INDIAN HISTORY The original inhabitants of the White Lake area were members of the race which occupied the entire western hemi- sphere for seteral thousand years.There was something attractive about the Lake which encouraged the Indians to make encampments in the area. Being impressed x-r'i.i:‘thi'theâ€white water" in the lake, thebIndians named their settlement after an Indian‘known as We a eFor many years the lake and community bore the descriptive quaint name-â€" 'WAEALAK". The tribes which found Wabalak appealing were of the Algonquinefamily. They relied upon fishing and hunt- ing for their existence;unlike the Iroquois to the south,they did not develop an agricultural base. There were more fish in the lake and more deer and other Wildlife in the bush in those days than there are now. These Indians did not engage in any serious conflict with the white men who came later. In fact,there is evidence that they bought potatoes and grain and even competed in sporting competitions with the whites. The peaceful Algonquin tended to Settle near sources of water such as springs or creeks and in wigwams.Because they left no written records,little is known about the Algonquin tribesmen who gave the community its name.