Photos

The Iroquois people called these sacred falls "Nee-ah-gah-rah", meaning Thundering Waters. They believed Niagara's waterfall sound was the voice of the mighty spirit of the waters. Until the mid 18th century, they elicited the mighty water spirit's favor each year by sending a maiden in a white canoe decorated with fruits and flowers over the fall's brink. To be sacrificed was the greatest honor, and insured special gifts and happy hunting grounds in the afterlife. The Iroquois believe that after death, they are changed into pure spirtis of strength and goodness. They will live so far beneath the falls that the roaring is music to them. The Spirit is the ruler of the cataract and she is the maiden of the mist.

Today at night time from the Canadian side of the Falls, the American falls can be viewed with a colorful light show. Please excuse the noise in the photo from being hand held, or maybe the blur is interesting?