The Nokasippi River is a short tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 in central Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. In the Ojibwe language

Ojibwe language

Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...

, the river is called Nooke-ziibi (Tender River). The term "tender" generally refers to the Bear Totem

Totem

A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...

, but in this case refers to Chief Nokay, who was named after the Bear Totem and lived along the shores of Nokay Lake.

Course

The Nokasippi flows for its entire course in southern Crow Wing County

Crow Wing County, Minnesota

Crow Wing County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 62,500. Its county seat is Brainerd.-Geography:...

. It begins in Clearwater Lake, about 15 miles (24.1 km) east-northeast of Brainerd

Brainerd, Minnesota

Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13,590 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Crow Wing County and one of the largest cities in Central Minnesota...

, and flows generally southwestwardly, passing through Eagle, Nokay, Pointon, South Long and Round Lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s. It joins the Mississippi River from the east just north of the town of Fort Ripley

Fort Ripley, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 74 people, 34 households, and 24 families residing in the city. The population density was 55.6 people per square mile . There were 35 housing units at an average density of 26.3 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 94.59% White, 1.35% Native...

, and across the Mississippi from the Camp Ripley

Camp Ripley

Camp Ripley is a military and civilian training facility operated by the Minnesota National Guard located near the city of Little Falls in the central part of the state. The location of the camp was selected in 1929 by Ellard A. Walsh, Adjutant General of the State of Minnesota...

 Military Reservation. Just upstream of its mouth, the Nokasippi collects a short tributary, the Little Nokasippi River

Little Nokasippi River

The Little Nokasippi River is a river of Minnesota and a tributary of the Nokasippi River.-See also:*List of rivers of Minnesota-References:**USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Minnesota...

.