The Sleeping Giant - Nanabijou
Visible from many places in Thunder Bay, the Sleeping Giant is the city's most well-known natural wonder. The landmass itself is an Ontario Park with hundreds of kilometres of hiking trails and campsites to enjoy.
Thousands of locals and visitors alike marvel at the wonder of the Sleeping Giant each year, but what is the legend surrounding this Giant?
The legend goes as follows...
Standing on the shores of Thunder Bay at
the head of the great Lake Superior, one can perceive, on looking out
across the waters of Thunder Bay, a great land formation situated
directly in the mouth of the Bay.
It requires no imagination whatever to see
that this form resembles the sleeping body of a giant, arms folded
across his massive chest as in the majesty of death.
Mystery and legend surround the origin of
this strange phenomenon of nature and down through the ages the
following story seems to have survived.
On an island just outside Thunder Bay, now known as "Isle Royale," once lived a great tribe of Ojibway Natives.
Because of their loyalty to their Gods, and
their peaceful and industrious mode of living, Nanabijou, the Spirit of
the Deep Sea Water, decided to reward them.
One day he called their Chief to his great
Thunder Temple on the mountain and warned him that if he told the secret
to the white man, that he, Nanabijou would be turned to stone and the
Ojibway tribe perish.
The Chief gave his promise, and Nanabijou told him of the rich silver mine, now known as "Silver Islet." The
Great Spirit told him to go to the highest point on Thunder Cape, and
here he would find the entrance to a tunnel that would lead him to the
centre of the mine.
Apparently the Chief and his people found
the mine, for the Ojibway became famous for their beautiful silver
ornaments. So beautiful indeed were they, that the Sioux warriors on
seeing them upon their wounded enemies, strove to wrest their secret
from them.
However, torture and even death failed to
make the gallant Ojibway divulge their secret and the Sioux chieftains
had to devise another scheme to find the source of the Ojibway silver.
One day they summoned their most cunning
scout to a pow-wow and a plan was formed. The scout was to enter the
Ojibway camp disguised as one of them. This he did and in a few days
succeeded in learning the secret of the island of silver.
Going to the mine at night he took several
large pieces of the precious metal in order to prove to his chieftain
that he had fulfilled his mission.
The scout however never returned to his
camp, for on his way back he stopped at a white traders post to purchase
some food. Having no furs or money with which to pay for the goods, he
used a piece of the silver.
Upon seeing such a large piece of the
gleaming metal, two white men sought to obtain the whereabouts of its
source, in order to make themselves fabulously rich. After filling the
Sioux scout with liquor they persuaded him to show them the way to the
mine.
When almost in sight of "Silver Islet" a
terrific storm broke over the Cape. The white men were drowned and the
Native was found in a crazed condition floating aimlessly in his canoe,
but the most extraordinary thing that had happened during the storm, was
that where once was a wide opening to the bay, now lay what appeared to
be a great sleeping figure of a man. The Great Spirit's warning had
been fulfilled and he had been turned to stone.
On a little island at the foot of the
Sleeping Giant, can still be seen the partly submerged shafts of what
was once the richest silver mine in the northwest. White men have tried
again and again to pump out the water that keeps flooding it from Lake
Superior but without success. Is it still under the curse of Nanabijou,
Spirit of the Deep Sea Water... perhaps... who can tell?
Actual Ojibway legends are stories about Nanabijou printed in local 19th-century newspapers. These stories reportedly came directly from Ojibway elders interviewed at the time, but there's no way of verifying that today. The earliest dates from 1882, while another version dates from somewhat later. These versions are completely different from Limbrick's rather simplistic and fanciful one, and neither makes direct mention of the Sleeping Giant. They talk about how Nanabijou created the world, including the lakes, rivers and islands.
Limbrick's story seems to be connected with Silver Islet and, as such, must be of relatively recent origin as the mine was not discovered until the late 19th century.
Link
https://www.northernontario.travel
