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Winona or Wenonah is a Dakota Sioux character in a "Lover's Leap" romantic legend set at Maiden Rock, which is on the Wisconsin side of Lake Pepin in the United States. Winona is said to have leaped to her death from this high precipice rather than marry a suitor she did not love. This theme is found in a number of apocryphal, post-contact tales in the place-name lore of North America. ==The legend== There are several variations of the story. Winona's father is sometimes said to be Chief Wabasha (Wapasha) of a village identified as ''Keoxa'', now known as Winona, Minnesota, or perhaps Chief Red Wing of what is now Red Wing, Minnesota. Rather than marry a suitor she does not love, Winona chooses to leap from the cliff of Maiden Rock to her death.〔 The story is very similar to the apocryphal legend of a young Cherokee woman of Noccalula Falls Park in Gadsden, Alabama, as well as events in the fictional novel and film, ''The Last of the Mohicans''. The identity of the suitor depends on the version of the tale. Some versions feature him as a French trapper; others say he is a Native American of another tribe.〔 In ''Last of the Mohicans'' the man is a brutal murderer, and the young woman chooses death over life as a slave or battered woman. In the traditional Dakota language, "Winona" is not a personal name, but a general term for a first-born child of any class distinction who happens to be female.〔 The concept of the central figure as a "princess" (and in some lore called, "Princess Winona") is in keeping with a European-American stereotype about Native American "princesses." However, the Sioux do not have an equivalent title for "princess" in any of the major dialects, and Native American cultures do not see their leaders as royalty.〔 Today "Winona" has become regularly used as a personal and place name throughout the United States. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Winona (legend)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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