Dacotah Place Names
Dakota Men at MInnehaha Falls ca.1858
It was the Dakota who first named “Mini Haha,” meaning “curling water” or “the waterfall.”
The creek itself they called, “Wakpa Cistinna,” meaning “little river.”
Other Dakota names for water bodies in the area:
Tablet commemorating Dakota Indians who occupied the region in 1851, Thirty-Seventh Street and Calhoun Boulevard, ca. 1936
Lake Calhoun was called “Mde Maka Ska” meaning white earth
Lake Harriet was referred to as “Mde Unma” or Other Lake. I wonder if the Dakota came from the north?
Either the Dakota couldn’t count or Lake of the Isles looked very different back then. The Dakota called it “Wita Tomna” which means four islands.
Lake Minnewashta and Lake Minnetonka managed to keep their name somehow. Minnewashta is translated as good water and Minnetonka means big water.
Indian powwow, Lake Calhoun in July of 1951
February 6th, 2010 at 11:22 pm
First, Lake of the Isles was dredged and two islands were destroyed. Second, are you sure that photo is a powwow in Minneapolis in 1951? I’m not saying you’re wrong; I was told that the first powwow in Minneapolis was in the early 1970s, organized by AIM. But it was AIM people telling the story so that’s why I’m curious.
February 7th, 2010 at 7:04 pm
The picture is from the Visual Resource Database of the Minnesota Historical Society. Have a look!
http://collections.mnhs.org/visualresources/Results.cfm?Page=1&Keywords=lake%20calhoun%20powwow&SearchType=Basic&CFID=15632634&CFTOKEN=82337972