Chippewa – People of the Great Lakes
The Chippewa, also widely recognized as the Ojibway, Ojibwe, or Anishinaabe, constitute one of the most populous and influential Indigenous nations in North America. Their historical domain sprawls across a vast expanse, encompassing nearly 150 distinct bands scattered throughout the northern regions of the United States – primarily Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan – and extending into southern Canada, notably Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. The story of the Chippewa is a testament to their resilience and adaptability in the face of changing landscapes and historical pressures.
The name "Ojibway" is believed to derive from the term "to roast till puckered up," a reference to the distinctive puckered seam that adorns their traditional moccasins. Historically, the Chippewa people’s territory stretched along the shores of both Lakes Huron and Superior, reaching westward across the Minnesota Turtle Mountains and into North Dakota. While their numbers were substantial and their territory extensive, the Chippewa remained somewhat peripheral to the major historical events of the colonial wars, largely due to their geographical distance from the primary frontier areas.
Tradition holds that the Chippewa are descendants of a larger Algonquian group, which also included the Ottawa and Potawatomi nations. This ancestral group is said to have separated into distinct divisions upon reaching Mackinaw, Michigan, during their westward migration. The Ojibwe language itself is a vibrant branch of the broader Algonquian language family, reflecting shared linguistic roots with neighboring Indigenous groups.
Historically, the Ojibwe organized themselves into smaller groups, and, with the exception of those bands residing on the Great Plains, primarily led sedentary lives. The men of the communities engaged in fishing and hunting, supplementing the agricultural efforts of the women, who cultivated various types of corn and squash, and harvested wild rice. Their traditional dwelling was the wigwam, a structure built in either a domed or pointed shape, constructed from bark or grass mats stretched over a framework of willow saplings. These wigwams provided shelter and served as the center of family life.
The early Chippewa were renowned for their mastery of birch bark craftsmanship, producing canoes and scrolls of intricate design. They also engaged in the mining and trade of copper, as well as the cultivation of wild rice and maple syrup. Their Midewiwin Society, a highly respected organization, served as the keeper of detailed and complex scrolls containing records of events, oral histories, songs, maps, memories, stories, geometry, and mathematical knowledge. These scrolls represent a rich repository of Chippewa cultural heritage.
Traditionally, the Ojibwe followed a patrilineal system, where children were considered to be born into their father’s clan. Consequently, children with French or English fathers were not considered part of the clan or Ojibwe society unless they were formally adopted by an Ojibwe male. Historical accounts also suggest that polygamy was a common practice among the Chippewa.
Interestingly, some Chippewa bands, particularly those residing on La Pointe Island, Wisconsin, were rumored to have practiced cannibalism, while other bands viewed this practice with horror. The Pillager band in Minnesota also occasionally engaged in cannibalism as part of ceremonial rituals.
The Chippewa creation myth shares similarities with other northern Algonquian traditions. Like many other Indigenous groups, they believed in a mysterious power residing within all objects, both animate and inanimate. These objects were referred to as manitous, which were believed to be ever-watchful and attentive during the summer months, but entered a state of dormancy during the winter after the arrival of snow. Dreams were considered revelations, and objects appearing in dreams were often chosen as spiritual guardians. The Midewiwin, or grand medicine society, held significant power within the Chippewa community, influencing tribal movements and acting as a significant obstacle to the introduction of Christianity.
Upon the death of a Chippewa individual, the body was typically placed in a grave facing west, often in a seated position. Alternatively, a shallow cavity might be dug in the earth, and the body placed on its back or side, covered with earth to form a small mound. Boards, poles, or birch bark were then placed over the mound. However, practices varied among different bands. The Chippewa of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, for example, practiced scaffold burial, placing the corpse in a box atop a raised platform. Mourning for a deceased relative typically lasted for a year, unless shortened by the medicine society or through acts of valor in war.
Some historians have suggested that the Chippewa were settled in a large village at La Pointe, Wisconsin, at the time of European arrival in America. However, in the early 17th century, they abandoned this area, with many returning to their homeland in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan. Others settled at the western end of Lake Superior, where they were encountered by Father Claude Jean Allouez, a Jesuit missionary and French explorer, in 1665.
