OJIBWA

also spelled Ojibwe, or Ojibwayalso called Chippewa Algonquian-speaking Indians who formerly lived along the northern shore of Lake Huron and both shores of Lake Superior from what is now Minnesota to the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota. In Canada those Ojibwa who lived west of Lake Winnipeg are called the Saulteaux. When first reported in the Jesuit Relations (1640), the Ojibwa occupied a comparatively restricted region near the St. Mary's River and in the upper peninsula of Michigan, but they moved west as the fur trade expanded. They fought the Sioux with firearms obtained from the French, driving them from Mille Lacs and occupying the northern part of Minnesota. Each Ojibwa tribe was divided into migratory bands. In the autumn bands separated into family units, which dispersed to individual hunting areas; in summer families gathered together, usually at fishing sites. A few bands also cultivated corn (maize), and the Ojibwa also relied on the collection of wild rice for a major part of their diet. Birch bark was used extensively for canoes, dome-shaped wigwams, and utensils. Exogamous clans, distributed among the bands, served to offset the lack of overall tribal or national chiefs. Chieftainship of the band was originally not a powerful office, but dealings with European fur traders strengthened the position, which became hereditary through the paternal line. The Midewiwin, the annual celebration of the Grand Medicine Society, a secret religious organization open to men and women, was the major Ojibwa ceremonial. Membership was believed to provide supernatural assistance and conferred prestige on its members. The Ojibwa were not prominent in history because of their remoteness from the frontier during the colonial wars. In the United States they constitute one of the largest remnants of the native population. During the late 20th century there were about 30,000 members of the tribe (most of mixed ancestry) on reservations in the states of Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin; there were also approximately 50,000 Ojibwa in Canadian reservations in the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.