Ojibwa

The Ojibwa, also known as the Chippewa and the Aanishanabe, are an indigenous nation located primarily in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the Canadian province of Ontario. There are also Ojibwa reservations and communities in North Dakota, Montana, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, as well as significant Ojibwa populations in urban areas of both the United States and Canada. The U.S. federal government currently recognizes 23 Ojibwa reservations; the Canadian government recognizes 130 reserves of Ojibwa First Nations. When the population of all United States and Canadian Ojibwa are considered together, the Ojibwa make up one of the most populous indigenous nations in North America.

Indigenous populations in both the United States and Canada are difficult to determine because of the variety of definitions, criteria, and data-gathering methods used in both countries, and so wide variation exists in reports on the Ojibwa population. The most recent census figures in both countries place the total Ojibwa population at about 200,000. Some sources report that the Ojibwa population is about evenly divided between the United States and Canada, while others claim that up to two-thirds of the entire Ojibwa population resides in Canada, with about half of Canadian Ojibwa living in Ontario. In both countries, the Ojibwa population is about evenly divided between those who live on reserves (Canada) or reservations (United States) and those who live in urban centers, although those who live off reserves or reservations typically maintain strong ties to their homelands. Within the United States, the Ojibwa are the third most populous indigenous nation, surpassed only by the Navajo and the Cherokee.

There is significant variation in the tribal name and also no standardized English spelling for Ojibwa, with variations that include Ojibway and Ojibwe. Chippewa, the name most often used by the U.S. government, is an English corruption of the word Ojibwa. In Canada, the names Salteaux and Bungi also refer to Ojibwa who reside in the Plains regions. The Ojibwa refer to themselves as Aanishinabe, or “first or original people.”

The Ojibwa are part of the Algonquian language family and maintain about four different dialects of the Ojibwa language. Regular and first usage of the Ojibwa language is much more common in Canada than in the United States, although the Ojibwa language is enjoying a contemporary renaissance in the United States. Language revitalization programs for children and adults are active on a number of Ojibwa reservations and in urban areas.

Traditionally, the Ojibwa have been a people who depended for their subsistence on hunting, fishing, and trading and moved seasonally in accordance with the maple sugar and wild rice harvests, while walleye fishing remained a year-round pursuit. Traditional Ojibwa society is clan based, with each clan named after a specific animal. Clans are inherited from the father, and marriage within clans is prohibited. Ojibwa spirituality centers around the Midewiwin, or Medicine Lodge Society. All of these traditional components of Ojibwa society remain active among Ojibwa people in both Canada and the United States today and often in tandem with Western and Christian practices.

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Ojibwa Indian family in canoe (1913). The Ojibwa are an indigenous nation located primarily in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and the Canadian province of Ontario. Today, the Ojibwa are the third most populous indigenous nation in the United States, surpassed only by the Navajo and the Cherokee.

Source: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-101332.

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