The Ojibwe People
Who Are the Ojibwe?
The Ojibwe are a group of Algonquian speaking Native Americans from the upper Midwest and into Canada. They are closely related linguistically and culturally to the nearby Pottawatomie and Ottawa groups.
The Ojibwe call themselves the "Anishinaabeg," which means "true people," or "original people." The Ojibwe had significant interactions with French traders and missionaries who called them the Chippewa. Most European or other Native American groups called the group either "Ojibwe" or "Chippewa" which both mean "puckered up" as a reference to their traditional puckered seamed moccasins. (Milwaukee Public Museum 2021)
Ojibwe History
Early History
Oral tradition, archaeology, and linguistic evidence assert that the Ojibwe's ancestors originated eastward towards the American-Canadian Atlantic Coast. From where they slowly migrated westward due to prophecy, war, and environmental pressures. Eventually largely settling in the Upper Great Lakes region, where the Ojibwe, Pottawatomie, and Ottawa are believed to have then diverged. (Minnesota Historical Society 2008)
European Interactions
The first recorded interactions between the Ojibwe and Europeans were in the 1600's with French traders and explorers. The Ojibwe and French quickly set up mutually beneficial trade and political ties throughout the Great Lakes in order to maintain the lucrative fur trade. The Ojibwe fur trading led to competition with the Dakota Sioux, eventually pushing the Sioux westward and firmly establishing the Ojibwe in Northern Minnesota and North Dakota. (Milwaukee Public Museum 2021)
Later the Ojibwe had much tenser relations with the British, and eventually the Americans, after the French left the Great Lakes. The Ojibwe distrust of the British and Americans led to many revolts and resistance by the Ojibwe and many other Native groups.
Eventually the Ojibwe were forced to give up much of their land due to conflict and land cession treaties, where they largely find themselves in a handful of reservations throughout the Northern Midwest and Southern Ontario. (Milwaukee Public Museum 2021)
Unknown Ojibwe Family in Canoe (MNHS Gallery, 1905)
Ojibwe Fur Trading
After the arrival of Europeans, groups like the Ojibwe and Sioux became prominent trade partners with the French. The interactions and partnership often led to mixed race communities of French-Native Americans called the Metis. (Library and Archives of Canada 2020)
Ojibwe Religion
Traditionally, the Ojibwe have maintained an Animist religious practice. Compared to other similar religious practices, the Ojibwe have a much more important monotheistic-like deity they call "Giche Manidoo," or "Great Spirit" that coexists with many minor nature spirits. However, due to the deeply personal nature of their beliefs, spiritual practices and beliefs vary dramatically between communities and individuals. (Pluralism Project 2020)
Ojibwe spiritual leaders are called the Mide (Medicine Men), and their spiritual and healing practices often took place within the Midewiwin (Medicine Lodge). The Midewiwin was a place of religious ritual, healing, and often served as a source of political power within a community as well. (Gadacz 2006)
In the past several centuries the Ojibwe have largely converted to Christianity. Due to the uniquely personal and communal basis of their spiritual practices, Ojibwe conversion can vary dramatically. Some groups completely adopting Christian practices, and completely abandoning old Ojibwe traditional spirituality. While interestingly many have been able to create personal hybrid beliefs and practices, adopting many Christian practices while still observing many traditional Ojibwe spiritual practices. (Pluralism Project 2020)
Midewiwin Lodge Frame
The Midewiwin was a place of spiritual rituals and healings. Open to both the public at times, and restricted to only the Mide depending on what was taking place. (Gadacz 2006)
Ojibwe Language
Current State of the Ojibwe Language-
Ojibwe is part of the Algonquian language family, and is nearly indistinguishable from nearby Algonquian languages like Pottawatomie and Ottawa due to their relatively recent divergence and close interactions. (Milwaukee Public Museum 2021)
Currently the Ojibwe language, like many other Native American languages, has been becoming increasingly rare. In the United States it is estimated that only about 1,000 mostly elderly speakers remain. As a result many programs have been created to try and revitalize the preservation and use of the Ojibwe language. (Hermes and King 2013: 1-2)
Language Revitalization Efforts-
Due to the declining number in speakers, many efforts have been made to try and maintain the Ojibwe language. The most popular efforts are through public school programs, and community initiatives. However, while great at creating an interest and baseline knowledge of the language and Ojibwe culture, these programs often do not promote the usage of the Ojibwe language outside of classroom settings.
As a result other efforts of technological documentation have been popular to try and preserve knowledge of how to speak the language and different local dialects. The preservation of unique dialects and vocabulary has been particularly important as the previously mentioned school programs often teach a standardized form of Ojibwe or even change the vocabulary and structure. (Hermes and King 2013: 1-3)
Ojibwe Traditions
Family and Group Structure-
Ojibwe society is structured in groups of familial clans called "doodems." Which ever doodem you were born into would determine their place in Ojibwe society. (Minnesota Historical Society 2008) Within the Ojibwe nation there are 20 or more clans, each symbolized with a species of wildlife that represented their clan's role within the nation. (Minnesota Department of Education 2014) For example, warriors often came from the bear, martin, lynx and wolf clans, while political leaders often came from clans such as the loon or crane clans.
