Mathoskabde

Mathoskabde is a Dakota name for White Bear Lake, a lake amid the woods and wetlands of Minnesota. Its Dakota name, Bdé Mathó Ská, means White Bear Lake; the nearby name Mathó Bdé means Bear Lake. Dakota and Ojibwe people used the surrounding country for hunting and gathering. An island in the lake and the wooded shores form part of a landscape rich in local stories, in a region where lakes and streams lie close to the upper Mississippi.