Minnehaha is a mythic Native American woman documented in The Song of Hiawatha an epic poem written in 1855 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Minnehaha is the lover of Hiawatha. The name is often incorrectly said to mean "laughing water", though in reality it translates to "waterfall" in Dakotahttp://fmdb.cla.umn.edu/dakota/default.htm Dakota Dictionary Online.

On 18 January 1874, whilst travelling from Callao, Peru to Dublin, the 845-ton cargo barque Minnehaha was wrecked off Peninnis Head, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly.