SKULL CAVE
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DESCRIPTION
Skull Cave is a very small cave near the center of the Island. It was formed many thousands of years ago during the last ice age.
LEGEND
Ke-nu, chief of his tribe, was upset. The people of the tribe were fighting, and their quarrels were getting worse. Seeking a solution to the problem, he came to the sacred Place of Skulls, seeking advice from a spirit, Mich‑i‑bou. The spirit appeared to him in the form of a skull and told him to make a peace pipe from the copper buried in the floor of the cave. Ke‑nu did as he was told and formed the purest peace pipe ever made. When his tribe smoked the pipe, their arguing stopped and they all lived in peace.
HISTORY
Following the Indian attack at Michilimackinac in 1763, Alexander Henry, a fur trader, recorded spending a night in a cave on Mackinac Island. The cave, he said, was filled with bones. Since then, the cave has been known as Skull Cave.
DIRECTIONS
Skull Cave is located inland, near the stairway to Fort Holmes.
From the Barracks: Go left on the road behind the Barracks, the cave is on the right.
From Town: Direct visitors towards the Barracks, follow above directions.
Skull Cave is a very small cave near the center of the Island. It was formed many thousands of years ago during the last ice age.
LEGEND
Ke-nu, chief of his tribe, was upset. The people of the tribe were fighting, and their quarrels were getting worse. Seeking a solution to the problem, he came to the sacred Place of Skulls, seeking advice from a spirit, Mich‑i‑bou. The spirit appeared to him in the form of a skull and told him to make a peace pipe from the copper buried in the floor of the cave. Ke‑nu did as he was told and formed the purest peace pipe ever made. When his tribe smoked the pipe, their arguing stopped and they all lived in peace.
HISTORY
Following the Indian attack at Michilimackinac in 1763, Alexander Henry, a fur trader, recorded spending a night in a cave on Mackinac Island. The cave, he said, was filled with bones. Since then, the cave has been known as Skull Cave.
DIRECTIONS
Skull Cave is located inland, near the stairway to Fort Holmes.
From the Barracks: Go left on the road behind the Barracks, the cave is on the right.
From Town: Direct visitors towards the Barracks, follow above directions.