Sault Saint Marie appears to have served as their primary headquarters around 1640. The earliest documented mention of the Chippewa comes from Jean Nicolet de Belleborne, a French-Canadian woodsman, who referred to them as Baouichtigouin, meaning "people of the Sault." In 1642, they were visited by missionaries Charles Raymbaut and Isaac Jogues, who found them at the Sault engaged in conflict with a people to the west, likely the Sioux.
Due to their remoteness from the frontier, the Chippewa played a limited role in the early colonial wars. While the southern division of the tribe was known for its warlike disposition, those residing north of Lake Superior were generally considered mild and peaceable, so much so that they were referred to as "the rabbits" by their southern counterparts. In the north, members of the tribe were known as "the men of the thick woods" and "the swamp people," terms that reflected the nature of the territory they inhabited.
The Marameg, a tribe closely related to, or possibly a division of, the Chippewa, lived along the north shore of the lake and were incorporated into the latter while they were at the Sault before 1670. To the north, the Chippewa were so closely connected with the Cree and Muskegon that distinctions between the three were difficult to discern, except by those intimately familiar with their dialects and customs. To the south, the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi formed a loose confederacy often referred to as the Three Fires.
In the late 1600s, the Chippewa people living south of Lake Superior depended largely on fishing, hunting, and the cultivation of maize and wild rice. Their possession of wild rice fields was a major source of conflict with the Dakota, Fox, and other nations. Around this time, they acquired firearms and began pushing westward, alternating between periods of peace and war with the Sioux, and engaging in almost constant conflict with the Fox tribe. In 1692, the French reestablished a trading post at Shaugawaumikong, now La Pointe Island, Wisconsin, which became a significant Chippewa settlement. By the beginning of the 18th century, the Chippewa had successfully driven the Fox, already weakened by war with the French, from northern Wisconsin, forcing them to seek refuge with the Sac.
They then turned their attention to the Sioux, driving them across the Mississippi River and south to the Minnesota River. They continued their westward expansion across Minnesota and North Dakota, eventually occupying the headwaters of the Red River and establishing their westernmost band in the Turtle Mountains. It was not until after 1736 that they gained a foothold west of Lake Superior. While the main divisions of the tribe were expanding their territory in the west, others overran the peninsula between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, which had long been claimed by the Iroquois. The Iroquois were forced to withdraw, and the Chippewa bands occupied the entire region, with many becoming known as Mississauga. In 1764, their total population was estimated to be around 25,000 people.
The Chippewa joined other tribes of the northwest in various conflicts against frontier settlements until the end of the War of 1812. Those residing within the United States entered into a treaty with the government in 1815 and subsequently remained peaceful, residing on reservations or allotted lands within their original territories in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
Henry Schoolcraft, an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist who had personal knowledge of the Chippewa and married a woman from the tribe, described Chippewa warriors as being physically equal to the best-formed of the northwest Indians, with the possible exception of the Fox. Their prolonged and successful conflicts with the Sioux and Fox tribes demonstrated their bravery and determination. However, they maintained consistently friendly relations with the French and later with European settlers. Despite this, missionary efforts to convert them to Christianity had limited success, primarily due to the conservatism of the native medicine men.
As a consequence of numerous wars, the Ojibwa ceded or sold land rights in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to the federal government through various treaties, including one signed in 1854 that established permanent Ojibwa reservations in these three states.
Today, the collective bands of Chippewa, or Ojibwe, represent one of the largest groups of Native American Peoples on the North American continent. They maintain communities in both Canada and the United States. In Canada, they constitute the second-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by the Cree. In the United States, they hold the fifth-largest population among Native American tribes, following the Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw, and Lakota-Dakota-Nakota Sioux.
Numerous recognized tribes of the Chippewa are located in Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Canada. The most recent addition is the Little Shell of Montana, which gained state recognition in the late 1900s and federal recognition in December 2019.