Cause of this melancholy = miseries of the sea turtles

Friday, April 13, 2007

Turtles are special creatures we all know of.
Many stories have been told about these gentle beasts.
Some are true, some are merely folktales. The more famous ones are like how the turtle got its shell.
Here is one that is rarely heard of -

The Legend of the Turtle

Some have been told that the Turtle, which lies near the Twin Sisters on the northern approach to Parry Sound, can control the weather. At least that's what travellers on the eastern shore used to believe long before motorized vessels came along. Maybe it was an Ojibway legend, maybe Huron, or a little of both as it probably originated several hundred years ago. But people of modern times, both of native and immigrant descent, have been known to leave offerings for the Turtle to ensure fair weather for their voyages.

The story goes that a lone Indian was making his way northward by canoe in appallingly bad weather, hopping from the shelter of one rocky island to another. As he was crossing the wide stretch at the mouth of the "big sound," the seas and winds grew so strong, and rain pelted in such blinding sheets, that he decided he could go no further. He turned eastward hoping to find shelter from the storm that threatened to swamp his frail craft and claim his life.

Concentrating all his efforts on keeping the waves from overwhelming the canoe as they swept him towards the eastern shore, the man paddled with all his strength to reach safety. Looking up at one point, he was shocked to see through the driving rain an enormous turtle appear on the shore. In great fear, he tried to paddle away from it, but the shrieking wind and waves pushed the canoe towards the turtle as if it were summoning him.

In the dim light of the storm the paddler could see the huge mound of the turtle's shell. Its head was thrust far forward. The frightening creature seemed to overhang the rocks it stood upon. Terrified first by the gale and now by this apparition, the man began to pray. He entreated the turtle to not harm him and to make the wind to ease and the seas to calm so he could continue his journey to his northern home.

To his amazement, that's exactly what happened. The wind and rain gave way to sunshine and blue sky appeared through the clouds until the storm had entirely disappeared. Marvelling at this, the man gradually realized that the turtle was really a huge rock perched on the shore. He went to it and explored the rock, fascinated at how realistic it had seemed in the dim light of the storm. In gratitude, he thanked the turtle's spirit and left under the overhanging shell an offering of deer meat, then resumed his northward journey under blue skies and gentle breezes.

Word of his salvation must have spread because, over the centuries, many other travellers on this exposed portion of the inside passage have left tokens of thanks under the turtle's overhanging shell. Maybe some are still there. The Turtle certainly is, at the very southern tip of Shawanaga Bay, south and east of Pine Point and almost directly east of the Twin Sisters.

Source: Ojibway Melody, by Harry Symons, published by the author in 1946.

[Taken from http://www.sweetwaters.ca/History%20and%20Folklore%20-%20the%20Legend%20of%20the%20Turtle.htm]

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