Minnesota was inhabited by native peoples.
The Dakota people are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America . Minnesota . Until European settlement , Minnesota was inhabited by the Dakota and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe . During the 19th and early 20th centuries , a large number of European settlers entered the state who had mainly emigrated from Scandinavia and Germany . The Ojibwe , Ojibwa , or Chippewa are an Anishinaabeg group of indigenous peoples in North America .