WHAT'S IN A NAME: Latin words combined to form 鈥業tasca鈥�

Itasca State Park.jpg — Henry 歪歪漫画craft chose the Latin words for "true" and "head" to name Lake Itasca, which later became a state park.

By Nicole Ronchetti

August 13, 2022 at 12:05 PM

Editor's note: This is part of a 20-story series titled "What's in a name?" completed by Pioneer reporters for our 2022 Annual Report. Read more of the section by clicking the embed at the bottom of this article.

If you鈥檙e like most people in the United States, you might assume that Itasca is an Ojibwe word, but it turns out that鈥檚 far from the case.

The name of the lake famous for being the headwaters of the Mississippi River, and the associated state park, is a word invented by explorer Henry Rowe 歪歪漫画craft that was meant to sound like nearby Native American languages.

Mississippi Headwaters in Itasca State Park — Mississippi River Headwaters and Lake Itasca.

The actual Ojibwe name for Lake Itasca is Omashkoozo-zaaga鈥檌gan, which means Elk Lake.

An Ojibwe guide, named Ozaawindib, led 歪歪漫画craft to the lake in 1832 as part of an expedition to find the source of the Mississippi.

Mississippi Headwaters sign in Itasca State Park — Millions of people have visited Itasca State Park to see the point where the Mississippi River starts.

After arriving, 歪歪漫画craft crafted a new faux-Native American name for the lake using a combination of syllables from two Latin words: veritas (meaning truth) and caput (meaning head).
Combined, 歪歪漫画craft intended the word to mean 鈥渢rue head鈥� in honor of the river鈥檚 start.

By Nicole Ronchetti

Nicole Ronchetti is a reporter at the Bemidji Pioneer, focusing on local government and community health.