The Legend of Nanabijou
Pronounced (nana-bee-shoe)

It means "sleeping giant" in Ojibway


The beautiful Sleeping Giant can be seen from Thunder Bays' harbour. The legend surrounding this great land mass is that it was a great spirit of the deep sea called Nanabijou. Long ago a tribe of Ojibway Indians were entrusted by Nanabijou with a secret of a silver mine. The tribe was warned never to reveal the mine to the white man. If they did Nanabijou would turn to stone and the tribe would perish.
The Ojibway tribe became very famous for their beautiful silver ornaments. This peaked the curiousity in a tribe of Souix warrior rivals. One day they set out to find the source of the Ojibways' silver. They sent a warrior under disguise to follow the Ojibway tribe to the secret island. The warrior was able to acquire several pieces of silver from the mine which he took to the white mans' trading post. The white men were very excited and asked the Souix where he got them from. The warrior then revealed the secret of Silver Islet. As soon as the story was told a great storm broke over the land turning Nanabijou into stone.
Now this landmark stretches 7 miles across Thunder Bay and today is known as the Sleeping Giant.


Back