Ojibwe Indians

 

 Ojibwe Indians

The Ojibwe (said to mean "Puckered Moccasin People"), also known as the Chippewa, are a group of Algonquian-speaking bands who amalgamated as a tribe in the 1600's. They were primarily hunters and fishermen, as the climate of the UP was too cool for farming.   A few bands of Ojibwe lived in southern Michigan, where they subsisted principally by hunting, though all had summer residences, where they raised min-dor-min (corn), potatoes, turnips, beans, and sometimes squashes, pumpkins, and melons.

Each Ojibway community lives on its own reservation (or reserve, in Canada). Reservations are lands that belong to the Ojibways and are under their control. Communities of Ojibway Indians are called tribes in the United States and First Nations in Canada. Each Ojibway tribe is politically independent and has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. Some Ojibway nations have also formed coalitions to address common problems.

 

The political leader of an Ojibway band is called a chief (gimaa or ogimaa in the Ojibway language.) In the past Ojibway chiefs were men chosen by tribal councilmembers, often from among the last chief's sons, nephews, or sons-in-law. Today Ojibway chiefs can be men or women, and they are elected in most Ojibway bands, like mayors and governors.

Most Ojibway people speak English, but some of them also speak their native Ojibway language. Ojibway is a musical language that has complicated verbs with many parts. If you'd like to know a few easy Ojibway words, aaniin (pronounced ah-neen) is a friendly greeting and miigwech (pronounced mee-gwetch) means "thank you."

Ojibway women were farmers and did most of the child care and cooking. Men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Both genders practiced story-telling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. Ojibway men and women worked together to harvest wild rice. An Ojibway man used a pole to steer through the reeds, while his wife knocked rice grains into the canoe. Ojibway people still use canoes for ricing today, but both genders do the knocking now.


To learn more:
http://www.geo.msu.edu/geogmich/ojibwe.html
http://www.bigorrin.org/chippewa_kids.htm
http://www.native-languages.org/ojibwe_animals.htm