We-No-Nah

We-No-Nah, meaning first born daughter in the Dakota language, gave her name to the city and county. According to legend, she loved a simple hunter instead of the warrior chosen by her father, Chief Wahpashaw. Rather than marry a man she did not love, she climbed to the top of a bluff overlooking the river, proclaimed her true love, and jumped to her death. A statuary grouping of We-No-Nah with turtles and pelicans was erected in Central Park on August 26, 1902, later incorporated into Levee Plaza in 1977, and was a gift of W.J. Landon in memory of Ida Cone Landon in 1900.

Winona, Minnesota · United States