A Brief Native History of Lake Koronis

By Joe Burbach, KLA Director

November is Native American Heritage Month, a good time to reflect on the first peoples of this land. For me, this history has personal meaning. Although my mother is not active in tribal life, she is a member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota tribe, and my grandmother spent time in her youth with family living on reservations in South Dakota. The Dakota once lived and traveled the lands around Lake Koronis until they, like so many others, were forcibly relocated westward to the Dakotas following the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862. 

I’m certainly not an expert historian, but I have a strong appreciation for the rich Indigenous heritage of this area. What follows is a collection of histories gathered from the Paynesville Historical Society, past editions of the Paynesville Press, and other sources listed at the end of this article. These stories span thousands of years, beginning with the ancient mound builders and continuing through the Dakota families who once called Lake Koronis home. By recalling their lives, we honor a legacy that continues to resonate along our shores today.

Ancient Mound Builders at Lake Koronis

Long before Lake Koronis became known for fireworks, fish houses, and summer getaways, its shores were home to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. For generations, Native families spent their summers here, and traces of their presence remain all around us. One of the oldest human-made structures in the area still overlooks the lake: an ancient burial mound atop a 100-foot hill along the southeastern shore. Roughly 2,000 years ago, Native inhabitants built hundreds of burial mounds along lakes and rivers throughout this region — only a few remain intact today. Archaeologists and local farmers have uncovered pottery shards, stone tools, copper and bone implements, arrowheads, and other artifacts near Lake Koronis. Many of these can be viewed at the Paynesville Area Museum, offering tangible reminders of a rich Native history that spans millennia.

These ancient mound builders belonged to what archaeologists call the Middle Woodland tradition, which is often connected to the Hopewell culture, dating from approximately 1,300 to 2,200 years ago. They were not the Dakota or Ojibwe peoples familiar from more recent history but were instead distant ancestors who preceded these tribes. The Middle Woodland people lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild foods. They probably spent winters further south, possibly in present-day Iowa or southern Minnesota, and traveled north each summer to places like Lake Koronis, drawn by abundant game, fish, and clean water. The lake’s natural bounty of fish, waterfowl, and edible plants would have made this seasonal journey worthwhile. A local historian once observed that while we today might visit the lake for a week each summer, Native families would stay the entire season. In that sense, these early peoples were our lake’s original seasonal visitors. The natural beauty and clear waters of Koronis, including its distinctive islands, clearly held appeal even centuries ago.

Lake Koronis was more than just a source of sustenance; it held deep spiritual significance as well. One prominent location, known locally as “Behr’s Hill” on the southeastern shore, is crowned with a large ceremonial “altar mound,” once surrounded by other effigy mounds. Historical records from early surveyors report what may have been a serpent-shaped mound near the lake’s southern edge, just west of the Crow River outlet, and a cluster of other mounds on the opposite shore. These impressive earthworks suggest that the lake was not only a vital resource but also held sacred and territorial importance for these early inhabitants. Archaeologists believe that creating such visible burial mounds was a way for these peoples to mark their territory clearly and symbolically. One researcher described the mounds as billboards, effectively communicating, “Our ancestors rest here; this place belongs to our people.” The largest mound on Behr’s Hill would have been a particularly strong signal to others traveling up the river that this area was inhabited and cared for. The number and spread of mounds originally found in our region, extending from at least Norway Lake to Rockville, indicate that Lake Koronis was inhabited by a significant population, or perhaps many successive generations of Indigenous peoples. Each mound and artifact adds a unique chapter to the story, painting a clear picture of a thriving ancient community whose legacy still resonates today.

The Dakota Era: Life at Pwáhdanska (Lake Koronis)

In more recent centuries, particularly just before and after European contact, the Dakota people, also known as the Eastern Sioux, became the primary Indigenous inhabitants around Lake Koronis. This land was an essential part of the Dakota homeland, used extensively for hunting, fishing, and seasonal encampments. The Dakota knew every hill, bay, and shoreline. In fact, the Crow River, which flows directly out of Lake Koronis, was called Khaŋǧí Šúŋ Wakpá in the Dakota language, meaning “Crow’s Wing River.” Early maps even documented it as “Karishon River,” hinting at the longstanding Dakota connection to our area. Local oral histories describe how Dakota families made seasonal journeys to Lake Koronis. According to one story passed down, some Dakota spent winters near Mankato, then paddled north each spring by birchbark canoe as soon as the ice melted, traveling along the Crow River to reach the lake. It’s easy to imagine these journeys, the rivers and marshes awakening in the spring, canoes filled with families and their belongings, all eager to settle again at their beloved summer grounds.

Upon arriving at Lake Koronis, known as Pwáhdanska in Dakota, the people lived harmoniously with the abundant local resources. They fished the clear waters for walleye, pike, bass, and other species. They hunted deer, buffalo, and waterfowl in nearby woods, wetlands, and prairies. Along the shorelines, Dakota families gathered wild berries, nuts, and medicinal plants. Elders knew exactly where wild rice grew thick in quiet river sloughs and where maple trees could be tapped for syrup.

