Who Were the Area's First Inhabitants?

Who Were the Area's First Inhabitants?. . , During prehistoric times the Woodland Indians made this area their home. The ancient and continuing spiritual importance of this area is noted by the number of ancient cemeteries near the shore of White Bear Lake. In 1881, Archaeologist Jacob Brower identified nine cemetery mounds in the township. Unfortunately, only one of these burial mounds remains. As with all cemeteries in Minnesota, this mound is protected by state law, and it is unlawful to disturb it., By the middle of the nineteenth century, French-Canadian and European settlers began to take notice of all White Bear had to offer and the land around the area's many lakes was settled for agricultural purposes., Seasonal Patterns , Dakota people, descendants of the mound-builders, and Ojibwe people used this area as part of their seasonal migratory pattern spending time here in the late spring and early summer each year to harvest maple sap and fish the bountiful lakes., [Caption:] , Source: White Bear Lake Area Historical Society , Dakota Woman on the Shore of White Bear Lake, ca. 1880