Island Lore:
Students Visit Sites To Learn About Legends
By Leslie Rott

Center: Island students Dana Roguska, Kyra Kolatski, Amelia Roe, and Meadow Greenlee pose happily in front of Arch Rock, one of several landmarks visited in their study of Mackinac Island legends. H˜

With the spring comes endless opportunities for Mackinac Island Public School students. Field trips abound, and one of the many things to explore are the legends of Mackinac.

“It’s all about what makes this place so unique,” said teacher Vicki Urman. “They need to know about it.”

Using the book, “Lore of the Great Turtle,” teachers introduced the students to several legends centered around notable Island landmarks. On Tuesday, May 31, they set out to see for themselves.

Top: Teacher Laura Eiseler and a group of Mackinac Island Public School students act out the legend of Sugar Loaf. As the 10 braves, the children enthusiastically ask Nanabozho to grant their wishes.

On the edge of the East Bluff, overlooking the harbor, students heard the tale of how the Island was born. The Indians believed that the giant rocks on the Island were their gods. There was a great fog for three suns, and when the fog cleared, the Island appeared, a gift from the gods.

Bottom: (From left) Devon Hunt, Kyra Kolatski, Blake Ruddle, Colton Fisher, and Jeremy Hepker strike a friendly pose near the bottom of Sugar Loaf, the scene of another legend.

At Arch Rock, students saw the picturesque view that must have attracted the Indians to the Island so many years ago. Living on Bois Blanc Island, the native people believed their great spirits lived here, teacher Mrs. Eisler told the students. They came to the Island to gather food, but did not live here, out of respect for the spirits. An Indian girl, known as She Who Walks In the Mist, fell in love with a sky person. Her father wanted her to fall in love with a brave, but she did not. Her father was so angry that she had fallen in love with a sky person, he tied her to the top of a rock for three days and three nights. Devastated, she cried and cried and her tears eroded the rock, forming what today is known as Arch Rock. The sky person, according to legend, came down from the sky on a beam of starlight and released her from the rock.

At Sugar Loaf rock, Ms. Eiseler told students that 10 braves canoed and hiked for a week to get to the Island to have their wishes granted by Nanabozho, a great Indian spirit with the ability to grant wishes. All of the braves asked for wishes that Nanabozho willingly granted, except for one, the brave who asked to live forever. Nanabozho told the brave that the ability to live forever was something reserved only for the gods, but as much as he hated to grant the wish, he did. He told the brave that he could live forever as a rock. And if a person looks at Sugar Loaf from a certain angle, just so, they will see the profile of a man. In lieu of the legend, the children asked why the rock was named Sugar Loaf. That is because, their teachers said, maple sugar, packed in birch bark baskets, was shaped like a cone, similar in appearance to the rock.

After hiking around the Island and marveling at the variety of wildflowers, the students had a relaxing lunch at Fort Holmes, where they soaked up some sun and enjoyed the beautiful day.

At Skull Cave, they learned the story of fur trader Alexander Henry. Mr. Henry hid in the cave after the 1763 Indian attack of the British garrison at Fort Michilimackinac on the mainland. He slept there on what he thought was a bed of rocks, but in the morning, he discovered the cave was lined with skulls and other bones. That is how Skull Cave came to be known by that name.

After another break at Great Turtle Park, the students visited the cemeteries, where they were told to find the oldest grave.

By the end of the day, the students learned that wherever they travel on Mackinac Island, there is likely to be a legend or historic lesson lurking behind each landmark.