Ojibwa

The Ojibwa or Chippewa (also "Ojibwe", "Ojibway", "Chippeway") are the third-largest group of Native Americans in the United States, numbering over 100,000 living in an area stretching across the north from Michigan to Montana. Another 76,000, in 125 bands, live in Canada.

The Obibwa belong to the Algonquian linguistic group. When first encountered by Europeans in the 17th century, they mostly lived around shores of Lake Superior. Warring with the Lakota and the Fox[?], and newly armed by the French, they drove the Fox from northern Wisconsin and pushed the Lakota across the Mississippi. Eventually the Ojibwa reached the Turtle Mountains[?] of North Dakota, and became known as the Plains Ojibwa.

They also expanded eastward, fighting with the Iroquois and taking over the lands alongside the eastern shore of Lake Huron. The Ojibwa allied themselves with the French in the French and Indian War, and with the British in the War of 1812.

Most Ojibwa, except for the Plains bands, lived a sedentary lifestyle, engaging in fishing, hunting, the farming of maize and squash, and the harvesting of wild rice[?]. Their typical dwelling was the wigwam[?]. They also developed a form of pictorial writing used in religious rites.

Bands:

• Bad River Band of Chippewa Indians[?]
• Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa[?]
• Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Chippewa Indians[?]
• Leech Lake Band of Chippewa Indians[?]
• Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe[?]
• Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians[?]
• Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians[?]
• Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians[?]
• White Earth Band of Chippewa[?]

References

• F. Densmore, Chippewa Customs (1929, repr. 1970)
• H. Hickerson, The Chippewa and Their Neighbors (1970)
• R. Landes, Ojibwa Sociology (1937, repr. 1969)
• R. Landes, Ojibwa Woman (1938, repr. 1971)