Miami people
When Lake Michigan first entered recorded history in the early 1600s, the land at the lake's southern end was populated by the Miami people. By 1640, the Miami had been driven from the region by the Beaver Wars. The Potawatomi moved in from the north to replace them. The Potawatomi frequently came into the areas now within the Indiana Dunes National lakeshore to hunt, fish and gather food including wild rice. The Odawa people also hunted deer there in the winter.