Mille Lacs Kathio State Park
Encyclopedia
Mille Lacs Kathio State Park, also known as Kathio Site, is a Minnesota
state park on Mille Lacs Lake
. The park preserves habitation sites and mound groups, believed to date between 3000 BC and 1750 AD, that document Sioux
Indian culture and Ojibwe-Sioux relationships. The park contains 19 identified archaeological sites, making it one of the most significant archaeological collections in Minnesota. The earliest site dates to the Archaic period and shows evidence of copper tool manufacture. The Sioux lived in this area roughly until the 18th century, when many bands of Sioux were moving southward into the prairies and river areas of southern Minnesota. At the same time, Ojibwe were moving in from the east. Ojibwe oral tradition suggests that there was a battle
in which they successfully took control of the area from the Sioux, but no archaeological evidence has been found for this. Around the time of contact in the 1850s, loggers came to the area. The next 50 years resulted in a large quantity of trees being felled and floated down the Rum River
or across Mille Lacs Lake
to sawmills.
The name "Kathio" is actually a corruption of "Izatys", a name the Mdewakanton
Sioux people gave themselves. Explorer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut
visited the area in 1679. He named the area "Izatys", but his poor handwriting led people to mistake the "Iz" as a "K". Further errors led to the name being transliterated to "Kathio".
The Kathio Historic District site was designated a National Historic Landmark
in 1964.
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
state park on Mille Lacs Lake
Mille Lacs Lake
Mille Lacs Lake is a lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin and Crow Wing, roughly 100 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area....
. The park preserves habitation sites and mound groups, believed to date between 3000 BC and 1750 AD, that document Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
Indian culture and Ojibwe-Sioux relationships. The park contains 19 identified archaeological sites, making it one of the most significant archaeological collections in Minnesota. The earliest site dates to the Archaic period and shows evidence of copper tool manufacture. The Sioux lived in this area roughly until the 18th century, when many bands of Sioux were moving southward into the prairies and river areas of southern Minnesota. At the same time, Ojibwe were moving in from the east. Ojibwe oral tradition suggests that there was a battle
Battle of Kathio
-Summary:The Battle of Kathio, or Battle of Izatys, was an oral tradition of the Chippewa reporting a battle fought in 1750 between Chippewas and the Sioux at the village of Kathio, or Izatys, on the Rum River next to Mille Lacs Lake....
in which they successfully took control of the area from the Sioux, but no archaeological evidence has been found for this. Around the time of contact in the 1850s, loggers came to the area. The next 50 years resulted in a large quantity of trees being felled and floated down the Rum River
Rum River
The Rum River is a slow, meandering channel that connects Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake with the Mississippi River. It runs for through the farming communities of Onamia, Milaca, Princeton, Cambridge, and Isanti before ending at the Twin Cities suburb of Anoka, roughly 20 miles northwest of downtown...
or across Mille Lacs Lake
Mille Lacs Lake
Mille Lacs Lake is a lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin and Crow Wing, roughly 100 miles north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area....
to sawmills.
The name "Kathio" is actually a corruption of "Izatys", a name the Mdewakanton
Mdewakanton
Mdewakantonwan are one of the sub-tribes of the Isanti Dakota . Their historic home is Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota, which in the Dakota language was called mde wakan .As part of the Santee Sioux, their ancestors had migrated from the Southeast of the present-day United States, where the...
Sioux people gave themselves. Explorer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut
Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut was a French soldier and explorer who is the first European known to have visited the area where the city of Duluth, Minnesota is now located and the headwaters of the Mississippi River near Grand Rapids...
visited the area in 1679. He named the area "Izatys", but his poor handwriting led people to mistake the "Iz" as a "K". Further errors led to the name being transliterated to "Kathio".
The Kathio Historic District site was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1964.