Kakabeka Falls

Kakabeka Falls is a waterfall on the Kaministiquia River, just west of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario. It is also the name of the nearby village located in the Municipality of Oliver Paipoonge. The Falls has a drop of 40 metres (see Ontario Parks link below). The rock face of the falls is slowly eroding due to the fact that the shale rock is unstable.

Related Topics:
Waterfall - Kaministiquia River - Thunder Bay, Ontario - Oliver Paipoonge - Shale

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Kakabeka is said to mean "steep cliffs" in the Ojibwe language. There is an ancient legend about a princess of the Ojibwe, Greenmantle, who led a Sioux war party over these falls and, in so doing, saved her village.

Related Topics:
Ojibwe language - Sioux

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Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park (9.25 km²) surrounds the river and falls. A hotel with terrace which was once located on the edge of the gorge was removed after the Park's creation.

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The energy of Kakabeka Falls was harnessed in 1906 by the development of a hydroelectric facility by the Kaministiquia Power Company which supplied power under contract to the city of Fort William, Ontario. The Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario purchased the plant in 1949 from the Abitibi Power and Paper Company. The generating plant is now run by Ontario Power Generation.

Related Topics:
Hydroelectric facility - Ontario Power Generation

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The most famous painting featuring the falls, painted by Lucius R. O'Brien in 1882, is held by the National Gallery of Canada Image in Cybermuse.

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