The original homeland of the Ojibwe was immense, stretching from the northern reaches of the plains to the southeastern shores of the Great Lakes. In Canada it extended from Central Saskatchewan to southern Ontario, and in the United States it included the northern corner of North Dakota, northern Minnesota and Wisconsin, most of Michigan and part of northern Ohio. The Ojibwe regarded their land as a gift from the Great Spirit to their people, and it belonged to everyone in the tribe. They lived upon the land and loved it and resisted any who tried to drive them from it.

About 500 years ago, the ancestors of the Ojibwe began migrating west from their homes on the Atlantic coast because, according to oral tradition, they received the Prophecy of the Seventh Fire.

In modern times, there are four main groups of Ojibwe people: the plains Ojibwe, the northern Ojibwe, the southeastern Ojibwe, and the southwestern Ojibwe or Chippewa.

Historically, the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi, who together form the Confederation of Three Fires, began as a people living beside the Atlantic Ocean or “Great Salt Sea”. Acting on instructions from a vision, the people moved inland to the Great Lakes whereas they split up geographically: the Potawatomi went to Lake Michigan, the Ojibwe to Bawating and the Odawa settled at Michlimackinac and Manitoulin Island.

Folklore tells us that “The Great Spirit created a bird and sent him to earth to live. The bird had a clear and far reaching cry which was heard by the Ojibwe. When the bird sighted Lake Superior, it let out its echoing cry. Circling, looking for a resting place, it lit on a hill overlooking Bawating. Pleased with the numerous whitefish which swam in the sparking foam of the rapids, the bird let out another loud cry and the Ojibwe people gathered at its call.”

Most Ojibwe were classic Woodlands culture, but since different groups lived across such a wide area, there were major differences. Like all Native Americans, the Ojibwe adjusted to their circumstances. After reaching the northern plains, the Bungee (Plains Ojibwe) adopted the Buffalo culture and became very different from the other Ojibwe in their art, ceremony, and dress.

Towards the southern part of their range in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin and Ontario, Ojibwe villages were larger and permanent with the cultivation of corn, squash, beans, and tobacco. Most Ojibwe lived in the northern Great Lakes, however, with a short growing season and poor soil. They were hunter-gatherers who harvested wild rice and maple syrup and grew Three Sisters gardens in their Summer camps.

Woodland Ojibwe had no salt to preserve food and generally mixed everything with maple sugar as seasoning. They were skilled hunters and trappers (useful skills in war and the fur trade). Fishing, especially for sturgeon, provided much of their diet and became progressively more important in the northernmost bands. As a rule, Woodland Ojibwe rarely used horses or hunted buffalo. Dogs were the only domestic animal and a favorite dish served at their feasts.

The Ojibwe used birch bark for almost everything: utensils, storage containers, and, most importantly, canoes, which were made in a variety of sizes depending on purpose. The birch bark canoe was lighter than the dugouts used by the Dakota (Sioux) and other tribes. They also used birch bark to cover their elliptical, dome-shaped wigwams. When a family moved, the covering of the wigwam was rolled up and taken along leaving only the framework. (If only moving were always so easy!)

Natural events shaped the annual Ojibwe cycle:

• Maple Syrup Starts to Run
• Ice Thaws on Rivers and Lakes
• Spring spawn of walleye, northern pike, rainbow trout, sturgeon, muskellunge and bass
• Birch Ready For Harvest
• Summer Wild Plants Ready For Harvest
• Wild Rice Ready For Harvest
• Ducks Begin Migration
• Fall spawn of lake trout, whitefish, salmon, and brook trout.
• Ice freezes up on lakes and rivers

The Ojibwe Seventh Fire migration legend, shared by Ottawa and Potawatomi people, recounts a long journey from the lower St. Lawrence River, ascending the Ottawa River at present-day Montreal, then crossing by way of Lake Nipissing to Lake Huron and continuing northwest behind Manitoulin Island to the St. Mary's River.

On this odyssey they were guided by a sacred megis (shell) that indicated stopping points. A significant place near the end of their journey was the Straits of Mackinac, the waterway separating the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan.

megis

According to the widely accepted account, it was here that members of the group separated into three divisions. The Potawatomis moved south into lower Michigan; the Ottawas made Manitoulin Island their base; and the Ojibwas continued north about fifty miles to the falls of the St. Mary's River, their final destination.

After several centuries of population growth, however, part of that group branched off to establish a new base on the south shore of Lake Superior at Chequamegon Bay in present-day Wisconsin, a place known historically as La Pointe.

The record of the long migration has been preserved in maps drawn on birch-bark scrolls used by leaders in the ceremonies of the Midewiwin, a physically and spiritually healing medicine society that originated among Ojibwa people. Since the scrolls were often buried with their medicine-men owners, few have survived, and the knowledge to interpret them is rare. One surviving scroll carries the time line into the late-eighteenth-century migration of a band to Leech Lake in Minnesota.

Membership in the Midewiwin involved many years of dedicated study. To enter the society, the initiate has to undergo a long period of instruction to master the herbal knowledge and philosophy handed down by elders.

Fasting and a vision quest are part of the preparatory ritual for admission to the first level. At one time, there were eight degrees of training in the Midewiwin, but after shamans on Madeline Island in Chequamegon Bay misused their exceptional powers sometime around 1600, training was limited to the first four levels.

The Midewiwin today has a significant membership in the upper Great Lakes region and has spread from the Ojibwas to neighboring Indian people. The philosophy of the medicine society stresses the importance of maintaining balance in one's personal life, and respect for other forms of life, both plant and animal, with the goal of achieving harmony within the social order.

The history of the Ojibwe is far to long and complex to delve into here. Those who are thirsting for more history bytes may visit the densely packed Killarny native history site.

Everyone else may continue the Ojibwe tour here (link), return to the Machu Picchu Springfest roster here (link), or visit the Blue Macaw for some R&R.

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