Maid of the Mist (legend)

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The legend of the Maid of the Mist is an alleged legend of the Iroquois who lived near Niagara Falls . It was popularized by the boat tour of the same name on the falls. The legend, which was invented by white Americans in the middle of the 19th century, tells in different variations how an Iroquois woman fell over Niagara Falls in her canoe.

Presumably it goes back to another story circulating among white fur traders in the 1750s, according to which an Iroquois fell down the falls in his canoe. In the 19th century, the legend adapted to contemporary tastes and the desire for romance and adventure and found its modern form.

The first written mention of the Maid of the Mist was in Burke's Descriptive Guide in 1850 as The White Canoe: An Indian Legend . Burke's version is not devoid of sexual innuendos suitable for a Victorian audience. A year later, the story surfaced in an anthropological work, Lewis Henry Morgan's League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee or Irqoquis . However, the content of the legend does not match the tradition of the Iroquois. For example, there was no forced marriage among the Iroquois and a separation in the event of an unhappy marriage was easily possible for both partners. Marriage itself was far less important in Iroquois matrilineal society than it was in 19th century American society. The “sexy suicidal squaw”, on the other hand, was a fixed type in the white American imagination of the 19th century , which was performed again and again in numerous books and plays in new variations.

According to the most popular version of the legend, the Iroquois virgin Lelwala fled Niagara Falls in her birch canoe, preferring death to an unhappy life through a forced marriage. Instead of dying, however, she was saved by the Iroquois god He-no, whom she then married. The woman is said to be seen occasionally in the spray of Niagara Falls. The best-known literary processing is the poem The White Canoe: A Legend of the Niagara Falls by Rosanne Eleanor Leprohon , published in 1881 . There is also a variant of the story in which the maiden is the victim of a human sacrifice and a third one in which she commits suicide because she is a widow of three. Although all three variations of the legend can be traced back to Burke, the last one is often referred to as the "authentic" and "politically correct" version and is shown, for example, in the IMAX film that has been running at Niagara Falls since 1986.

Not only did the legend give the Maid of the Mist's boats their name, it was also announced through the loudspeakers on all tours - in the human sacrifice version - as the boat approached Horseshoe Falls . Only after a campaign by Seneca , which no longer wanted to be portrayed as the operator of human sacrifices, did the Maid of the Mist Corporation stop telling legends in 1996.

Remarks

  1. ^ Karen Dubinsky: Local Color. The Spectacle of Race at the Niagara Falls . in: Charmaine Nelson: Racism Eh ?: A Critical Inter-Disciplinary Anthology of Race in the Canadian Context Racism Eh ?: A Critical Inter-Disciplinary Anthology of Race in the Canadian Context p. 228
  2. ^ Ginger Strand: Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies. Simon and Schuster, 2008, ISBN 1416546561 , p. 35.
  3. ^ A b Ginger Strand: Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies. Simon and Schuster, 2008, ISBN 1416546561 , p. 36.
  4. ^ Ginger Strand: Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies. Simon and Schuster, 2008, ISBN 1416546561 , p. 37.
  5. ↑ John Robert Colombo: Canadian Literary Landmarks. Dundurn, 1984, ISBN 0888820739 , p. 141.
  6. ^ Ginger Strand: Inventing Niagara: Beauty, Power, and Lies. Simon and Schuster, 2008, ISBN 1416546561 , p. 10.

literature

  • Robinder Kaur Sehdev: Beyond the Brink Indigenous Women's Agency and the Colonization of Knowledge in the Maid of the Mist Myth. In: Cultural Studies Review. Volume 18, December 3, 2012, pp. 240-262 pdf .