The Maid of the Mist is the name of the awesome boat that everybody wants to ride in when they visit Niagara Falls. Beyond that fact is an American Indian tale. A story of a proud and loving people committed to their own, to the land which surrounds and to the Gods which they served so that they may be kept safe.

One of the Gods inhabiting the lands was the Hinum the God of Thunder. He resided in a cave behind the great falls. To appease this God, the tribes living along the Niagara river regularly sent canoes laden with fruits and vegetables and flowers over the falls as gifts of thanks to Hinum and his sons. This practice was carried out for a very long time until it seemed the God of Thunder was no longer satisfied with these sacrifices.

Many of the Indians in several different villages were becoming ill and even dying with no explanation. The Indians discovered that after burials had been carried out, grave sites were being desecrated and their loved ones body and souls were being devoured during the night. They wondered what more they could do to please Hinum. It was decided to sacrifice the fairest maiden among the tribe once a year along with the traditional gifts which they had been sending.

It happened that the most beautiful maiden of the Indian tribe one year was Lelawala, the daughter and only child of the Chief Eagle Eye. The Indian Chief allowed the preparations to take place but he could not participate. On the day of the sacrifice Lelawala was adorned in a white doe-skin robe and a beautiful garland of wildflowers around her head. She bravely stood in the white birch canoe filled with fruits and flowers and vegetables and game meats and headed for the mighty falls. As she crested the drop her father Chief Eagle Eye caught up to her in his own canoe and they plunged over the falls simultaneously.

Hinums two sons reached through a heavy mist directly in front of the falls and caught Lelawala in their arms. They both desired her greatly and took her into the shelter of the cave. Lelawala never forgot why she had fallen through the falls which was to find a way to save her people from dying. She promised herself to the one of the brothers that would tell her what was happening to the tribe and how she could stop it.

The younger brother was compelled to divulge that a great evil snake appeared from the river bottom once a year and poisoned the water of the village. After the Indians died, the snake would reappear at night and eat the remains.

The maiden was allowed by Hinum to be carried in spirit by his two sons to her people to explain the deaths and illnesses and what to do to prevent it from continuing. Lelawala told the tribe to only drink spring water and when the great evil snake returned they should kill it with all of their weaponry.

During the next visit to the Indian village the snake was attacked and tried to return back to his hiding spot. He was almost across the river when his head became lodged in the rocks on the far side and his tail end was caught on the other side. In his pain and anguish, he writhed himself into a horseshoe shape from end to end and he died there.

Lelawala returned to the cave and lives there with the Thunder God and his two sons protecting her people.