therein. Connected with it is a string of marshy, or mud-bottomed, lakes in which the water is but a few feet deep, and wherein the wild rice of the north grows luxuriantly, and in the greatest abundance.
Possessing these and other advantages, there is not a spot in the northwest which an Indian would sooner choose as a home and dwelling place, than Mille Lacs. It is not then to be wondered at, that for nearly two centuries, it has formed a bone of strife and contention between the Ojibways and Dakotas.
The name of the still large and important band of Dakotas known as the Mdé wakantons, has been derived from this lake; they now dwell on the Mississippi and the lower portions of the Minnesota River.[1] Their ancestors were dwellers on Spirit Lake, and their bones have enriched the soil about its shores.
I gather from "A sketch of the early trade and traders of Minnesota," by the Rev. Edward D. Neill, of St. Paul, published in the Annals of the Minnesota Historical Society for 1852, that in the year 1680, the Franciscan priest Hennepin, with two companions named Michael Ako[2] and Picard du Gay, were taken captive by the Dakotas of Mille
- ↑ The M'déwakantons (Spirit Lake People), in 1852 were divided into seven bands, who dwelt on the western banks of the Mississippi and in the lower Minnesota valley. The Ki-yuk-sa band lived below Lake Pepin. Another band dwelt at Re-mni-ca (Hill, water and wood) now Red Wing, a few miles above Lake Pepin. Kaposia band, four miles below St. Paul, Grey Iron's band at Black Dog's village on the south bank of the Minnesota, above Mendota. Oak Grove band and Good Road's band on the upper bank of the Minnesota, eight miles above Fort Snelling. Shokpedan, or Little Six, band near the present town of Shakopee.
In 1854 they were living on a reservation in the valley of the upper Minnesota River. The Kaposia band was four miles below the mouth of the Red Wood River, Shokpedan's band at the mouth of that stream, while those of Wapatha and Waukouta were nearer the white settlements, and remained here until after the massacre of 1862, when they were removed to the valley of the Missouri River.—E.D.N. - ↑ Also spelled Accault. La Salle writes that Ako was the leader of the party.—E.D.N.
