page_title: Kakabeka Falls
section_title: Kakabeka Falls in art
hierarchical_section_title: Kakabeka Falls / Kakabeka Falls in art
caption_attribution_description: The Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls
context_page_description: Kakabeka Falls is a waterfall on the Kaministiquia River, located beside the village of Kakabeka Falls in the municipality of Oliver Paipoonge, Ontario, 30 km west of the city of Thunder Bay.
  The falls have a drop of 40 m, cascading into a gorge carved out of the Precambrian Shield by meltwater following the last glacial maximum. Because of its size and ease of access, it has been consequently nicknamed "the Niagara of the North".
  The rock face of the falls and the escarpments along the gorge are composed primarily of unstable shale, and are eroding. These rocks host sensitive flora, and contain some of the oldest fossils in existence, some 1.6 billion years of age. Due to the fragile rock, going into the gorge below the falls is prohibited.
  The name "Kakabeka" comes from the Ojibwe word gakaabikaa "waterfall over a cliff".
context_section_description: The most famous painting featuring the falls, painted by Lucius Richard O'Brien in 1882, is held by the National Gallery of Canada.
  Frances Anne Hopkins, whose historic paintings are well known for her portrayal of Canadian life, painted the portage around the falls in 1877. Her painting, "The Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls, Ontario", depicts the Red River Expedition of 1870 portaging around the falls on its way to the Red River Colony to interdict Louis Riel.
caption: The Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls, Ontario by Frances Anne Hopkins, 1877.
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