 While the name Minnehaha is often translated as " Laughing Water " , the correct translation is " curling water " or " waterfall " . The name comes from the Dakota language elements mni , meaning water , and ȟaȟa , meaning waterfall . Thus the expression " Minnehaha Falls " translates as " Waterfall Falls " . The " Laughing Water " translation comes from Mary H. Eastman 's book Dahcotah – Life and Legends of the Sioux Around Fort Snelling , published in 1849 . The Dakota called Minnehaha Creek " Wakpa Cistinna " , meaning " Little River " . According to information provided by the National Park Service , an early missionary who had learned the Dakota language wrote : " The Indian name , ' Little Waterfall , ' is given . . . in speaking of the falls now called by white people ' Minnehaha ' . The Indians never knew it by the latter name , bestowed upon it by the whites . " 
