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H. The Ojibwa People
From HCO Jr
| Part 1. First People of Canada → A. Turtle Island → B. The Wendat → C. The Siksika → D. The Haida → E. The Dene → F. The Inuit → G. The Cree → H. The Ojibwa → I. The Mi'kmaq |
| Ojibwa - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Vocab | Student Activities | Class Projects |
Contents |
The Ojibwa people call themselves the "Anishinabe." This means "good people" or "those who came down from the sky" in their own language.
The word "Ojibwa" comes from the puckered seams of the mocassins they make. West of Lake Winnipeg they are called the "Saulteaux" or the people who came from the Sault.
Before Europeans arrived in Canada the Anishinabeg moved inland from the Atlantic coast. They made their home in the central parts of Canada.
Some lived north of Lake Huron and Lake Superior, and some lived in Manitoba and northwestern Ontario.
Today Anishinabe people live mostly in southern and northwestern Ontario.
In the United States the Anishinabe people in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota call themselves the Chippewa.
Anishinabe people are classified as Algonkian people because of their language. Their culture is also similar to their Algonkian-speaking cousins:
- the Siksika (Blackfoot Confederacy)
- the Nish nabi Aski (Cree)
- the Innu or Montagnaisin Québec and Labrador
- the Mi'kmaq in Atlantic Canada
Environment of the Anishinabe
Most Anishinabe people live in an area we call the Canadian Shield. The landscape is very rocky. Many lakes and rivers are in this region. Forests are very dense with both coniferous and deciduous trees. During the winter it is very cold. Summers are not long but they can be very hot. Rainfall in this environment is moderate. Sometimes it can rain for days. During the summer it can be very dry for weeks.
People cannot farm very easily in this region. There are a lot of animals, however, for people to hunt. Many different types of fish live in the lakes and rivers. Different berries grow in the summer and other plants people can eat. There is a lot of food in the north if you know how to find it.
Anishinabe Life and the Four Seasons
Spring
During the spring the Anishinabe made maple syrup. They used hammers and put small wooden nails into maple trees. Tree sap would fall into small containers. People boiled the sap until it became maple syrup.
During the late spring (April and May) ducks and geese migrated back to the region. Goose and duck hunting was very important to the Anishinabe. Men hunted all year long, but some animals were hunted at certain times of the year.
People also fished in the spring. Some fish start spawning (breeding) in the spring. They appear in large numbers and are easy to catch. Anishinabe fished all year long, but the spring was the most important fishing time.
Summer
During the summer people fished and hunted. It was also a time for gathering wild berries and other plant food. In the late summer (August) they collected wild rice. This grows near the shoreline of lakes.
Some Anishinabe farmed vegetables. The Nipissing people (who lived around Lake Nipissing in northern Ontario) grew corn, squash and beans. They had better soil to grow food in, and longer summers. Nipissing people learned to farm from the Wendat. Each winter the Nipissings migrated south and lived near the Wendat. This is how they leraned to farm.
Autumn
During the autumn the Anishinabe hunted geese and ducks before they flew south for the winter. They also hunted deer, moose and other large animals.
Winter
During the winter people went inland away from the lakes. It is warmer in the forest because the trees stop the cold wind from blowing. Winter was also a time for trapping animals. During the winter animal furs become very thick. They do this to keep the animal warm. Their fur was made into clothes or traded with other First Nations.
Anishinabeg Society
Technology
Anishinabe people made their tools out of wood, stone, animal bones and other animal parts. They did have metal. On the north shore of Lake Superior some Anishinabe mined copper. This was used to make ornaments.
Birch bark was very important to the Anishinabe. They made containers out of bark to store food, collect sap from maple trees, and to cook their food in. If they needed hot water they would put water in a birch bark container. Then they dropped hot stones from the fire into it.
Canoes were also made from birch bark. Men cut down young trees. They bent the wood into a frame. Birch bark was attached to the frame. Sticky tree sap from pine trees was put on the birch bark to seal it. This kept water from entering the canoe.
Canoes were very important tools. They could carry people and supplies. They were also very light weight. One man could pick up a birch bark canoe and carry it from one lake to another (this was called portaging).
Some tools made by the Anishinabe are still used today. Canoes are one tool we still use. Snowshoes are another. A slender branch was bent and shaped into a circle. Then leather strips were tied in the centre. Snowshoes allowed hunters to cross deep snow without sinking in.
