Maid of the Mist

The original version of the story, which in itself is subject to the cultural biases of the English
language, focuses on a young woman who attempts to commit suicide by riding a canoe over the falls.
Her reason for committing suicide stems from the fact that three times she has married and each time
her spouse has died. Suspecting that the reason her spouses have died is her, she attempts to kill
herself. However, before she plunges over the falls, she is saved by the Thunder beings, who then
proceed to heal her in a cave behind the falls. She then learns that the reason her spouses have died is
because a snake like thing has been inhabiting her body. The Thunder beings free her from the snake-
like thing and tell her to go back to her people, which she does. Eventually, she is accepted into the
community once more, meets a man, and raises a family.

The Maid of the Mist, copyright 1998 by Wayne Sky, Sin'Has Cayuga Nation, Wolf Clan, from the Six
Nations Indian Reserve. Red steatite. "The story embedded in the carving is a well known Iroquois
story. An Indian chief and his five beautiful daughters lived along the Niagara river well above the
Large waterfalls. Each day the girls would bathe in the fast flowing river. One day the youngest of his
daughters, the most beautiful, swam out too far into the raging river and was swept away over the falls.
She returns to her father daily in the mist that rises from the thunderous abyss. In the carving the other
four sisters are represented in the four waves which cover the back of the maiden."

Long ago, the peaceful tribe of the Ongiaras lived beside the Niagara River. For an unknown reason,
Indians were dying, and it was believed that the tribe must appease the Thunder God Hinum, who lived
with his two sons in a cave behind the Falls.

A first, the Indians sent canoes laden with fruit, flowers and game over the Falls, but the dying
continued. The Indians then began to sacrifice the most beautiful maiden of the tribe, who was selected
once a year during a ceremonial feast. One year, Lelawala, daughter of Chief Eagle Eye was chosen.

On the appointed day, Lelawala appeared on the river bank above the Falls, wearing a white doeskin
robe with a wreath of woodland flowers in her hair. She stepped into a white birch bark canoe and
plunged over the Falls to her death. Her father, heartbroken, leaped into his canoe and followed her.

Hinum’s two sons caught Lelawala in their arms, and each desired her. She promised to accept the
one who told her what evil was killing her people. The younger brother told her of a giant water snake
that lay at the bottom of the river. Once a year, the monster snake grew hungry, and at night entered the
village and poisoned the water. The snake then devoured the dead.

On spirit, Lelawala told her people to destroy the serpent. Indian braves mortally wounded the snake
on his next yearly visit to the village. Returning to his lair on the river, the snake caught his head on
one side of the river and his tail on the other, forming a semi-circle and the brink of the Horseshoe
Falls. Lelawala returned to the cave of the God Hinum, where she reigns as the Maid of the Mist.

THE MAID OF THE MIST STORY

This is a version of a story that is told by the people of the Six Nations. The “standard” Maid of the
Mist story that is commonly told in Niagara today is not actually a Native American story at all. It was,
apparently, the invention of a 19th century European anthropologist. Its themes of cruel gods and
human sacrifice are alien to the Six Nations people.

The following presentation of the “correct” story should not be taken as an authoritative telling of the
tale. It is a written version of a story that is best told orally, and is subject to the cultural biases of both
the writer and the English language. It should be taken as a rather dim reflection of the richness of
Niagara’s native culture.

“When people knew the wholeness of the world, they knew that all are one with the world. They spoke
with the earth and the sky, and knew them as themselves. The sun, the moon, and the stars spoke with
them, and people were one with them. They knew the animals and the plants as their brothers and
sisters. The thunder taught them about what is and what will happen. People knew all these things, and
knew the wholeness of the world.

“But people forgot. The earth and the stars and the animals and the Thunder continued to talk to them,
but people didn’t always listen. Sometimes they couldn’t even hear what was being said to them. As
they forgot their oneness with the world and with each other, some people became selfish, or
mistrustful, or jealous of others.

“All in all, however, people became more and more deaf to the words of the Thunder. This story tells
about the last time that the Thunder ever spoke to a human.

“No one had heard from the Thunder for a long time when a girl, one of the people who lived in
Niagara, lay down under a tree one hot summer afternoon to sleep. While the girl was sleeping an old
woman of the people happened to pass by, and she noticed a small snakelike thing starting to crawl
underneath the girl’s dress.

“The old woman didn’t even bother to wake the girl and warn her. She simply went on her way.

“In fact, the old woman never told anyone what she had seen, so the girl never suspected that anything
might have happened to her. When the girl became a young woman she found a young man, and they
were very happy together. It wasn’t long, however, before the young man died.

"After a long while the young woman met another young man, and they were happy together. Before
they could raise a family, however, the young man died.

"A third time, the young woman found a man she liked. Again, he died.

“The young woman was confused and afraid. She suspected that something might be wrong with her,
but had no idea what it could be. She was embarrassed to admit her fears to anyone, and had no idea
where to turn for help. The old woman, who could have helped her by telling her what had happened,
never said a word to her. The people had traveled far along the path of mistrust and selfishness.

“The woman decided to kill herself. One night she put a canoe into the river above the falls, climbed
in, and pushed out into the current. The canoe shot down the rapids and plunged over the edge of the
Falls.
“Instead of falling to her death, the woman felt the canoe being lowered slowly to the base of the Falls.
As the boat settled gently into the water, she heard voices in the darkness. She felt hands touching her,
drawing her out of the canoe and leading her behind the Falls, but she couldn’t see who was guiding
her.

"When they were behind the Falls, she was able to see clearly. She found herself in a cave with a high
ceiling and many people in it. These were the Thunder beings. They explained to her that they were
invisible in the outside world, but that they became visible when they were behind the waterfall.

“An old man of the Thunder people asked the woman, ‘Why did you try to kill yourself? You were
created with a soul and a mind, and you were given a number of days to walk with Nature.’

“He went on to explain what had happened to her the day she had slept under the tree, and promised to
help her.

“The Thunder beings built a tiny fire on the floor of the cave, and one brought medicine. The young
woman was told to stand over the smoldering fire so the smoke could rise around her.

“As she stood there, a tiny snakelike thing dropped out of her dress and crawled away, growing larger
as it went.

“The old man said to the woman, ‘There’s nothing wrong with you now. You’ll be able to have a
husband and children when you go back to your people.

“’You can’t go back to them right away, though. You’re too full of power to go among them safely just
yet. Stay with us here behind the waterfall, and be my grandchild until you’re able to return to your
people.’

“The young woman lived with the Thunder people for four years. Then, one day, they told her that they
were going to move away from the Falls.

“’The white eyes are pushing in on us,’ they said. ‘You can go back to your people, but be careful not
to touch anyone until you’re like them again.’

“The Thunder beings also spoke to the woman’s people and told them to accept her as one of
themselves again.

“’Don’t try to touch her, or ask her to handle anything,’ they said. ‘Let her be one of the people, and
she will be like you once more.’

“It was four more years before the power of the Thunder wore away from the young woman, but she
was eventually able to be one of the people. She met a man, and they raised a large family.

“The Thunder had spoken with the people, but that was the last time that anyone ever heard from the
Thunder beings again.”