LEGEND OF SLEEPING BEAR

Long ago, in the land that is now Wisconsin, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire.

They swam and swam, but soon the cubs tired and lagged far behind.

 Mother bear finally reached the opposite shore and climbed to the top of a bluff to watch and wait for her offspring.

But the cubs drowned.

Today "Sleeping Bear," a solitary dune in Michigan overlooking Lake Michigan, marks the spot where mother bear waited.

Her lost cubs are the two Manitou islands.

-Anishinaabek Indian Legend