Welcome to beautiful Northern Minnesota.

Mixed deciduous-coniferous forests gradually turn into boreal forest in the north and prairie on the west. The Mississippi River begins its journey here, and the land is studded with thousands of lakes.

This area has a long and fascinating history which is revealed through archaeological sites and the oral tradition of Ojibwe, Cree, and Dakota people. This page will bring you information about on-going research in this part of the world.

This page is rapidly evolving. New features to come include more detailed information and photographs of some of the significant artifacts and sites in Northern Minnesota, maps, and details about current excavations.

A Sample of Some Important Archaeological Sites in Northern Minnesota History

• Bradbury Brook: located in north-central Minnesota; quarry site; oldest radiometrically dated site in Minnesota at 9,220+-75 B.P.
• Itasca Bison Kill Site: located in west-central Minnesota at the Headwaters of the Mississippi; fall bison ambush, sometime between 7,000 and 8,000 B.P.
• Smith (Grand Mound), Hannaford, and McKinstry Sites: multicomponent, stratified sites along the Minnesota side of the Rainy River trench in far northern Minnesota; show utilization of fisheries, extensive mound-building and ceremonial use; evolution of major ceramic types.
• Horseshoe Bay: located on Leech Lake; multicomponent site occupied into the 1800s; location of an early trading post, possibly used by George Bonga, a Black-Ojibwe trader.
• LaSalle Creek: campsite near the Headwaters of the Mississippi; has oldest radiometrically determined date for the introduction of ceramics in northern Minnesota (1300-1400 BC); probable evidence of domesticated dog.
• Cooper and Wilford Sites: two of the largest sites in the extensively occupied Mille Lacs region of north-central Minnesota; mounds, villages; historic connection to the Dakota.

CURRENT EXCAVATIONS

The Felknor Site

On-going archaeological excavations at the Felknor Village Site, located on relict beach ridges near Thunder Lake and Laura Lake, are producing information about early pottery making, the evolution of pottery types, and the utilization of wild rice and other local resources. The site occupies approximately 20 acres and has yielded faunal remains (including elk, snapping turtle, beaver), fire-cracked rock, and lithic materials including obsidian.

Excavations were carried out in 1995 by faculty and students from Hamline University, St. Paul, Minnesota in cooperation with the Mississippi Headwaters Board and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. This work is part of a multi-year project which combines research objectives and field training.

Students spent three days a week learning archaeological techniques and participating in archaeological research.

Beginning excavation at the Felknor Site.

In order to better understand the information they were unearthing, during the other two days of the week, they also replicated early stone, bone and clay technologies, and learned about Ojibwe culture from native teachers and spiritual leaders.

Students found and dug their own clay and learned to make it into pottery similar to that from the Felknor Site.

Pots were fired in an open fire

These pots can be used just as the people at the Felknor Site used them.

Under the watchful eye of Mike Budak from the Grand Mound Interpretive Center, students practice their skills with the atlatl.

Ojibwe teachers from the White Earth Reservation showed how to remove splints from a black ash log and make baskets.

Traditional brain-tanning of hides starts with a lot of scraping

The hide-tanning process ends with soft, smoked leather, ready to be converted into clothing and containers..

A highlight of the session was learning to build a traditional-style teaching lodge. The group cut poles and learned how to remove birch bark without harming the tree.

The framework for the lodge is made of bent ironwood poles lashed with wigob (basswood twine).

This lodge, with birchbark covering, will be used by American Indian teachers in 1996.

Watch this page for more information about the Felknor Site excavations and expanded information about Northern Minnesota Archaeology and History. For further information about the Hamline Field School in Archaeology and Ojibwe Culture, contact the Anthropology Department, Hamline University, Snelling and Hewitt, St. Paul, MN 55104.

For further information about Minnesota Archaeology, check out sites for Mankato State Anthropology Department, and the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office. The Mississippi Headwaters Board also maintains a homepage with a variety of information about northern Minnesota.

You are visitor No.since January 30, 1996.

We welcome comments, suggestions and questions. We can supply bibliographic references for the sites mentioned on this page.