Tobaggans were another important tool. These were also made from wood. When the Anishinabe traveled in the winter they pulled their supplies behind them on tobaggans.
Anishinabeg Villages
Living in a cold climate is very hard. There is not always a lot of food. The Anishinabe could not live in large villages year round like the Haida and Wendat. During the winter families lived alone. They owned a piece of land called a hunting territory. They lived on their territory for the winter hunting, trapping and fishing.
In the spring and summer the Anishinabe gathered in much larger groups. They would fish together at areas like Sault Ste. Marie. In the spring there are many fish in the water. This provided enough food for everyone.
They had one type of house. It was the wigwam. It was built either as a waaginogaan (domed-loged) or as a nasawa'ogaan (pointed-lodge). They built their houses from willow branches and large sheets of birch bark. Wigwams were perfect homes for the Anishinabe. They traveled a great deal. A wigwam can be taken apart and carried very easily. When they reached a new location it was put back together.
Family Life
Anishinabe people lived in goups of families. The father/husband was the head of the family. Fathers owned hunting territories. When a father became too old he gave the hunting territory to his oldest son. If he did not have a son he would give it to another man he trusted to look after the land.
Men and women had different jobs in the family. Men hunted, fished and trapped. It was their job to gather food from animals. Women would trap rabbits and catch some fish to help feed the family. They also prepared animal hides to be made into clothes.
Boys and girls were taught by the men and women in their family.
Men taught boys how to hunt, trap and fish. Boys learned how to track animals. Fathers taught boys how animals behaved. This helped the boys learn how to hunt. They also learned religious rituals to give thanks when they killed an animal.
Girls were taught by women in their family. They learned how to take down and set up a wigwam. They learned how to look after the family's camp. Girls learned how to prepare animals for cooking, and how to take off their fur and prepare it.
Anishinabe people belonged to clans. There were over 20 clans. Each clan had its own totem or symbol.
Crane (Ajejauk) When a man and woman married she joined her husband's clan. |  Ojibwa Clan Symbols |
Anishinabeg Food
All of the food the Anishinabe had came from the forest. Some, like the Nipissing tribe, grew corn, beans and squash. Most Anishinabe lived too far north to grow food.
Sources of Food
Anishinabe people had many sources of food. One important source was animals. The men hunted, fished and trapped. Some of the animals they hunted were:
• Deer
• Moose
• Ducks
• Geese
Men set traps to catch other animals. Some animals were trapped only for their fur while other animals were trapped for their fur and meat. For example, an adult beaver provided 25 pounds of meat for a family. This is as much as a large turkey. The Anishinabe trapped many kinds of animals:
• Beaver
• Marten
• Mink
• Muskrat
• Squirrel
• Bears
• Fox
• Wolverine
Lakes and Rivers provided the people with a lot of food. Freshwater clams were caught in the summer. Many types of fish can be found in northern lakes and rivers:
• White Fish
• Pickerel
• Pike
• Bass
• Trout
• Muskie
Fish were an important source of food. Families also used fish as dog food in the winter.
Hunting and Fishing
Anishinabe hunters used different methods to catch animals and fish. Like many First Nations they had bows and arrows. They used these to shoot ducks, geese and small birds like partridge.
They used nets and spears to catch fish. During the spring when many fish were in the river the men traveled out into the river in canoes. They threw nets into the water to catch fish. They also strung nets across rivers to catch fish. At night they used spears to catch fish. Men carried torches with them. The light from the torch attracted the fish. When the fish was close enough the men caught it with their spear.
Plant Food
Women provided a lot of food for their family. During the summer and fall the women gathered berries and other wild plants to eat. They collected:
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
- Cranberries
- Wild Rice
Wild rice grows in shallow parts of lakes. Men and women went into the wild rice fields in canoes. The men paddled. Women would bend down the wild rice stalks and hit them with pieces of wood. This knocked the rice into the canoe. Women dried the wild rice to eat later.
Women also dried berries. They stored them for the winter, or they added them to pemmican made from fish. This gave the Anishinabe a source of vitamins in the winter.
Clothing
Anishinabe clothing was made to suit their environment. In the winter it becomes very cold, but the summer can be very hot. They needed different types of clothes to survive.