The Ojibwe were traditionally a horticulturalist society. With relatively small seminomadic groups of people that would apply themselves to small scale farming during warmer months, and hunting/fishing during the winter. They were famous for their group mobility using birch bark to construct their traditional Wigwam housing and canoes. (Minnesota Historical Society 2008)
Ojibwe society was relatively equal on the basis of gender roles and positions within their society. Men generally leaned towards being warriors and hunters, while women were more likely to take care of the home and community. However, it was extremely common for men to take on traditionally feminine roles, and women to take on traditionally masculine roles within the group. Political and religious leadership positions had no preference for any particular gender orientation. It was very common to have men and women to take on political, religious, and trading roles within their society. (Minnesota Department of Education 2014)
The Ojibwe Today
Today their is an estimated 170,000 Ojibwe living within the United States (CDC Minority Health 2012), and about 160,000 within Canada. (Bishop 2008)Overall having an estimate of about 330,000 Ojibwe between the United States and Canada. However, these statistics may vary quite a bit as many people personally identify as Ojibwe but do not consider themselves Native American/First Nation on American or Canadian census data. (Bishop, Parrot, and Gallant 2019)
As a result of being moved onto a handful of relatively small reservations, the traditional horticulturalist and farming practices were no longer viable. As a result of not being able to sustain themselves on their limited land many of the Ojibwe were forced to sell their land to White American landowners, mostly logging companies, and thus found themselves landless even within their own reservations. These factors largely led to a dramatic increase in poverty among the Ojibwe, which many still struggle with to this day. (Milwaukee Public Museum 2021)
During the mid nineteenth century, as the Ojibwe were being moved into their reservations, a large influx of American immigrants moved into the area. The majority of the immigrants were loggers and missionaries which quickly out numbered the native Ojibwe and applied themselves to Christianizing the Ojibwe and forcing them to adopt American customs. These efforts resulted in the near extinction of the Ojibwe language and spiritual practices. (Milwaukee Public Museum 2021)
Learn More
Anishinaabe Historical Time Line (Bemidji State University 2021)
To learn about the Ojibwe pantheon and Creation Story visit The Canadian Encyclopedia. (Gadacz 2006)
To learn a lot more about the Ojibwe, particularly the Canadian Ojibwe, visit Bishop's article at The Canadian Encyclopedia. (Bishop, Parrot, and Gallant 2019)
To learn more about Ojibwe history and traditions, as well as many nearby groups like the Potawatomi and Sioux visit The Milwaukee Public Museum's Wisconsin Indian Resource Program.
Work Cited
Bemidji State University. 2021. “Anishinaabe Timeline: American Indian Resource Center.” Bemidji State University. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.bemidjistate.edu/airc/community-resources/anishinaabe-timeline/).
Bishop, Charles A., Zach Parrot, and David Joseph Gallant. 2019. “Ojibwe.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ojibwa).
Hermes, Mary and Kendall A. King. 2013. “Ojibwe Language Revitalization, Multimedia Technology, and ...” Scholar Space. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24513/1/Hermes%20King.pdf).
Library and Archives of Canada. 2020. “Métis Nation.” Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/metis/Pages/introduction.aspx).
Minnesota Department of Education. 2014. “American Indian Family Life Curriculum - College of St ...” American Indian Family Life Curriculum. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (http://resources.css.edu/academics/olce/docs/american_indian_family_life_curriculum.pdf).
MNHS. 2008. “The Ojibwe People.” Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/native-americans/ojibwe-people).
“Ojibwe History”. 2021. “Ojibwe.” Milwaukee Public Museum. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.mpm.edu/content/wirp/ICW-51).
PBS. 2000. “Tribal Histories.” PBS. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.pbs.org/video/wpt-documentaries-ojibwe-history/).
Pluralism Project. 2020. “Anishinaabe Ojibwe Ways.” Pluralism Project. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://pluralism.org/files/pluralism/files/anishinaabe_ojibwe_ways.pdf).
Schaetzl, Randall. 2004. “Ojibwe Indians.” Project Geo MSU. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://project.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/ojibwe.html).
University of Minnesota. 2017. “Ojibwe Language Revitalization at UMN - YouTube.” Ojibwe Revitalization at UMN. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2aPJgVyMbE).
U.S. National Parks Service. 2021. “Home of the Ojibwe (U.S. National Park Service).” Home of the Ojibwe. Retrieved November 5, 2021 (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/home-of-the-ojibwe.htm).