Lake Omushkos Outlet

It was almost dark that evening in early August 2004 just after the blue moon. Ozawindib was in the bow of his custom made Ojibwe Longnose birchbark canoe, his Sony Handycam DCR-PC109 running, His trek sponsor Hank Schoolcraft in the stern listening to the Ultimate Collection by Luciano on his Ipod trying to simultaneously get a GPS fix on his Nokia 3620 and a fix on his Suunto X3-HR altimeter wristwatch.
"Truly, truly, truly I tell you Mr.Hank, this is truly it. "
The upstream paddling. the continuous portaging, the rocks in the ever shallower waters threatening to poke hole in the bottom of the canoe, his Ipod battery getting low, Hank had about had it.
"What's this lake called Ozzie? It's the highest altimeter reading we've had so far."
"Omushkos, sir"
"Sad name for a nice lake like this. What does it mean?"
"Elk, sir"
"Does this lake have any inlets Ozzie?"
"No sir, and this is the only outlet."
"I'll be damned, a river that flows north to go south. It appears you are right Ozzie, this is truly it. I'm going to give this lake a White Man's name. I'm going to call it Veritas Caput."
"Say again, sir."
"Veritas Caput"
"Is that White Man tongue, sir?"
"It's Latin, Ozzie."
"What does it mean, sir?"
"It means true head."
"Are people who speak this tongue White Man, sir?"
"Yes, they were. They used to be very white. Now they speak Italian or more likely Spanish south of where this water drains into the sea."
"It's difficult for Ojibwe person to pronounce, sir. Would you consider making it just one word? Maybe something that might sound like Ojibwe, sir?"
"How about Itasca? Does that sound better to you?"
"If I may say so sir, Omushkos has just as many vowels and sounds like a squaw's name."
"Right Ozzie, but there are tons of Lake Omushkos around. It sounds like some Greek island. Itasca is the true head. The name will keep even the smartest White Man thinking forever. The mosquitoes are coming out. Let's get down to Douglas Lodge for a cool one, before they close the kitchen. You start paddling Oz. I'm gonna give O-bah-bahm-wawa-ge-zhe-go-qua a call. Got three bars on the Nokia now. You got any dry Cohibas left? This calls for a celebration. You never know how much longer we'll be able to smoke outside in State Parks."