06/15/2026
The Legend of the Lady’s Slipper (Moccasin Flower)
An Anishinaabe Story
Many winters ago, on the shores of the Great Lake Superior, lived a young Ojibway girl who adored her older brother.
He was the best at everything young braves should know. He tracked animals and mimicked their calls perfectly. He was swift and silent in the woods and swam like an otter.
The people gave him the task of messenger for the village. He taught his sister his skills, but never took her with him when he raced to other villages to relay news.
One winter day, an old woman in the girl’s village became sick. The next day, several others fell ill with fevers and weakness. Soon every wiigiwaaman was struck. The elders worried, but no one knew what to do.
In the village across the bay, there lived a woman skilled in healing with plant & animal medicines, but the snow was deep and fierce winds were raging. The Chief of the village hesitated to send the brother to the medicine woman.
When more and more people sickened, the chief had no choice. The young brave would cross the lake the next morning.
Late that night, the young man became ill.
The Ojibway girl was frantic. With her grandmother, father and mother, many of her friends and now her beloved brother failing, she decided to take his place and make the dangerous journey across the bay to the medicine woman’s village.
The dark of the winter dawn made the frigid air seem harsher. The young girl slipped out of her family’s wiigiwaam dressed in her warmest parka, leggings and the fur-lined moccasins that her mother and grandmother had sewn.
Head down, so the fur of her parka protected her face from the stinging cold and wind, she walked quickly through the deepening snow to the lakeshore.
Through the blowing snow she could see the faint lights of campfires in the medicine woman’s village across the ice-covered bay.
Scrambling over the slippery pack ice, the maiden lightly danced across the frozen lake, trying not to listen to the cracking and sighing of the ice beneath her feet.
The people welcomed her hours later when she reached the other side of the bay. Wrapped in warm, beaver robes and fed, the girl told her story. The medicine woman gathered her medicines.
Nearly asleep, the Ojibway girl insisted that she begin the return journey immediately. But the medicine woman assured her that several braves would accompany her back across the lake in the morning, once the storm broke.
When the wind stopped, the girl awoke. It was dark and still. Worrying about her family, she decided not to wait for the braves.
Dressing quietly in her warm, dry clothes, she put the pouch of medicine around her neck and slipped down to the lake shore. She tried again to dance lightly again across the drifted snow. It was too deep. She sank deeply with each step.
Exhausted, she lay back in the snow panting for breath. Then she remembered her brother’s lessons and the otter playing in the snow as if it were water.
Slowly, letting the snow support her, she began to swim through the deep snow.
When the Ojibway girl reached the opposite shore, she was free of the deepest snow, but her moccasins were missing. Her feet were bare and cold.
Soon, her feet were red and raw and her footprints marked by blood. The sharp crystals of wind blown snow cut her feet at every step.
The eastern sky was beginning to lighten by the time the girl saw the shadowy outline of her village. Calling out for help, the worn-out girl stumbled on. The people heard and ran to her.
They carried the Ojibway girl home, wrapped her in warm robes and massaged her torn and bleeding feet with healing ointments. The medicine she brought saved her village.
One day early the next spring, the Ojibway girl and her brother searched the woods and the lakeshore for her moccasins. Instead, they found beautiful pink and white flowers shaped just like moccasins.
There was one for every drop of blood that had fallen from the Ojibway girls feet on her journey to bring medicine home from the other side of the lake.
The Ojibway people named the flower maakisin waabigwaan (Moccasin Flower) also known as Lady’s Slipper. They bloom in May and June in the moist pine / hardwood forests, mossy wetlands & tall grass prairies.
If you see one, enjoy its beauty but remember it is rare, sacred & protected; just like you. 💖🌸🪶
Painting by: Rachael Koppendrayer, Artist
Artist Link: https://www.rachaelkoppendrayer.com/
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