Mt. Susitna - The Sleeping Lady

April 30, 2009

In my recent homesick blog, when I listed some of the things I like about Alaska, I mentioned that I liked seeing our "Sleeping Lady" across the inlet. As the snow melts, it is more difficult to see her outline but I caught the best picture yet as sunset the other day with my new camera so now is a good time to share the legend with you.

Mt. Susitna, referred to as the Sleeping Lady lies directly across Cook Inlet from Anchorage and is readily visible for miles around. The outline of the mountain looks exactly like a lady lying on her back, covered by a blanket. Here is an abridged version of the story, which has been told by word of mouth since the 1930’s.
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Long ago in Alaska there lived a race of giant people along the shores of Cook Inlet. The land was warm then and fruit trees of every kind covered the land. Wooly mammoths and saber toothed tigers roamed the forests, but they did not hurt the gentle people who lived there, because peace ruled the land.

A young man named Nekatla and a fair maiden named Susitna were very happy as they were soon to be married. Their happiness was marred by news that a fearsome people from the north were ravaging villages and killing people. Nekatla and Susitna lived amongst a peaceful people who had no weapons of war. The village elders did not know how they would protect their people. After much discussion the people decided to follow Nekatla’s plan to meet the fearsome people with gifts, not weapons.

Nekatla and the other men were expected to return quickly so Susitna continued the wedding plans. She went away from the village to gather berries and make baskets for the wedding. As the days came and went there was no word from the men and Susitna grew weary and decided to lay down to rest.

Word soon came to the women of the village that all the men had been killed by the fearsome people. The women went out in search of Susitna and found her sleeping so peacefully they hated to wake her. “Let her rest in peace some more. Why break her heart sooner than we must”, they said. So they wove a blanket of soft grasses and wildflowers and gently laid it across the sleeping Susitna. “May Susitna always dream of her lover”, they said.

That night all warmth and joy left the village. It grew colder and colder. Susitna settled more deeply into sleep. The fruit trees froze and began dying like men in battle. The tears of the villagers gathered into clouds that rose into the air, falling back to earth as Alaska’s first snowfall.
Today, Susitna still sleeps peacefully. You can look across Cook Inlet from Anchorage and see her lying gracefully and peacefully asleep. In the winter she is covered by a lovely blanket of white snow. In the summer, her blanket is soft grasses and wildflowers.

It is said when people of war change their ways, peace will rule the earth. Then Nekatla will return and Susitna, the Sleeping Lady will awaken!