The Chippewas/Ojibwe Tribes

Douglas Dalton
Professor Bober
ANTH 3440
7 April 2018

History of The Chippewas/Ojibwe Tribes
In order to understand the historical legacy of a specific country or region, it is necessary to know and analyze the populations that inhabited, prior to the establishment of the colonial countries from Europe, the geographical space that currently corresponds to the American continent. In this case, the Ojibwe or Chippewa are one of the many tribes of Native Americans, who represent a very important part of a legacy that, culturally, refuses to disappear, and whose transcendence is vital for the understanding of the traditions of a millennial knowledge that have passed from one generation to another, until our days.
That is why the Ojibwe, as being

one of the greater tribes of aboriginal America, are said to have inhabited an ancient nation that included the vast territory between the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, to the region of the Mississippi (Warren 2). Also, this tribe, which has inhabited the adjacent space to the Great Lakes for many centuries, began its settlement in the area, after migrating from settlements near the Atlantic coast, where they had to move due to weather conditions, the search for food or diseases, that apparently originated after a first presumed Viking settlement was established around 1000 AD, which became a determining factor to adapt to various changes that were arising over time, to settle in the area that historically is recognized as theirs, along with other Indian tribes with whom they share many ancestral, cultural and social similarities, like the Ottawa or Potawatomi, for example.
As for their social organization, the Ojibwe lived in villages composed by clans, which were named after animals, and which functioned as "super families" (Clifton et al. 77). Originally, in terms of its social composition, there were five clans, but, with the passage of time, several subdivisions of them were born, which reinforced the expansion of this model of society within the tribe. In this way, the Ojibwe lived in groups that, usually, grouped up to 400 people. In addition to that, each clan had a leader, as well as a council, which was selected by the elderly of the clan.
The chief, along with the council, were the lawmakers, as they were the ones who settled arguments, distributed punishment, and hunting or fishing rights on their population. Regarding this, Levine affirms that each dodaim or totem was made up of people who shared the same ancestors, so an Ojibwe person belonged to the dodaim of his or her father, becoming each Dodaim members as relatives (8).
On the other hand, the eating habits of the Ojibwe were highly linked to the seasons of the year.

On this matter, Rosinsky explains that, due to this fact, "the Ojibwe traditionally moved from one place to another, within their territory" (12). That is to say, they were not entirely nomadic, but preferred to remain in specific places within the territory where they were settled, depending on the season, which conditioned the activities they carried out in terms of agriculture or hunting. A good example of this, is that, during the spring, the Ojibwe tended to gather maple sup, which they turn later into sugar. Also, a little before and during the summer, they approached the camps adjacent to the rivers or lakes, where they could hunt or fish, and in this way, keep the tribe supplied, while in autumn, they usually harvested the rice to dry it, so that it was stored for the coming winter. This is an excellent example of how the Ojibwe survived during centuries, the changing weather conditions in this region where they

settled.
In the same way, the Ojibwe culture was intrinsically linked to agriculture, where certain products had a kind of divine connotation. For instance, tobacco was related to rituals that were and still are of extreme importance for the Ojibwe people. In this sense, Struthers and Hodge affirms that, historically, tobacco was used as medicine, in healing rituals, in ceremonial or religious practices, and as an instructional or educational device" (209). Also, as a ward to protect sick people from evil spirits, and, in addition to this, each important meeting or council was initiated by the ritual of tobacco smoking, remarking the importance of it, in the cultural life of the Ojibwe. It is said that one of the first things that were given to them by the Creator, which, according to the Ojibwe traditions, was the one who made the first man, was the tobacco, highlighting its importance within the rich culture of this North American tribe.
Nevertheless, a fact that undoubtedly marked the future of the Ojibwe, as well as that of all the tribes of North America, was the arrival of the European settlers, coming from France, and later from Great Britain, to the Atlantic coast, between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In spite of this, in principle there was a very cordial and friendly relationship with the French explorers and missionaries, with whom they established a commercial system (Clifton et al. 90). In this sense, the Ojibwe provided fur, which were a very precious and valuable asset in Europe, while the French gave weapons in exchange, that were used to settle conflicts with the Dakota, Sioux and Fox people, to seize their lands during the eighteenth century (Dwyer and Adare).
This commercial system lasted for some time, until several armed conflicts erupted in North America, and in which the Ojibwe had to get involved, giving rise to the seizure of power by the British, with whom there was no "fluid" relationship, as it happened with the French, that, in spite of exploiting economically the Ojibwe, they were more flexible in their treatment towards the tribes, as in the respect towards the commerce established between them (Clifton et al. 93)
By the 19th century, the Americans began to settle in more territories of Northern America, which forced the Ojibwe to move to reservations.

On this matter, by mid-1800s, the Ojibwe had signed off most of their lands, and thousands of Americans were rapidly turning those lands into prosperous farms (King 10). This meant a considerable loss of the territories of the Ojibwe, which, however, were allowed to live by their own rules and laws, as well as develop economic activities that, later in the 20th century, they could continue to carry out, despite the difficulties to maintain their customs, their way of life and their integral vision of nature and human

dynamics.
Today, the Ojibwe people, like many other indigenous tribes who live in many reserves across the United States, have established themselves as members of the new American Society that was born after the Independence. Even though their numbers were severely reduced through the efforts of colonists, diseases and eventual changes on society, nonetheless, they have persevered through difficulties, while retaining their culture and history, although nowadays more and more Ojibwe descendants are assimilating into modern American society, leaving their old ways of life behind. But, perhaps, this is just in tune with the nature of a tribe that always have been adaptive to the circumstances, which means that change is just another part of life, as it must continue, without forgetting who they are, and where they came from.
To summarize, the aboriginal North American tribes are a very important part for the understanding the development of social relationships since their settlement in the region, by learning how the lived, how they grew as a population, despite the fact that they suffered many things over the last centuries, and how they thrived to create an identity that deserves to be preserved and respected, as well as valued by the generations that are to come, as it represents, not only a heritage for the history of the United States of America and Canada, but of the entire world, meaning that they shall be never forgotten, and giving them a fair share of recognition of what the human history really is.

Works Cited

Clifton, James A., et al. People of the Three Fires: The Ottawa, Potawatomi and Ojibway of Michigan. 2nd ed., The Michigan Indian Press, 1986.
Dwyer, H., and S. Adarre. Ojibwe History and Culture. 1st ed., Gareth Stevens Pub Learning library, 2012.
King, D. Ojibwe (First Americans). Benchmark Books, 2006.
Levine, M. The Ojibwe (Native American Histories). Lerner Pub Group, 2006.
Rosinsky, N. The Ojibwe and Their History. Compass Point Books, 2005.
Struthers, R., and F. Hodge. “Sacred Tobacco Use in Ojibwe Communities.” Journal of Holistic Nursing, vol. 22, 2014, pp. 209–233.
Warren, William W. History of the Ojibway People. 2nd ed., Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1984.