Volante: Spirit of Mní iá Tháŋka

Volante is the story of a boat, a lake, and the enduring spirit that binds them across generations.Set on the shores of Lake Minnetonka, this narrative traces the deep history of a place first known to the Dakota as Mní iá Tháŋka, where water and spirit are one. Long before industry and summer estates transformed the shoreline, something less tangible yet no less powerful drew people here. That presence endures.At the center of the story is Volante, an 1887 wooden sandbagger designed by Ned Burgess and built during the golden age of American yacht racing. Once a dominant racing vessel, she slipped into obscurity before a painstaking, deeply personal restoration brought her back to life.Through the intertwined histories of Indigenous presence, industrial expansion, recreational sailing, and family legacy, Volante becomes more than a boat. She is a vessel of memory, craftsmanship, and continuity.Told through a blend of historical research and reflective narrative, this book explores what it means to care for something that endures beyond a single lifetime. It asks how places hold meaning, how traditions sustain themselves, and how restoration can heal.In the end, Volante is not simply about returning a boat to the water. It is about rediscovering what still listens and what still calls us back. Read more