Little Manitou Lake (Saskatchewan)
Encyclopedia
Little Manitou Lake is a small saltwater lake about 100 kilometres South-East of Saskatoon. The lake was formed by receding glaciers during the most recent ice age. It is fed by underground springs, and has a mineral content high in sodium, magnesium and potassium salts due to it being a terminal lake
. The salt content of the water (180 g/L)http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTa0009662 gives it a density about halfway to that of the Dead Sea (300-400 ppt), allowing bathers to float easily.
Since the 19th century, native people have been bringing sick people to the lake they named after the spirit Manitou. The earliest known practice of using this water to heal was when some Assiniboine people were afflicted with smallpox
were cured after drinking and submerging themselves in the water.http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTa0009662
Since the turn of the 20th century and the depression of the 1930s, Manitou has been a popular tourist resort due to its salty waters. Since the late 1980s, the health benefits and the buoyancy of the water have once again made it a tourist destination.http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTa0009662
Endorheic
An endorheic basin is a closed drainage basin that retains water and allows no outflow to other bodies of water such as rivers or oceans...
. The salt content of the water (180 g/L)http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTa0009662 gives it a density about halfway to that of the Dead Sea (300-400 ppt), allowing bathers to float easily.
Since the 19th century, native people have been bringing sick people to the lake they named after the spirit Manitou. The earliest known practice of using this water to heal was when some Assiniboine people were afflicted with smallpox
Smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
were cured after drinking and submerging themselves in the water.http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTa0009662
Since the turn of the 20th century and the depression of the 1930s, Manitou has been a popular tourist resort due to its salty waters. Since the late 1980s, the health benefits and the buoyancy of the water have once again made it a tourist destination.http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=a1ARTa0009662
External links
- http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/little_manitou_lake.html Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
- Little Manitou Lake on the Canadian Encyclopedia