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resistant species (oaks and aspen) predominated to the south and west of the lakes. This pattern resulted from fires frequently sweeping across the region from southwest to northeast (Wovcha et. al. 1995:24). Generalized Regional Cultural History The following summary of the regional archaeological sequence is derived from a variety of sources, including Anfinson's (1990) description of archaeological regions in Minnesota, the files and records of the State Historic Preservation Office, and the Office of the State Archaeologist. The first inhabitants of the southeastern Plains were mobile hunters and gatherers of the Paleoindian Tradition (ca. 12000 to 8500 B.P.) and the Early Archaic Period (ca. 8500 to 6500 B.P.) based on dates from the Cherokee Sewer Site in northern Iowa (see Anderson et al. 1978). Paleoindian peoples began entering the area as glacial ice was retreating from the Upper Midwest and people apparently began to occupy the area's open woodlands and succeeding grasslands. The settlement patterns of these people is poorly understood because most sites related to that era consist of scattered surface fords of distinctive lanceolate projectile points and large bifacially flaked knives, choppers and scrapers (Anfinson 1987). These people are best known for hunting big game animals such as now extinct mammoths and giant bison, but they undoubtedly exploited small game animals and plant resources too. Throughout much of the Late Paleo and Early Archaic time period, the climate became increasingly warmer and drier. By the end of the Early Archaic period, available fresh water resources had been substantially reduced. Paleoindian tool -kits included distinctive fluted lanceolate spearpoints, such as the Clovis and Folsom types that are among the oldest securely dated artifacts in North America. Late Paleoindian point types such as Browns Valley and Agate Basin are more commonly found, but they lack the distinctive flute of the earlier styles. Dalton points are thought to bridge the transformation from the Late Paleoindian to the Early Archaic Tradition, supporting Anfmson's (1997) definition of the Early Prehistoric Period. The Middle and Late Archaic Periods (ca. 6500 to 2300 B.P.) reflect environmental conditions that were becoming cooler and wetter. Though people continued to hunt bison, as is documented at the Cherokee Sewer Site, overall subsistence strategies adapted to the changing environmental trends and increasingly diversified technologies associated with hunting, fishing, foraging, woodworking, and plant processing became widespread. The Archaic tool -kit is dominated by smaller stemmed and notched projectile points that could be placed on the tip of an atl atl dart and/or harpoons. Chipped stone tools include adzes for felling trees and constructing dugout canoes, while pecked and ground stone tools were used for processing plant foods. In addition to chipped and ground stone tools, Archaic peoples occasionally fashioned tools from native copper. The Woodland Tradition (ca. 2300 to historic contact) is the best represented archaeological tradition in Minnesota. Its primary diagnostic traits include the acquisition of ceramic technology, the use of burial mounds for cemeteries, and the adoption of horticulture. Late in the period as maize and wild rice became a dietary staple, settlement patterns focused on the occupation of fertile agricultural floodplains and wild ricing areas near lake inlets and outlets ( Anfinson 1990). The presumed introduction of bow and arrow weaponry was another significant technological development. The Woodland Tradition is divided into the Early, Middle, and Late stages in much of the Upper Midwest, but most of the oldest Woodland sites in Minnesota are more appropriately placed in the Middle Woodland Stage, and their associated cultural assemblages are similar to those of the Late Archaic. At the time of European contact (ca. 1650), the Central Lakes Deciduous East region was home to the Dakota peoples whose subsistence practices focused on bison hunting. From the middle 1600s through the early 1700s, French explorers and fur traders began moving into southeastern and central Minnesota establishing the earliest known direct contact between Europeans and the Dakota. By the late 1700s, English and then American traders were well established throughout the region. Trade and missionary activities introduced the local Dakota to a large variety of European produced goods, substantially influencing traditional Dakota economic and subsistence activities. Dakota dependence on European trade goods was high when local fur resources drastically declined during the early 1800s. Throughout the 1800s the Dakota ceded large tracts of land to the United States