Ojibwe

The Ojibwe, also referred to as Chippewa, are one of the largest nations among American Indians and First Nations in North America. Twenty-two Ojibwe groups are federally recognized in the United States, located in Michigan (seven), Minnesota (seven), Montana (one), North Dakota (one), and Wisconsin (six). Over 130 groups are identified as belonging to First Nations in Canada. Numerous other Ojibwe groups exist that have not been federally recognized. Despite the ethnic conflict, poverty and disease, and assimilation that have been consistent problems for a large part of Ojibwe history and prehistory, the Ojibwe population remains vibrant and is growing.

According to an Ojibwe creation myth, the Ojibwe came into being when the Creator formed the earth and all the life that would occupy it, finishing with the creation of Ojibwe and natural laws to maintain order. The name Ojibwe likely refers to a stylistic component of the Ojibwe moccasin or the cultural tradition of using birch bark in the process of writing. Recorded history places the Ojibwe as originating within Algonquian [Page 1636]groups in northeastern North America along the Atlantic Ocean and likely becoming a distinct collective around 1,500 years ago. This collective was not a single, unified group; rather, it comprised many smaller bands that differed from one another in language and culture but were similar enough that ethnicity was recognized as Ojibwe.

Growing needs for subsistence and resulting conflict over resources led the Ojibwe to migrate west. From the northeast near present-day Newfoundland and Labrador, Ojibwe ancestors traveled west with the Odowa and Potawatomi and ultimately dispersed to the northern plains and Great Lakes regions. Around 1640, French Jesuit priests made contact with groups of Ojibwe who had moved to Sault Ste. Marie in northern Michigan.

Because they became heavily involved in the French-Canadian fur trade, the Ojibwe clashed with the Iroquois Confederacy as the Dutch and British worked to hinder French expansion in North America. The French and Indian War led to Ojibwe alliances with other groups, the introductions of new technologies into Ojibwe culture, and the extension of Ojibwe territory.

Of note is the incorporation of firearms into Ojibwe life, which was significant both in increasing the efficiency of hunting and in assisting the Ojibwe in expanding their territory through the removal of other groups from their lands. Until the mid-19th century, Ojibwe territory included parts of Michigan, Ontario, Quebec, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. As the Ojibwe migrated west, they developed a complex relationship with the neighboring Dakota. Although the Dakota and Ojibwe coexisted peacefully and promoted trade for long periods, the two nations had numerous violent engagements prior to white settlement. An influx of white settlers in the mid-19th century was met with an end to Dakota-Ojibwe conflict as each dealt with the multiplicity of changes caused by the incoming white population.

From 1781 to 1929, the Ojibwe, looking for economic gain, sold and ceded land in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin to the U.S. government, and land north of the border to Canada, through treaties and purchases. These treaties were signed with the agreement that the Ojibwe could still use the land for its resources. However, the rising population limited Ojibwe access to land, and soon the nation, having sold most of its land in an attempt to perpetuate survival, experienced economic downturn.

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