Lake Life

The Native American names for Minocqua Lake and Lake Kawaguesaga have been interpreted in many different ways throughout the years. Current information from the Lac du Flambeau Resource Center indicates that the Ojibwa language interprets Minocqua to mean “place of good view” and “place of big trees”. There was a large camp of Ojibwa on the shores of Minocqua Lake where The Thirsty Whale and The Boathouse (formerly Bosaki’s) are now located so it would be natural to see how the lake would have a name meaning “good view of big trees”.

The name Kawaguesaga has no current Ojibwa interpretation but we could guess it means “lake with curves”. Kawaguesaga was probably mispronounced from the beginning so it is difficult to determine its accurate meaning. https://www.howtopronounce.com/kawaguesaga-lake