Ojibwa, North American tribe, of the Algonquian language family and of the Eastern Woodlands culture area.

Their extensive territory reached into southern Canada between Lake Huron and the Turtle Mountains in North Dakota.

According to Ojibwa tradition, the tribe originally emigrated from the region of the St. Lawrence River in the east, in company with the related Ottawa and Potawatomi. The three tribes separated at what is now Mackinaw City, Michigan, the Ojibwa spreading west along both shores of Lake Superior, while the two other tribes went south.

The Ojibwa tribe was scattered over a vast area. It comprised a large number of bands divided into permanent clans. Originally, the clans were divided into five phratries, or groups, from which more than 20 clans developed. One of the clans claimed the hereditary chieftainship of the entire tribe; another claimed precedence in the councils of war.

The economy of the Ojibwa was based chiefly on hunting, fishing, farming, and the gathering of wild fruits and seeds, particularly the abundant wild rice; they also made sugar from maple syrup.

Their houses were built on pole frames in wigwam shape and were usually covered with birchbark. Birchbark sheets were also used for keeping simple pictographic records of tribal affairs.

Ojibwa mythology was elaborate; the chief religious and superstitious rites centered around the Medewiwin, or grand medicine society.

Although the Ojibwa were one of the largest North American tribes north of Mexico, they did not have extensive relations with the early European explorers and settlers. They became known to Europeans in the mid-17th century, when they were confined within a narrow area along the shore of Lake Superior by the incursions of the Sioux and Fox.

They acquired firearms from the French about 1690, drove off their enemies, and greatly expanded their territory. The Ojibwa supported the French against the English in the various wars fought in North America-King William's War, Queen Anne's War, King George's War, and the French and Indian War.

In the American Revolution and the War of 1812, they sided with the British against the Americans. In 1815 they joined with the other belligerent tribes in signing a treaty of peace with the U.S. government. Under the terms of subsequent treaties, they sold most of their territory.

In 1990 103,826 people in the United States claimed Ojibwa ancestry; most lived on reservations in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Montana.

"Ojibwa," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Chippewa Indians

The Chippewa Indians, also known as the Ojibway, lived mainly in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Ontario. They speak a form of the Algonquian language and were closely related to the Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians.

The Chippewas were allies of the French and French traders often married Chippewa women. Chippewa warriors fought with the French against the British in the French and Indian War. But political alliances changed with the times. During the American Revolution the Chippewas sided with the British against the Americans.

General Anthony Wayne defeated the Chippewas who fought alongside the Indians of the Ohio country at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. They gave up their claim to lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greenville (1794), the Treaty of Fort Harmar (1789), the Treaty of Fort Industry (1805), and the Treaty of the Maumee Rapids (1817).

from the Ohio Historical Society Site, for much more information, please visit this site!

Chippewa

In French, they were called Sauteux or Saulteux ("dwellers by the Sault").

The Chippewas occupied the northern shores of Lake Huron and Lake Superior, from Georgian Bay to the Prairies and northwards to the territory of the Cree, to whom they were closely related (the boundary was the watershed where the rivers flow north into Hudson Bay).

They were divided into four groups, or tribes: the Ojibwas of the Lake Superior region; the Mississaugas of Manitoulin Island and of the mainland around the Mississagi River; the Ottawas of the Georgian Bay area; and the Potawatomis, who lived on the west side of Lake Huron in what is now Michigan. The Lake Superior Ojibwas, the Ottawas and the Potawatomis formed a loose confederacy which, in the eighteenth century, was called the Council of Three Fires.

The first Chippewas known to the French prior to 1660 were those around present-day Sault Ste. Marie, hence the name "Sauters."

(DCB Dictionary of Canadian Biography"," G. Brown"," ed.)
Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada

Chippewa/Ojibwa/Anishinabe Literature

"You can not destroy one who has dreamed a dream like mine."
("Gaa wiin daa-aangoshkigaazo ahaw enaabiyaan gaa-inaabid.")

you will find much more examples and information on the indians.org Site!