Onamia ( ) is a city in Mille Lacs County,

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States. The population was 784 as of the 2020 census, down from 878 in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. U.S. Highway 169 and

Minnesota State Highway 27 Minnesota State Highway 27 (MN 27) is a state highway in west-central and east-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with MN 28 in Browns Valley and continues east to its interchange with Interstate 35 (I-35) in ...

are the main routes in the community.

History

Originally, the city of Onamia was organized from the merger of two communities, the village of Onamia (Ojibwe: ''Onamanii-zaaga'iganiing'') and the village of Ericksonville (Ojibwe: ''Gibaakwa'igaansing''). Onamia is named after Lake Onamia, whose name derives from the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

word ''onaman'' ("

red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...

", or, locally, "

vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color family and pigment most often used between antiquity and the 19th century from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide). It is synonymous with red orange, which often takes a moder ...

"). Ericksonville was incorporated in 1898. Onamia was incorporated in 1908.

Geography

Onamia is in northern Mille Lacs County, on the south shore of Lake Onamia and south of

Mille Lacs Lake Mille Lacs Lake ( , also called Lake Mille Lacs or Mille Lacs) is a large, shallow lake in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in the counties of Mille Lacs, Aitkin, and Crow Wing, roughly north of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropol ...

. U.S. Route 169 passes through the east side of the city, leading south to

Milaca Milaca ( ) is a city and the county seat of Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. The population was 3,021 at the time of the 2020 census. It is situated on the Rum River. History A post office has been in operation at Milaca since 1883. The name M ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, and north to

Garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

on the northwest shore of Mille Lacs Lake. State Highway 27 passes through Onamia as its Main Street, leading northeast to Isle at the southeast end of Mille Lacs Lake, and west to Little Falls on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the city of Onamia has an area of , of which are land and , or 2.00%, are water. The city is bordered to the north by Lake Onamia. The lake is fed and drained by the

Rum River The Rum River is a slow, meandering stream that connects Minnesota's Mille Lacs Lake with the Mississippi River. It runs for U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 5, ...

; the lake's outlet is in the western part of the city. The Rum River continues south to Milaca and ultimately the Mississippi River at Anoka. Mille Lacs Kathio State Park is northwest of the city. Sections of the Rum River State Forest are nearby.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 878 people, 349 households, and 167 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 398 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 83.0%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 2.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 9.9% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.7% of the population. There were 349 households, of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 52.1% were non-families. 46.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 26.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age in the city was 41.7 years. 28% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 15.3% were from 25 to 44; 22.7% were from 45 to 64; and 24.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 53.4% male and 46.6% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 847 people, 318 households, and 171 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 355 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.20%

, 0.94%

, 6.49% Native American, 0.24% from other races, and 2.13% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population. There were 318 households, out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.1% were

living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.2% were non-families. 42.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 23.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.98. In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.5% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 18.8% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 26.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 77.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $21,250, and the median income for a family was $32,500. Males had a median income of $31,000 versus $19,375 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $12,857. About 11.9% of families and 14.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 18.0% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The public school system is Onamia Public Schools. The Nay Ah Shing School, a K-12 tribal school, operates its secondary school and the Abinoojiiyag School (a primary school facility) in a nearby

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Notable people

Shane Bauer Shane Bauer is an American journalist, best known for his undercover reporting for ''Mother Jones'' magazine. He has won several awards including the Harvard's Goldsmith Prize for Investigative Reporting and the National Magazine Award for Best ...

- author

Gallery

Onamia, Minnesota-02-Onamia Depot Library.jpg, Onamia Depot Library Onamia, Minnesota-04-Post Office.jpg, Onamia Post Office Onamia, Minnesota-05-businesses.jpg, Businesses in the city Onamia, Minnesota-10-Crosier Fathers and Brothers.jpg, Crosier Fathers and Brothers religious community

References

External links

*
''Mille Lacs Messenger''
newspaper serving Onamia
Onamia Area Website

Mille Lacs Area Tourism Council
{{authority control Cities in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota Cities in Minnesota