Gitche Manitou (Gitchi Manitou, Kitchi Manitou, etc.) means "Great Spirit"
in several Algonquian languages. The term was also
utilized to signify God by Christian missionaries, when translating
scriptures and prayers, etc. into the Algonquian languages.
In more recent Anishinaabe culture, the Anishinaabe language word Gichi-manidoo means Great Spirit, the Creator of all
things and the Giver of Life, and is sometimes translated as the "Great
Mystery." Historically, Anishinaabe people believed in a variety of
spirits, whose images were placed near doorways for protection.
According to Anishinaabe-Ojibwa tradition, what became known as Mackinac Island in Michigan was the home of Gitche
Manitou. The people would make pilgrimages there for rituals devoted to the
spirit… In addition to the Algonquian Anishinaabeg,
many other tribes believed in Gitche Manitou. References to the
Great Manitou by the Cheyenne and the Oglala Sioux (notably in the
recollections of Black Elk), indicate that belief in this deity extended into the Great Plains, fully across the wider group of Algonquian peoples. {http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gitche_Manitou}
Hand-tinted print of Gitchi Manitou, east side of Mackinac
Island, by William H. Gardiner.
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(No explaination of ladder given)
Sugar Loaf: Sugar Loaf is a dramatic breccia formation that
rises 75 feet above the ground and is the largest of Mackinac Island’s many
limestone stacks. Centuries ago, Lake Algonquin covered all but the
center of Mackinac Island, leaving only Sugar Loaf protruding from the
water. When the water receded, the rock formation remained standing as a
tower of rock. Ojibwe legend says that Sugar Loaf was the dwelling of the
Great Creator or Great Spirit Gitchie Manitou.
The Face of Gitchie Manitou in the Limestone:
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