Tribes - The Ojibwe Nation
The Eastern Ojibwe people, or Anishinnaabe (meaning those related to Original Man), now occupy lands primarily west of the Great Lakes including Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and across the border in Canada. They migrated there, however, over a period of approximately 500 years, from the Atlantic coast, following the warnings of seven prophets (Seven Fires Prophecies), telling them to move west, or they would be destroyed. They were to look for a land where "food grew on the water" (wild rice). It was there they would be safe from (European) invasion.
The Ojibwe were the largest and most powerful Great Lakes tribe; and quite possibly the most powerful in North America. It was the Ojibwe who defeated the Iroquois to their east, and forced the Sioux from Minnesota out onto the plains. Very few Americans realize that the Ojibwe were a major power. Their location was well north of the main flow of settlement, and their victories over native enemies have never received proper credit. A variety of names (Ojibwe, Chippewa, Bungee, Mississauga, and Saulteaux) and division of their population between Canada and United States has masked their true size. Considering the prowess of Ojibwe warriors, it was probably fortunate that their participation in wars between Britain and France or fighting Americans in the Ohio Valley was fairly limited. However, this does not mean they have been ignored by government. As the Chippewa, they signed more treaties with the United States than any other tribe - fifty-one!
The Ojibwe are part of the Algonquin spiritual federacy. This paradigm states that what is done in a lifetime should honor and reflect on seven generations past and seven generations into the future. The tribe lives by values that were born more than 50,000 years ago.
The Ojibwe clan system was based on a form of government and a division of roles and labor. There were six original clans, those being the crane, catfish, bear, marten, wolf and loon. The People were later divided up into 21 clans, or totems. Each clan played its own role in the daily lives of the tribe. Traditional oral history indicates that the early Ojibwe planted corn and used canoes, overland trails, and sled dogs and sleds in winter. Their traditional housing was birchbark lodges similar to small longhouses of their more eastern relatives, and birchbark tipis.
Traditional Ojibwe spiritual leaders are creationists and do not believe in the Bering Strait hypothesis for the peopling of North America. They have a 3-Fire Confederacy composed of the Potawatomi (the fire people; keepers of the Sacred Fire), the Ottawa (the trader people), and the Ojibwe (the faith keepers; keepers of the sacred scrolls and the Waterdrum of the Midewiwin, the organized society for healers).
The population of the Ojibwe people in the 2000 Census was over 25,000. Some of their larger reservations are: White Earth in Minnesota; Leech Lake - Minnesota; Mille Lac - Minnesota; Lac du Flambeau - Wisconsin; Fond du Lac - Minnesota; and Lac Courte Oreilles - Wisconsin. Most live in modern housing, but traditional lifeways, spiritual beliefs and crafts continue to be practiced.
Above information taken from:
www.nativeweb.org
www.tolatsga.org/ojib
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe
