Lakehead University - Yearbook (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)

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FACULTY MEMBERS V . — P H. S. BRAUN, B.A. Principal W. S. ARMSTRONG, M.A. J. W. HAGGERTY, B.Sc.F. D. LINDSAY, B.A., M.Sc. Page 8

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THE GIANT Regardless of where one looks from in either of our twin cities, one can always see the Sleeping Giant — a massive rock lying in the middle of Thunder Bay. The contour of this noteworthy landmark points it out as a favourite sight for all tourists. We, the staff of the 1958 edition of the yearbook, felt that it was only fitting to name the first edition of this yearbook for the new Lakehead College after this natural formation, and so we chose The Giant for our new name. Much Indian folklore is attached to the Giant, but one of the most entertaining of all legends is this one, told back in 1889: Nana, the sleeping giant which reposes in Thunder Bay, lived at the time the mastadon roamed our forests. He stood thousands of feet high, a giant and monarch, chief of earth and sea. He wooed and won a dusky maiden. She was young and beautiful, tall like himself, and her foot was as fleet as the frightened deer. Her tresses were like the raven ' s wings and her eyes as bright as dew drops. Her voice was as soft as the music of the mountain brook and she was as joyous as a bird and as lovely as a summer day. By the lake side in a rocky cave they dwelt for two thousand years, and the Ojibways and all the other powerful Indian tribes of the Lake Superior district were Nan ' s descendants. The old warrior was fond of fishing, and it was his wont to walk through the lake swinging a large hemlock tree for a club to drive the fish before him out into the lake to Sault Ste. Marie, where his faithful wife stood and caught them. This was fine angling. Years rolled on until one fine day the old squaw lost her cunning and all the fish that Nana drove before him passed her and swam into Lake Huran, and the old giant, hungry and relentless in his rage, killed his good wife with his club, and her poor life- less body floated down upon the shore of Lake Huron, where it can be seen unto this day, a cape known as the Old Squaw, or Nana ' s Wife. When Nana saw what he had done he was afraid and could not rest. He called his wife by name and talked of love. In vain he sought the Great Spirit for rest and in agonizing despair he raved and tore his hair. Nana was penitent and sorrowful; peni- tent in fear of the Great Spirit ' s anger and sorrowful in the loss of his wife ' s companion- ship. He wandered from his home out upon the prairies and far over the mountains, seeking forgetfulness and rest when, lo, he heard the loud cannonading of bursting boulders, and saw huge rocks high in the air. He heard fearful hissing of escaping gas and steam, and felt the suffocation of many obnoxious odors. The crimson heavens rained rocks, lava and ashes, whilst amid the clashing perils of thunder and the red lightning ' s fitful glare, the earth shook and trembled from the awful groaning roar of the volcanic fires. The Great Spirit was angry with Nana and he fled away, swifter than the eagles fly, back to his Lake Superior home, where he heard his wife ' s voice calling to him and beheld her streaming eyes so wild in fear, so sad in their imploring look, beseeching him to stay the cruel blow. He heard her death cry in the passionate sounds of the winds. Retribution was overtaking him. He walked once more in Thunder Bay and then, in agony of remorse and despairing anquish, Nana laid himself down and died of a broken heart. Page 7

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T. B. MILLER B.A, Ph.D. W. D. McKINNON B.Sc. Eng. T. W. PAGE B.Sc. l. R. LEHTOVAARA B. Com. Miss HELVI HELLE Secretary ETOILE R. STEVENSON B.A. C. WHITAKER B.A., B. Paed. r Mrs. VIEGANDT Librarian 4 Page 9