Manitous Legends
The Sleeping Bear

Long ago, in the land that is today Wisconsin, Mother Bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The cubs swam strongly but the distance and the water proved too much for them. They fell further and further behind and ultimately slipped beneath the waves. When Mother Bear reached the Michigan shore, she climbed to the top of a bluff and peered back across the water, searching vainly for her cubs. The Great Spirit Manitou saw her and took pity on her plight. He raised North and South Manitou Islands to mark the place where her cubs vanished and laid a slumber upon Mother Bear.   Source: Ojibway Indian Legend, National Park Service.