Ojibwa people

“ During my long residence among the Ojibways, after numberless inquiries of their old men, I have never been able to learn, by tradition or otherwise, that they entertain the belief that all the tribes of the red race inhabiting America have ever been, at any time since the occupancy of this continent, one and the same people, speaking the same language, and practising the same beliefs and customs. The traditions of this tribe extend no further into the past than the once concentration or coalition under one head, of the different and now scattered tribes belonging to the Algic stock. ”

“ When you command, all the French obey you and go to war. But I shall not be heeded, and obeyed by my nation in like manner. Therefore I cannot answer, except for myself, and those immediately allied or related to me. Nevertheless I shall communicate your pleasure to all the Sauteurs, and in order that you may be satisfied of what I say, I will invite the French who are in my village to be witnesses of what I shall tell my people in your behalf."
Two days after this the Ojibways left for Lake Superior. ”

“ Again these rites were forgotten, and the Me-da-we lodge was not built till the Ojibways found themselves congregated at Bow-e-ting (outlet of Lake Superior) , where it remained for many winters. Still the Ojibways moved westward, and for the last time the Me-da-we lodge was erected on the Island of La Pointe, and here, long before the pale face appeared among them, it was practised in its purest and most original form. Many of our fathers lived the full term of life granted to mankind by the Great Spirit, and the forms of many old people were mingled with each rising generation. ”

“ The name of Ab-boin-ug (roasters) , which the Ojibways have given to the Dahcotas or Sioux, originated in their roasting their captives, and it is as likely that the word Ojibwa (to roast till puckered up) , originated in the same manner. They have a tradition which will be given under the head of their wars with the Foxes, which is told by their old men as giving the origin of the practice of torturing by fire, and which will fully illustrate the meaning of their tribal name. The writer is even of the opinion that the name is derived from a circumstance which forms part of the tradition. ”

“ It will be understood that in all instances presented scrupulous care has been taken to eliminate European influence and to obtain assurance of the aboriginal and ancient origin of the legends.
An Ojibwa tradition tells the adventures of eight, ten, and sometimes twelve brothers, the youngest of whom is the wisest and the most beloved of their father and especially favored by the high powers. He delivers his brothers from many difficulties which were brought about by their folly and disobedience. ”

“ Going a little further east we find the Ojibwa, who live in Minnesota and around the shores of Lake Superior with a myth of the thunderer which makes it entirely a good spirit, a sort of servant of the medicine man, shaman or priest, and who helps them to work cures, find good medicine plants, and many other things which have a good influence. ”

“ The Ojibways, anxious for a fight, made a stand, and a fierce fight ensued in the darkness, the combatants aiming at the flashes of their enemies' musketry. The bravest warriors gradually approached to within a few feet of one another, in the midst of the darkness, when a Dakota chief was heard to give orders to his people in a loud voice, to divide into two parties, and making circuits to the right and left, surround the enemy and cut off their retreat. ”

“ This short-sighted system has created nothing but jealousies and heart-burnings among the Ojibways. It has broken the former commanding influence of their hereditary chiefs, and the consequence is, that the tribe is without a head or government, and it has become infinitely difficult to treat with them as a people. No good has resulted from this bad and thoughtless policy even to the governments who have allowed it to be pursued by its agents. ”

“ In the light of recent investigation the cause of this antagonism is seen to lie in the fact that the traditions of Indian genesis and cosmogony and the ritual of initiation into the Society of the Midē ́ constitute what is to them a religion, even more powerful and impressive than the Christian religion is to the average civilized man. This opposition still exists among the leading classes of a number of the Algonkian tribes, and especially among the Ojibwa, many bands of whom have been more or less isolated and beyond convenient reach of the Church. The purposes of the society are twofold ”

“ But woe to the man or woman or child who with the cruelty commonly practiced on all living things by Indians of all ages and states, dares to wring off his head. Whoever shall do this before the winter comes shall be beheaded by the detested Ojibwa. It is true, for long ago a reckless young warrior feeling annoyed or insulted by the infernal “Tci”-“tci”-“tci!” ”

“ Everything, therefore, favored the scheme which the Ojibway chieftain had laid to ensnare his confident enemies. On the eve of the great English king's birthday, he informed the British commandant that as the morrow was to be a day of rejoicing, his young men would play the game of ball, or Baug-ah-ud-o-way, for the amusement of the whites, in front of the gate of the fort. In this game the young men of the Osaugee tribe would play against the Ojibways for a large stake. ”

“ While Bi-aus-wah acted as the civil and peace chief, Ke-che-waub-ish-ash influenced the warriors, and when the war was raging between his people and the Dakotas, into his hands its direct management was entrusted. He figured in every important engagement which we have mentioned as taking place between the Sandy Lake Ojibways and their enemies. He was noted for great hardihood and bravery, and he fell at the last, deeply lamented by his people, at Elk River fight, covered with wounds received in a hundred fights. ”

“ It is a general fact that most people who have been discovered living in a savage and unenlightened state, and even whole nations living in partial civilization, have been found to be idolaters—having no just conception of a great first Cause or Creator, invisible to human eyes, and pervading all space. With the Ojibways it is not so; the fact of their firm belief and great veneration, in an overruling Creator and Master of Life, has been noticed by all who have had close intercourse with them since their earliest discovery. ”

“ Every crevice in the cliffs where the battle had been fought, contained a dead or wounded enemy. The Ojibways suffered a severe loss in the death of a large number of their bravest warriors. The brother of Waub-o-jeeg was numbered among the dead, and the war-chief himself carried on his person the marks of the sanguinary fight, in a wound on his breast. But a few of the Odugamies escaped, and from this time they forever gave up the contest with the victorious Ojibways. ”

