Ojibwé

The Ojibwés , Ojiboués or Anishinaabes are the greatest Nation Amerindian in North America, by including the Métis. It is the third group in importance with the the United States, behind the Cherokee S and the Navajo S. Their number is distributed in an appreciably equal way between the the United States and the Canada. From their first localization, with Sault-Holy-Marie, on the edges of the Higher Lake, they were initially named Saulteux (sometimes Saulteaux ) by the French explorers. Today, this name indicates Ojibwés which settled thereafter in the Prairies with the Canada. Ojibwés, of which much still speaks the language Ojibwé, which belongs to the linguistic group algonquien, are related on the Outaouais and the Cri S. Principalement made up of Anishinaabe S, they are more than 100.000 with living in an area which extends to north, of the Michigan to the Montana. Moreover, 76.000 members divided into 125 bands, live with the Canada, of the west of the Quebec in the east of the Colombia-British. They are famous for their Canoë S with Membrure of birch, their scriptural rollers of birch bark, them wild Riz and to have been the Nation to have only overcome the Sioux.

Name

The " term; Chippewa ", anglophone deformation of " Ojibwa" , prevails with the the United States although the two terminologies are valid in the two countries. The " term; Anishinaabe " spreads itself more and more in Canada. The exact origin of the name " Ojibwé" is not clear; however certain explanations were advanced:

Of Ojiibwabwe which means " who cook until goder" in reference to drying with the fire of the seams of the Moccasin S them to waterproof,
most probable, of Ozhibii' oweg " who keep a trace of their vision" in reference to a form of pictorial writing used at the time of the Rites Animists.

Origin

According to the tradition, the people come from the east, progressing along the Big lakes and are established close to current the Sault-Holy-Marie, named " the fourth point of arrêt" , then close to " Chegoimegon ", named " the seventh point of arrêt" on southern bank of the Higher Lake, near current the the Point or Bayfield, Wisconsin. They are mentioned for the first time by the Jésuites in 1640. Binding friendship with the French tradesmen, they could get rifles, putting an end to their hereditary conflicts with the Sioux and the Mesquakie S in the south and in the west, pushing the Sioux to be moved towards the area of the the High-Mississippi and the Mesquakies to withdraw north of the Wisconsin and to create alliances with the Sac S. Until the end of XVIIIe century, Ojibwés reigned more or less without rivals on a territory equivalent to current the Michigan, north of the Wisconsin and Minnesota. This area includes/understands in particular the largest part of the River-Red, the banks north of the Lake Huron and the Higher Lac until the Turtle Mountain S of the North Dakota and which was later called the " Ojibwés" plains;.

The France signed a treated with them in 1701 (" the Great peace of Montreal ").

Ojibwés took a long time part in an alliance with the Outaouais and the Potawatomi, called Conseil of Three Fires, which fought the Confédération Iroquoise and the Sioux. Ojibwés extended towards the east, fascinating possession of the grounds along the banks east of the Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. They were combined with the French during the Guerre Seven Year old (of 1756 with 1763) and with the English during the Guerre of 1812.

With the the United States, they never could be driven out like were many other tribes, but following many treaties, they were constrained to remain on these territories, except for some families installed with the Kansas.

To Canada, following the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and to a series of transfer per treaty or purchase, the majority of their grounds were yielded to the British Couronne.

Culture

The majority of Ojibwés, except the Bands of the Plains, had a life semi-sedentary, practitioner the fishing, the Chasse, and cultivating the Maïs, the Courge and the wild Riz (Manoumine). Their typical habitat was the Wigwam, made bark of Bouleau, bark of Genévrier and branches of Saule. They developed a form of pictorial writing, used in rites Animiste S and found on Rouleaux of birch bark.

The people and the Ojibwé culture are quite alive today. During the summer, " Pow-wow s" places in various reserves of the United States and Canada have. Many still practices the culture of wild rice, the Cueillette of bay S, the hunting and the clothes industry of the Maple sugar.

Several Ojibwés Bands cooperate today within the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission (Indian Commission on the protection of the wild species and fish of the Big lakes) which manages their hunting rightses and of fishing. The commission cooperates with the American authorities to maintain unquestionable Natural reserves.

There does not exist any word to say " goodbye " at ojibwés.

Clannish system

The ojibwé people were divided into several " doudem" (Clans) named according to Totem S animals. They functioned like a form of Gouvernement and like body of allocation of the functions. The five principal totems was the ashy Grue, the Poisson-chat, the Huard, the Ours and the Martre. The ashy Crane was most influential, while the Bear, largest - so large that it was in fact divided into under-part, like the head, the hips and the feet.

There was in at least blackjack totems according to a census made by William Whipple Warren: Ashed crane, Catfish, Huard, Bear, Marten, Wolf, Reindeer, Merman, Pike, Lynx, Eagle, Rattlesnake, Moose (Dash), black Duck, Otter, Goose, Sturgeon, white Poisson, Beaver, Gull and Falcon. Some totems reveal origins non-ojibwé, like the clan of the Wolves (Dakota) and the clan of the Eagles (the United States). Some of the totems are rarer today because some their tribes, such as the Merman Clan, which appears as Clan of Steamer-in Eau of the Winnibagous.

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