Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie Lyrics

Sufjan Stevens on "Sleeping Bear, Sault Saint Marie" : Long ago a great famine spread over the land. A mother bear and two famished cubs walked the shore on Wisconsin, gazing across the great lake at Michigan, the land of plenty. Finally hunger overcame their timidness and the bears launched out, to swim to Michigan. As they approached the shore, the mother’s words of encouragement urged on the weary cubs. With only twelve miles to go, the mother’s heart was rent as she saw one cub sink and drown. She struggled to gain the beach with the remaining cub behind her. After two miles of slow dragging, the second of her beloved cubs also perished. The mother reached the beach, alone, and crept to a resting place where she lay down facing the restless waters that covered her lost ones. As she gazed, two islands rose to mark the graves of the cubs. The Great Spirit Manitou created these two islands (North and South) to mark the spot where the cubs disappeared. The Great Spirit also shaped a solitary dune to represent the faithful mother bear, where she remains today, watching the waters.