Miskwaamakwa Miskwaamakwa and the Great Watersand the Great Waters

The Legend of Red Bear The Legend of Red Bear

and Cascades Falls and Cascades Falls

By Ms. HammondBy Ms. Hammond

One day Miskwaamakwa was following the rabbits through the Great Forest. As he ran through the trees, he suddenly came upon a great clearing.

In the clearing, Miskwaamakwa saw many shining rocks of different colors surrounding shallow water. Next to the water was a beautiful girl and she was crying. Miskwaamakwa asked the young girl why she was crying. The young girl explained that the shining rocks had once had a home in the sky. She said that she cried for the shining rocks that had once had a home but now had none. She said that the shallow water the shining rocks were surrounding were her tears.

Miskwaamakwa thought about what the young girl had said and decided that the shining rocks would have a new home. Miskwaamakwa spent many moons working on a new home for the shining rocks.

After a long time, Miskwaamakwa had finished the new home. He showed the young girl the hillside where he had built many steps to climb to the top. Miskwaamakwa showed the young girl that along the steps he had made a new home for each of the shining rocks. And at the very top, he had made a place for the beautiful young girl to sit and watch over the shining rocks. Miskwaamakwa told the young girl that all of the shining rocks would always have a home. Now the young girl cries with happiness, and as her tears flow down the steps, the shining rocks light the way.

The previous story is fiction. The story is modeled after the legends of the Ojibwe Tribe of Michigan. The name is the story is a combination of Ojibwe words. The Cascades Falls is a manmade structure and is not related to the Ojibwe Tribe. The images used in story are images from various internet sites and not related to the Ojibwe Tribe.