Hiawatha (also known as Ayenwatha, Aiionwatha, or Haien'wa'tha [ha.je?.wa?.tha] in Onondaga) was a pre-colonial Native American leader and co-founder of the Iroquois Confederacy. Depending on the version of the narrative, he was a leader of the Onondaga and the Mohawk, or both. According to some versions, he was born an Onondaga, but adopted into the Mohawk. Hiawatha was a follower of the Great Peacemaker (Deganawida), a Huron prophet and spiritual leader who proposed the unification of the Iroquois peoples, who shared common ancestry and similar languages.

In attempting to date the Great Peacemaker and Hiawatha, focus has come to an incident related to the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy, their lifework. One rendition of the oral history eventually written down by scholars involves a division among the Seneca nation, the last nation to join the original confederacy. A violent confrontation began and was suddenly stopped when the sun darkened, and it seemed like night. Scholars have successively studied the possibilities of this being a solar eclipse since 1902 when William Canfield wrote Legends of the Iroquois; told by "the Cornplanter". Successive other scholars who mention it were (chronologically): Paul A. W. Wallace, Elizabeth Tooker, Bruce E. Johansen, Dean R. Snow, Barbara A. Mann and Jerry L. Fields, William N. Fenton, David Henige, Gary Warrick, and Neta Crawford.  Since Canfield's first mention, and the majority view, scholars have supported the 1451 AD date for the plausible solar eclipse mention. Some argue it is an insufficient fit for the description and favor 1142 AD while a few question the whole idea.  Archaeological supporting arguments have progressed. In 1982 Dean Snow considered the mainstream view of the archaeology not to support any dates for an eclipse before 1350 AD (thus ruling out the 1142 AD date.) By 1998 Fenton considered an earlier eclipse than the 1451 AD majority view unlikely but possible as long as it was after 1000 AD - a window that allows the 1142 AD date. By 2007/8 reviews considered an 1142 AD eclipse as clearly possible even if most still supported 1451 AD as the safe choice.

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