Women made all of the clothes. They used deer, moose, bear and other animal hides to make clothes. Deer and moose hide was turned into leather. Women removed the deer's skin and stretched it over a frame. They scrapped the inside part of the skin to remove all of the meat that was left. Then it stayed out in the sun for many days into it was dry.
They used animal sinew as sewing thread. Women made needles from certain animal bones. In the winter men and women wore leggings (two pieces of leather tied around your legs, breech clothes and simple shirts. They also wore robes made of fur to stay warm. In the autumn, spring and summer they wore fewer clothes because it was warmer.
Women also made mocassins. These are shoes made from soft deer leather. People needed these because the forest floor contained sharp sticks and stones. If people cut their feet they could get an infection.
Travel
Canoes, snowshoes and tobaggans were important to the Anishinabe. Canoes allowed them to travel quickly in the spring, summer and autumn. If it broke they could be fixed easily. Everything the Anishinabe needed to make or fix a canoe was in the forest.
Traveling with a canoe was hard work. Sometimes they had to carry their canoe and possessions from one lake to another. They used portages for this. A portage is a trail between two bodies of water. These were not always easy trails. Some portages were very steep and required a lot of climbing. Sometimes a portage could take more than a day to cross.
Snowshoes and tobaggans helped people travel in the winter over deep snow. Sometimes people traveled as an entire family. Other times a hunter might travel by himself to find food in the winter. He could be gone for many days. Snowshoes and tobaggans made it easier for him.
Anishinabe people also had dogs. These dogs carried things on their back, or they pulled toboggans.
Anishinabe people traveled a great deal. They always had to move to find food. Every season they moved. Even during the season they moved to find different resources. They also traveled to trade with other First Nations.
Anishinabeg Economy
First Nations across Canada had an economy. They did not use money like we do today. The Anishinabe traded with other First Nations to get things they needed and wanted.
Trade
In return the Nipissings gave the Wendat furs, fish and copper. This copper came from Lake Superior (hundreds of kilometers from Lake Nipissing).
Nipissing people took more tobacco, vegetables and beads than they needed. They traded this surplus with other Anishinabe people who lived further north. They even traveled to James Bay and traded with the Nish-nabi-aski people. The trip from Lake Nipissing to James Bay and back took almost 2 months.
As you can see Anishinabe people traded over great distances. They traveled very far to obtain different things for trade.
Anishinabeg Religion
Anishinabe people believed in many different spirits. They thought a spirit lived in all living things: people, trees, plants and animals. They also thought spirits were in the water, rocks, wind and sun. These spirits were called manitou.
A manitou could help or harm people. This is why the Anishinabe performed rituals. By doing this they kept manitous happy. For example, if a hunter killed a bear he had to treat the animal with respect. He gave thanks to the bear for allowing itself to be killed. If he offended the bear manitou no other bears would allow themselves to be caught.
A very powerful and dangerous spirit was the Windigo. This was a giant spirit that lived in the forest during the winter. He killed and ate hunters. Sometimes he took over people and made them kill and eat other people. Only a very powerful shaman could defeat a Windigo.
- Read a Windigo Story
During the winter elders told stories and legends about these spirits to younger people. These legends taught the Anishinabe about their religion. Stories also contained important lessons about how to survive in the forest or how to act properly in Anishinabe society.
Young boys also went on vision quests to find a guardian manitou. They went into the forest alone. For many days they would not eat, drink or sleep. If they had a vision an animal appeared before them. The type of animal told the boy if he would be a great warrior, hunter, shaman or leader.
The Midewiwin Society
The Anishinabe Grand Medicine Society or Midewiwin was an important part of their religion. This was a society of shamans who performed ceremonies and cured illness.
Usually men belonged to the Midewiwin but some women did as well. If a boy joined the Midewiwin he was taught by a shaman. He paid the shaman to teach him different rituals and songs, and which herbs cured diseases.
Anishinabeg Government
A person became a chief if he was respected by the other people. He had to be an important warrior, a good hunter, or an important shaman.
Chiefs could not tell their people what to do. There had to be consensus. If someone stopped being a good chief the people stopped listening to him.
There were many different bands among the Anishinabe.
| Part 1. First People of Canada → A. Turtle Island → B. The Wendat → C. The Siksika → D. The Haida → E. The Dene → F. The Inuit → G. The Cree → H. The Ojibwa → I. The Mi'kmaq |
| Ojibwa - Gallery | Stories & Texts | Web Links | Vocab | Student Activities | Class Projects |
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