This was the 100 years after Wordsworth penned the "noble savage" it was 20-30 years after the "war in the west" in which Sherman and Jackson demanded the eradication of the native cultures in the west. It was two decades after Sand Creek Massacre, wounded Knee Massacre, Little Big Horn ( chock thos up for the indians), and many more.

Eventually, the indians were overehelmed and put on reservations, a few in their homeland, but most in lands foreign to them. They were oversaw by the military via a branch known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA]. The philosophy of the BIA concerning their charges is that they were all children, regardless of age. As children, they couldn't possibly know what was good for themselves. It was the job of the military to teach them what was good and necessary, in the Christian tradition.

Just prior to 1906 saw the rise of the Indian Boarding Schools along the Carlisle model. Native children were forcibly taken from their home and families. Placed in boarding schools where they were forced to cut their hair. They were punished if they spoke their language or prayed to their gods.

The goal was overtly to make them, 1st Christian, then good submissive red white men. They were forced to learn vocational skills, both male and female. Many children ran away and perished trying to get home. Most were caught, brought back and severely punished. To this day, the majority of Native Americans adults are suspicious of westetn education

I have taught on two reservations and in three Native schools, including one of the historic boarding schools (not the same paradigm today, we revere their culture nowadays and teach it alongside western education) over the last thirty years.

Hiawatha is not very well thought of as it perpetuates false stereotypes. But, I share your appeciation for old books and am sort of an Antiquarian myself.