The Dakota were not only skilled hunters and gatherers but adept farmers as well. In certain seasons, they planted corn, squash, and beans in the fertile river valleys to the south. When game became abundant on the prairies or when crops were harvested, families traveled back north to the lakes, adjusting to nature’s seasonal rhythms. The Crow River and the chain of interconnected lakes served as natural highways, facilitating travel, commerce, and community interaction, much as modern boaters now navigate these waters for recreation. During the 1700s and early 1800s, significant changes began reshaping life in our area, yet the Dakota adapted with resilience. They encountered French and British fur traders exploring up the rivers, and the Dakota quickly became vital participants in the booming fur trade. Dakota hunters trapped beaver, muskrat, and other animals from local lakes and marshes, trading the valuable pelts for metal tools, firearms, blankets, and beads. They were instrumental in establishing central Minnesota’s early fur trade economy, actively negotiating and incorporating new materials into their daily lives. Historical records note several trading posts operating throughout the region, including one near what is now Paynesville, regularly visited by Dakota trappers.

Despite growing European contact, Dakota communities retained control of their territory throughout the early 1800s. Settlers remained relatively sparse, allowing Dakota bands, particularly the Sisseton and Wahpeton, to which many Koronis-area families belonged, to travel freely from the Mississippi River in the east to the prairies in the west. Lake Koronis remained a vibrant summer gathering place for Dakota families right up to the mid-19th century. Elders’ stories from that time vividly recall large summer encampments along the lake, with tipis and bark lodges scattered through the meadows. Drums sounded across the water on warm evenings, children played along the shores, and families shared food and stories beneath the stars. Lake Koronis was alive with Dakota culture, deeply embedded in their ancestral homeland and filled with community memories that linger even today.

Heritage and Change: A Recent Chapter

European-American settlement around Lake Koronis began in earnest in the 1850s, which, when viewed against thousands of years of Indigenous history, feels like a very recent chapter. In 1851, as white settlers increasingly entered what was then Minnesota Territory, Dakota leaders were pressured into signing the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux. Under this treaty, the Dakota ceded vast lands, including the Koronis area, to the U.S. government. Even after this treaty, some Dakota families continued returning to Lake Koronis each summer, holding onto their homeland for as long as possible. 

Growing tensions between Dakota people and U.S. authorities eventually erupted into the U.S.–Dakota War of 1862. Broken treaties, ongoing injustices, and widespread hunger pushed some Dakota to resist and fight. This conflict affected much of southern and central Minnesota, including the frontier settlement at Paynesville, which was briefly evacuated. Settlers constructed a makeshift sod fort for protection before fleeing to safer towns nearby. When a group of Dakota warriors arrived soon afterward, a brief skirmish took place. Although settlers escaped unharmed, Dakota forces burned most of the fledgling town, sparing only a few buildings belonging to friends of their leader, Chief Little Crow. It’s sobering to consider such conflict in the quiet communities around our lake. 

Following the war, the U.S. government forcibly removed nearly all Dakota people from Minnesota. In 1863, treaties were nullified, and both Dakota and Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) peoples were expelled from the state. By the late 1860s, most Dakota families, including those who had regularly visited Lake Koronis, had been relocated to reservations in the Dakotas. Descendants of these families became today’s Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, primarily residing in South and North Dakota. Within a single decade, an expansive Dakota homeland that had been theirs for generations was abruptly claimed and reshaped by new settlers. Farms, towns, and churches quickly appeared where seasonal Dakota villages once stood, permanently transforming the region.

Yet, in the grand sweep of history, this period of dispossession is brief. The Native presence at Lake Koronis endures, not in large villages or encampments but in the quiet fabric of our landscape. One enduring symbol is the large burial mound on the southeast shore, rising above the lake for nearly two thousand years. Protected for decades by the Behr/Hahn family, it’s the oldest known human-made structure in our area. Now, thanks to preservation efforts by the Archaeological Conservancy, this sacred hillside and its ancient mounds are permanently protected for future generations. Visitors standing atop Behr’s Hill feel a profound sense of connection, viewing the same expansive lake vista seen by Indigenous peoples centuries ago. Mary Hahn, a local caretaker of this site, reminds us that protecting places like this goes beyond history or archaeology; it’s about “being and feeling,” about connecting meaningfully with those who came before us. Mary believes that the Native people, with their deep respect for animals and the natural world, still have much to teach us. As she thoughtfully puts it, “They have come and gone, but they have not left us.”

Even though Dakota families no longer set up tipis along Lake Koronis, their spirit remains embedded in the land itself. According to Indigenous tradition, the earth holds memories of its people. Every old trail, every shoreline and island, every echo of a drumbeat at dusk quietly carries reminders of their presence. The lessons of respect and reverence these original inhabitants had for Lake Koronis still speak to us today. Whenever we watch an eagle soar over the lake or see the sunset reflected in its waters, we remember this is not merely a lake surrounded by cabins and parks. It is a homeland that nurtured countless generations of Native peoples. This November, during Native American Heritage Month, remembering the Dakota and those who lived here before ensures their presence continues to be honored. In many ways, they remain here along our shores, forever woven into Lake Koronis’s living story.

Sources:

Paynesville Historical Society exhibits and archives

Paynesville Press archives and articles, including “Burial mounds to be preserved” (March 14, 2001)

Linda Stelling, History of Lake Koronis (2000)

Minnesota Historical Society – U.S.–Dakota War of 1862 resources

Archaeological Conservancy – Behr’s Hill mound site preservation

Gwen Westerman and Bruce White, Mni Sota Makoce: The Land of the Dakota

Aktá Lakota Museum – Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate cultural resources

Mary Lethert Wingerd, North Country: The Making of Minnesota

National Park Service – Hopewell Culture overview and Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota history

Dakota place names and Crow River history (as referenced in publicly available linguistic and cultural resources)