The Ouendat (Huron) Indian Legend of Kitchikewana
If you ever get to watch a sunset from Beausoliel Island on Georgian Bay, it is a calm and tranquil experience. You would never guess that the Bay was once protected by a huge, violent giant with a temper just as big! Legend has it, that if it wasn't for the Huron God Kitchikewana, Georgian Bay would not be what it is today.

Kitchikewana was a god that was big enough to protect all of Georgian Bay. He was taller than the C.N. Tower and wore a headdress made of thousands of bird feathers. His robe was made of six-hundred beaver pelts and he also wore a tree-stump necklace.

One day, the other Huron gods noticed how angry Kitchikewana was all the time. They thought that if he had a girlfriend, she may be able to settle him down, so they gathered all of the most interesting and beautiful girls of the tribes. There was one specific girl Kitchikewana really liked a lot, and her name was Wanakita. Kitchikewana asked Wanakita if she wanted to be with him, but Wanakita did not want to be with him, much to his surprise. What Kitchikewana didn't know was that she already had a boyfriend! Wanakita was in love with one of the warriors from her own tribe. This made Kitchikewana really angry. He was so upset that he dug his fingers deep into the ground and threw the dirt in a fit of rage. The handfuls of dirt were scattered and the 30,000 Islands were created, and the five finger marks in the ground became the five bays: Midland Bay, Penetang Bay, Hog Bay, Sturgeon Bay, and Matchedash Bay. Kitchikewana, heartbroken and tired lay down at the base of the islands and fell asleep forever.

To this day, Kitchikewana still lays asleep, and you can see his gigantic form make up what people know as Giant's Tomb. During Kitchikewana's temper tantrum he also accidentally killed Wahsoona, the daughter of an Indian Chief. In her memory, silver birch was made to grow forever on Beausoliel Island. So if you ever visit Beausoliel Island, think twice when you come across the silver birch trees. Also look to the west, and you will see the once loud and angry Giant Kitchikewana sleep silently at Giant's Tomb.

Huron Legend