Bear Town Lounge

LEGEND OF WHITE BEAR LAKE

Dakota Warrior Saving Maiden
The name "White Bear Lake," and "Manitou", meaning habitation of Great Spirit, came from the Native Americans. There is more than one version of the legend about the island used by the Native Americans for making maple sugar.

From the book "Indian Legends of Minnesota" by Mrs. Carl T. Thayer, Osgood & Co., 1883, pp 583-593, "It is said that a Sioux maiden fell in love with a Chippewa brave. She, the daughter of the Chief, on learning that her father planned war against the Chippewa, ran to her lover and warned him. The brave went alone into the Sioux village to ask for peace and the hand of the maiden. Before the Chief would agree, the Chippewa would have to do a brave deed.

The lovers usually met on Manitou Island. One day, as the brave approached the Island, anticipating a meeting with his beloved, he saw, to his horror, a great white bear attacking her. He dashed to her rescue. Freed, she ran to get help from her father and the other Sioux. Returning, they saw the brave sink his knife into the bear. But too late, they both fell to the ground dead. Slowly, as they watched, the spirits of the brave and the bear rose from their prone bodies. It is said that even today, as night falls, the spirits of the bear and the brave wander the Island eternally in search of each other."