The First People MN Historical Society The first people to
occupy the lands now designated as Voyageurs National Park
arrived nearly 10,000 years ago during the Paleo-Indian Period.
Groups entered the area as the waters of glacial Lake Agassiz
receded. This ancient lake once covered 110,000 square miles of
Minnesota, North Dakota, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan in
Canada. During the Archaic Period (8,000 B.C. - 100 B.C.) people
followed a mobile, hunting and gathering lifestyle. Fishing was
a major source of food, although the gathering of plants
continued to be important as well. During the Woodland Period
(100 A.D.- 900 A.D.) people increased their use of the wild rice
that is native to this area. They began to use ceramics to
fashion small, side-notched triangular projectile points. Over
220 pre-contact archeological sites have been documented within
the park, including sites that are now listed on the National
Register of Historic Places. Please remember while exploring the
park that all archeological