New Brighton Area History Presentation

The New Brighton Area Historical Society sponsored a presentation by Dr. David Peterson about “The Dakota People on Long Lake”

Leone Aronson Arrowhead Collection

Around 1740, Dakota people settled on the north side of Long Lake near the inlet of Rice Creek. They called their village Otonwewakpadan or “Village on a Stream.” The French are said to have called it Grand Village when they visited it during the fur trade during the 1700s. In the 1830s, Joseph Nicollet reported it was the largest Dakota village in the region.

The Aronson arrowhead collection was made by children hunting artifacts on dunes in the village area. Archaeologists have found little there, indicating the village site was heavily disturbed by the stockyards and truck farming. The collection is now the best evidence of early Native Americans in New Brighton. Native people were in the area even earlier than the village – some points in the collection date as early as 5500 to 5000 BC. Future research will determine all types and dating of the items, as well as the raw material sources used to make them.