Niagara Falls: Place of Myths
Niagara Falls figures largely in many areas of human culture. Currently, it is one of the more famous tourist attractions in the world and a popular honeymoon destination. For the Iroquois and Seneca it was home of a water spirit and thunder god. The sound of the roaring falls were a comfort and music to the local peoples. The falls name comes from the Iroquois, Nee-ah-gah-rah which basically meant ‘Thundering Waters.’
The falls are really three separate water falls on the Niagara River, the Horseshoe falls, Bridal Veil falls and American falls. Niagara falls right on the border between Canada and America. It is shared equally by both and in fact is surrounded by two twin cities, Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York.
There are naturally several legends and myths surrounding these falls. One of which has variations in Native American culture and is the legend of the creation of the Horseshoe falls. A young maiden fell over the Niagara falls in her canoe, either by choice or by accident the legend varies, and was caught in the arms of Heno, a god of thunder who lived in the falls, thus saving her life. He brought into the home he had beneath the thundering water where he and his sons cared for her until she’d recovered. By then, one of the younger sons had fallen in love with the maiden. He and the maiden married and she made her home with the gods in the falls. However she grew lonely for her people and wished to visit them. Her chance came when Heno learned of an evil snake who swam down the river thus poisoning the waters. His plan was to kill the maiden’s people with the poisoned water and eat their dead.
When the maiden learned of this she begged Heno to take her out of the falls so that she could warn her people. He agreed and thus she was able to save them by encouraging them to move from the poisoned water to Buffalo Creek.
The snake finding that the people were gone went to follow them by swimming up the river. This angered Heno and he sent a thunderbolt to kill it. The snake died and its body became caught on the cliff in a horseshoe shape creating the falls. The water now forced into a new direction spilled into Heno’s home and he and his family, including the maiden had to move to the clouds in the sky where to this day the thunder god resides.
Geologists have other theories as to the creation of Niagara Falls. It is believed that the falls were created by a combination of erosion from the Niagara river exposing old marine rock from millions of years ago and the melting of glaciers which first created the Niagara River. Erosion continues to work on the falls to this day. The original location of the falls when first discovered by Europeans was much closer to where present-day Lewiston, New York resides, but erosion of the Limestone and shale bedrock has caused it to retreat backwards.
Every minute 6 million cubic feet of water spill over the falls, 90% of which flows over the Horseshoe falls. The water falls from heights up to 170 feet. From above there appears to be two separate waterfalls, the larger of which is the Horseshoe Falls and is positioned against the end of a gorge filled with water from the Niagara River. The area is surrounded by the Hydroelectric plant which makes use of the rivers energy to created power and the two cities buildings.