Andrea Arroyo

An Ojibwe legend that tells how delicate little flowers grow in such rugged country. "The Legend of the Lady's Slipper" is a tale about a courageous young Ojibwe girl. One day a disease struck her village during winter and her people were falling ill from the disease. There was a neighboring village that had medicine herbs to cure it, but the journey there was too dangerous. Her brother was supposed to make the journey, but he fell ill.

So the little girl set out running through the forest in an attempt to save the people of her village. She walked through a blizzard to get to the other village. When she got there, she was tired and cold. An old woman told her to rest and that they would bring her to her village the next day, but she did not listen. She was determined to save her people and her family.

The little girl lost her moccasins in the snow in the forest and had to walk barefoot in the snow. With each step, the ice cut her feet. She left blood drops all the way back to her village. Now, where she lost her moccasins and where her blood fell from her feet, there are little pink delicate flowers in the shape of little moccasins that grow in the exact spots. The Ojibwe people named them makisin waabigwaan which means moccasin flower.… (mer)