Featured in this lot is this Hiawatha Indian tobacco felt framed circa 1900's. The tobacco felt features a wonderfully and professionally decoration and depiction of the famed Hiawatha with geometric patterns of rugs in the background and reads across the bottom as follows: Hiawatha. Tobacco felt was first used in the United States in the late 1800s, and by the early 1900s, it had become a common material in the tobacco industry. As the cigarette market grew in the early 20th century, tobacco companies began using tobacco felt in their packaging and advertising to promote their products. Hiawatha is an important figure in the precolonial history of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) of present-day southern Ontario and upper New York (ca. 1400-1450). He is known most famously for uniting the Five Nations—Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk—into a political confederacy. The condition of this framed tobacco felt is well preserved with no obvious signs of damage to the felt and the wooden frame shows slight marks and scratches. The measurements of this framed tobacco felt is 9 1/4" x 11" and the visible tobacco felt measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/8". The collective weight of this framed tobacco felt is 14oz.