One of the most famous writers of the American Indian. In 1822 Schoolcraft was made Indian agent at Mackinac and acting superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Michigan area. Ten years later he commanded an expedition to discover the sources of the Mississippi River.
Schoolcraft lived among Indians and married a Chippewa women. he wrote extensively on his travels and his experiences among Indians from 1820 to 1857. His Historical and Statistical information Respecting the History, Conditions, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States, in five volumes, was authorized and ordered published by Congress.
Schoolcraft also negotiated treaties with various Indian tribes whereby the Government obtained 16,000,000 acres of land. The hero of Longfellow's poem Hiawatha is drawn from Schoolcraft's writings. however, Schoolcraft confused the real Hiawatha with a Chippewa deity. As a result nothing in Longfellow's poem relates to the great Iroquois reformer and statesman.
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[ Chippewa ][ Hiawatha
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