Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
- One day, Hiawatha goes into the forest and starts fasting so that better fortune will come to the people of his village.
- He builds a special wigwam and goes for seven days and nights without eating anything. While fasting, he walks around nature and develops a deeper appreciation for it. He asks the Master of Life whether or not human life truly depends so much on the world of food. The resounding answer is… "Yup."
- Finally, the Master of Life's ambassador (called Mondamin) descends from the sky and tells Hiawatha that good things will come from his commitment to fasting. He instructs Hiawatha to get up from bed and wrestle with him. And even though Hiawatha is weak with hunger, he gets up and beats Mondamin at wrestling. Mondamin says he'll come back the next day when Hiawatha is even weaker.
- Sure enough, Mondamin comes back and Hiawatha beats him again. Mondamin comes back a third time and loses yet again.
- Mondamin says that the next day will be the final day of Hiawatha's fasting. At that time, Hiawatha will conquer and overcome Mondamin, killing him and laying him in a special grave. Mondamin promises he'll return afterward in a new form.
- On the next day, Nokomis comes with food for Hiawatha, but Hiawatha turns it down. Nokomis begs him to eat, but nothing doing.
- Mondamin shows up and Hiawatha kills him just like it was foretold. Then he buries the young dude and stands watch by his grave day after day until corn grows out of the land. From that point on, the people never go hungry because there's so much corn. To commemorate this event, all the people of the land have an annual "Feast of Mondamin."