Nokomis

Also known as: Daughter of the Moon · Family: Ojibways · Role: grandmother of Hiawatha · First appears: III · Hiawatha’s Childhood

In “III · Hiawatha’s Childhood,” Nokomis fell from the full moon after a rejected rival cut her swing. She bore Wenonah, who later bore Hiawatha after Mudjekeewis wooed her. Nokomis nursed and raised Hiawatha, taught him about the stars and the world around him, and made him a cloak and a feast. She urged him in “IX · Hiawatha and the Pearl-Feather” to slay Megissogwon and avenge her father.

In “X · Hiawatha’s Wooing,” Hiawatha brought Minnehaha to Nokomis’s lodge. Nokomis invited the village and hosted their wedding feast in “XI · Hiawatha’s Wedding-Feast”; her friend Iagoo was among the guests. In “XVI · Pau-Puk-Keewis,” Pau-Puk-Keewis threw the household things into disorder as an insult to Nokomis and Minnehaha. In “XXII · Hiawatha’s Departure,” Nokomis served food and drink to the visiting Black-Robe chief and his companions, whom Hiawatha entrusted to her care before leaving.