What is the meaning of Gitche Gumee?
Loosely, it does indeed mean “Big Sea” or “Huge Water,” but just about always refers to Lake Superior. The 1878 dictionary of Father Frederic Baraga, the first one written for the Ojibwe language, says Lake Superior is Otchipwe-kitchi-gami – the sea of the Ojibwe people.
What language is Gitche Gumee?
The Ojibwe name for the lake is gichi-gami (pronounced gitchi-gami or kitchi-gami in different dialects), meaning “great sea”. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this name as “Gitche Gumee” in the poem The Song of Hiawatha, as did Gordon Lightfoot in his song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”.
How do you spell Gitchigoomie?
Gitche Gumee is the generally accepted English spelling for the Ojibwe word Gitchigumi, which means “big water” and commonly refers to Lake Superior. Numerous variations on the spelling exist, particularly “Gitchee” or “Gitchi” for the first part and “Gummee” or “Gummi” for the second.
Where is Gitchigoomie?
Michigan
Lake Gitchegumee is a man-made lake created in Buckley, Michigan.
Are there still bodies in the Edmund Fitzgerald?
Although the captain of the Fitzgerald reported having difficulties during the storm, no distress signals were sent. The entire crew of 29 people died when the vessel sank. No bodies were ever recovered from the wreckage.
Why is it called Lake Superior?
Lake Superior, most northwesterly and largest of the five Great Lakes of North America and one of the world’s largest bodies of fresh water. Its name is from the French Lac Supérieur (“Upper Lake”).
Are the bodies still in the Edmund Fitzgerald?
No bodies were ever recovered from the wreckage. Later when the wreck was found, it was discovered that the ship had broken in two. It still sits on the bottom of Lake Superior at 530 feet deep.
Why is the big lake called Gitche Gumee?
Why Is the Big Lake Called ‘Gitche Gumee?’ Is the Big Lake Really Called ‘Gitche Gumee?’ Many people, thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “Hiawatha” poem (1855), have heard of Gitche Gumee, the shining Big-Sea-Water.
What was the song of Gitche Gumee about?
Dark behind it rose the forest, rose the black and gloomy pine-trees, Rose the firs with cones upon them; bright before it beat the water, Beat the clear and sunny water, beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.
Who was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s Wigwam on Gitche Gumee?
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. By the shores of Gitche Gumee, by the shining Big-Sea-Water, Stood the wigwam of Nokomis, daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.