wedding Pau-Puk-Keewis makes his 
dance, the old great boaster tells tales of adventures and the gentle Chibiabos sings his sweetest 
songs. In the wedding Nokomis tries to do her best to make the guests were contented and pleased. 
When the Indians entertained their guests they didn’t sit with them. Even they didn’t touch the food, 
because everything was done only for the guests. For the Indians the guest was very precious and