Category: Native American Legends

The Great Leech Of Tlanusi’yï

The following legend is taken from ‘Myths Of The Cherokee’ by James Mooney (Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I.) ’The spot where Valley river joins Hiwassee, at Murphy, in North Carolina, is known among the Cherokees as Tlanusi’yï, "The Leech place," and this is the story they tell of it:

The Nûñnë’hï And Other Spirit Folk

According to ‘Myths Of The Cherokee’ by James Mooney (Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology 1897-98, Part I.), The Knob, which is a name for the Big Pinnacle on Pilot Mountain (standing 2421 feet) was one of the homes of the Nûñnë’hï.

The Lions

The two peaks known as The Lions are one of Vancouver’s most recognizable landmarks measuring 5400ft (West Lion) and 5269ft (East Lion). Named Ch’ich’iyúy Elxwíkn (Twin Sisters) by the indigenous Squamish people, the peaks represent two Squamish sisters who marred Haida men and created a peace between the two nations.

Of the Woman Who Loved a Serpent Who Lived in a Lake

The Passamaquoddy people were primarily settled in modern day Maine (USA) and New Brunswick (Canada). The following Passamaquoddy legend was taken from Charles Leland’s ‘The Algonquin Legends of New England; or, Myths and Folk Lore of the Micmac, Passamaquoddy, and Penobscot Tribe’ (1884)

Forbidden Plateau, Vancouver Island

The Forbidden Plateau is on the eastern side of Vancouver Island in the Strathcona Provincial Park, nestled between Mount Albert Edward and Mount Washington. According to the indigenous coastal hunting Comox (Komox, K’omoks) people the Forbidden Plateau is inhabited by evil spirits that supposedly consume any women and children that venture up there.