“ XVII, A, B, C, and D, were obtained from Ojibwa shamans at White Earth, Minnesota, by Dr. Hoffman, and pertain to the ceremony of initiating new members into the Midē' wiwin or Grand Medicine Society. The language, now omitted, differs to some extent from that now spoken. The songs and ritual are transmitted from generation to generation, and although an Indian who now receives admission into the society may compose his own songs for use in connection with his profession, he will not adopt the modern Ojibwa words, but employs the archaic whenever practicable. ”

“ It is only from such religious and genuine traditions that the fact is to be ascertained. The common class of the tribe who are spread in numerous villages north and west of Lake Superior, when asked where they originally came from, make answer that they originated from Mo-ning-wuna-kaun-ing (La Pointe) , and the phrase is often used in their speeches to the whites, that "Mo-ning-wuna-kaun-ing" is the spot on which the Ojibway tribe first grew, and like a tree it has spread its branches in every direction, in the bands that now occupy the vast extent of the Ojibway earth ”

“ The Great Spirit has placed these men in our hands that we might do with them as we please. Do, therefore, as you wish, only do not shed blood on the steps of these white men, nor in their presence. Though it is my doing, yet I shall not be with you."
The Ojibways waited till the Dakotas left the shelter of the trading post, and escorting them out on the prairie, towards their country, they shot them down, and cutting off their heads, they caught up with their chief, who had gone on his road homewards, unwilling to witness the scene which he knew his warriors were determined to perpetrate. ”

“ No incident which the old men related as connected with the whites, is worthy of mention, till a messenger of the "Great French King" visited their village at Shag-a-waum-ik-ong, and invited them to a grand council of different tribes to be held at Sault Ste. Marie. Some of the words of this messenger are still recollected and minutely related by the Ojibways. ”

“ Among these may be mentioned the Ojibway, who are at the present day, the most numerous and important tribe of the formerly wide extended Algic family of tribes. They occupy the area of Lake Superior and the sources of the Mississippi, and as a general fact, they still live in the ways of their ancestors. Even among these, a change is so rapidly taking place, caused by a close contact with the white race, that ten years hence it will be too late to save the traditions of their forefathers from total oblivion. ”

“ Is it not probable from these beliefs that ages ago the Ojibways resided westward, and occupied a country "flowing in milk and honey"—a country abounding in all that tends to their enjoyment and happiness, and to which they look back as the tired traveller on a burning desert looks back to a beautiful oasis which he has once passed, or as the lonely wanderer looks back to the once happy home of his childhood? ”

“ Marie, accompanied by the trader Alexander Henry, and by way of Lake Simcoe and Toronto, reached Niagara and attended the grand council. On the 6th of August, Henry and his Ojibway companions, accompanied General Bradstreet's army on the way to Detroit. At this point Bradstreet, on the 7th of September, made a treaty with the Ojibways and some other tribes. The principal speaker of the Indians was Wasson, an Ojibway chief, who said to Bradstreet, "My brother, last year God forsook us. God has now opened our eyes, and we desire to be heard. It is God's will, our hearts are altered. ”

“ He silently brooded over the wrong so wantonly inflicted on him, for the warrior who had injured him was of such high standing in his tribe, that he could not revenge himself on him with impunity. After a time he left the Dakotas and paid a visit to his Ojibway relatives on Lake Superior, who received him into their wigwams with every mark of kindness and regard. He poured into their willing ears the tale of his wrong, and he succeeded in inducing them to raise a war party to march against the Dakota encampment on Lake St Croix. ”

“ It is through the humane advice of this French trader, and the unbounded influence which he held over the Lake Superior Ojibways, which prevented them from joining the alliance of Pontiac, in his war against the English, and which has thereby saved them from the almost utter annihilation which has befallen every other tribe who have been induced to fight for one type of the white race against another, and which enables them at this day to assume the position of the most numerous and important branch of the Algic race, and the largest tribe residing east of the Mississippi. ”

“ While still living in their large and central town on the Island of La Pointe, a principal and leading Me-da-we priest, whose name was Ma-se-wa-pe-ga (whole ribs) , dreamed a dream wherein he beheld spirits in the form of men, but possessing white skins and having their heads covered. They approached him with hands extended and with smiles on their faces. This singular dream he related to the principal men of the Ojibways on the occasion of a grand sacrificial feast to his guardian dream-spirit. ”

“ The French early gained the utmost confidence of the Ojibways, and thereby they became more thoroughly acquainted with their true and real character, even during the comparative short season in which they mingled with them as a nation, than the British and Americans are at this present day, after over a century of intercourse. The French understood their division into clans, and treated each clan according to the order of its ascendency in the tribe. ”

“ Catfish Totem, 45, 86, 87, 185, 318 Catlin, George, Indian portrait painter, 114, 490 Census, of Ojibwa tribe, 39 Ceremonies, Medawe, foolish, 67, 77 Cession of Canada, 378 Chabouillez, Charles, trader, 381, 451, 452 Chagouamigon, Shagawaumikong, or La Pointe, 48, 86, 88, 91, 95, 96, 102, 103, 104, 109, 115, 116, 123, 126, 130, 132, 167, 189, 219, 221, 243, 253, 254, 280, 323, 325, 331 ”

“ Education has been of great assistance to the Ojibwe, who have many times proven that they have the same capabilities as their white brothers. The Indian has the same anatomical characteristics as the Caucasian race and is capable of going far along the road of education.
Since the field work among the Ojibwe was completed in 1923 and [346] 1924, some scattering members of the tribe have adopted the peyote lodge. The Ojibwe are fond of visiting and, in the summer time, some are always away on visits to other tribes in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Kansas or Oklahoma. ”