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Chippewa (popular adaptation of Ojibway, 'to roast till
puckered up,' referring, to the puckered seam on their moccasins; from
ojib 'to pucker up,' ub-way 'to roast'). One of the largest tribes North
of Mexico, whose range was formerly along both shores of Lake Huron and
Superior, extending across Minnesota Turtle Mountains, North Dakota.
Although strong in numbers and occupying an extensive territory, the
Chippewa were never prominent in history, owing to their remoteness from
the frontier during the period of the colonial wars. According
tradition they are part of an Algonquian body, including the Ottawa and
Potawatomi, which separated into divisions when it reached Mackinaw in its
we ward movement, having come from so point north or northeast of
Mackinaw. Warren (Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., v, 1885) asst that they were
settled in a large village at La Pointe, Wis., about the time of the discovery of
America, and Verwyst (Missionary Labors, 1886) says that about 1612
they suddenly abandoned this locality, many of them going back to the
Sault, while others settled at, the west end of Lake Superior, where Father Allouez found there in 1665-67. There is nothing found to sustain the
statement of Warren and Verwyst in regard to the early residence of the
tribe at La Pointe.
They were first noticed in the Jesuit Relation of 1640 under the name Baouichtigouin (probably Bāwa`tigōwininiwŭg, `people
of the Sault'), as residing at the Sault, and it is possible that Nicollet
met them in 1634 or 1639. In 1642 they were visited by Raymbaut and
Jogues, who found them at the Sault and at war with a people to the west,
doubtless the Sioux. A remnant or offshoot of the tribe resided north of Lake
Superior after the main body moved south to Sault Ste Marie, or when it had
reached the vicinity of the Sault. The Marameg, a tribe closely related to
if not an actual division of the Chippewa, who dwelt along the north shore
of the lake, were apparently incorporated with the latter while they were
at the Sault, or at any rate prior to 1670 (Jesuit Rel., 1670). On the
north
the Chippewa are so closely connected with the Cree and Maskegon that the
three can be distinguished only by those intimately acquainted with their
dialects and customs, while on the south the Chippewa, Ottawa, and
Potawatomi have always formed a sort of loose confederacy, frequently
designated in the last century the Three Fires. It seems to be well
established that some of the Chippewa have resided north of Lake Superior from time immemorial.
These and the Marameg claimed the north side of the lake as their country.
According to Perrot some of the Chippewa living south of Lake Superior in
1670-99, although relying chiefly on the chase, cultivated some maize, and
were then at peace with the neighboring Sioux. It is singular that this
author omits to mention wild rice (Zizania aquatica) among their food supplies, since
the possession of wild-rice fields was one of the chief causes of their wars with
the Dakota, Foxes, and other nations, and according to Jenks (19th Rep. B.A.E., 1900) 10,000 Chippewa in the
United States use it at the present time. About this period they first came into
possession of firearms, and were pushing their way westward, alternately at peace
and at war with the Sioux and in almost constant conflict with the Foxes. The
French, in 1692, reestablished a trading post at Shaugawaumikong, now La Pointe,
Island, Ashland County, Wis., which became an important Chippewa settlement. In the
beginning of the 18th century the Chippewa succeeded in driving the
Foxes, already reduced by war with the French, from north Wisconsin,
compelling them to take refuge with the Sauk. They then turned against the
Sioux, driving them across the Mississippi and south to Minnesota river,
and continued their westward march across Minnesota and North Dakota until
they, occupied the headwaters of Red river, and established their westernmost
band in the Turtle mountains. It was not until after 1736 that they obtained a
foothold west of Lake Superior. While the main divisions of the tribe were
thus extending their possessions in the west, others overran the peninsula
between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, which had long been claimed by the
Iroquois through conquest. The Iroquois were forced to withdraw, and the
whole region was occupied by the Chippewa bands, most of whore are now
known as Missisauga, although they still call themselves Ojibwa. The
Chippewa took part with the other tribes of the northwest in all the wars against the
frontier settlements to the close of the war of 1812. Those living within
the United States made a treaty with the Government in 1815, and have
since remained peaceful, all residing on reservations or allotted lands
within their original territory in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and
North Dakota, with the exception of the small band of Swan Creek and Black
River Chippewa, who sold their lands in south Michigan in 1836 and are now
with the Munsee in Franklin county, bands.
Schoolcraft, who was personally acquainted with
the Chippewa and married a woman of the tribe, describes the Chippewa
warriors as equaling in physical appearance the best formed of the
northwest Indians, with the
possible exception of the Foxes. Their long and successful contest with
the Sioux and Foxes exhibited their bravery and determination, yet they
were uniformly friendly in their relations with the French. The Chippewa
area timber people. Although they have long been in friendly relations
with the whites, Christianity has had but little effect on them, owing
largely to the conservatism of the native medicine-men. It is affirmed by
Warren, who is not disposed to accept any statement that tends to
disparage the character of his people, that, according to tradition, the
division of the tribe residing at La Pointe practiced cannibalism, while
Fattier Belcourt affirms that, although the Chippewa of Canada treated the
vanquished with most horrible barbarity and at these times ate human
flesh, they looked upon cannibalism, except under such conditions, with
horror. According to Dr William Jones (inf'n, 1905), the Pillagers of Bear
id. assert that cannibalism was occasionally practiced ceremonially by the
Chippewa of Leech lake, and that since 1902 the eating of human flesh
occurred on Rainy river during stress of hunger. It was the custom of the
Pillager band to allow a warrior who scalped an enemy to wear on his head
two eagle feathers, and the act of capturing a wounded prisoner on the
battlefield earned the distinction of wearing five. Like the Ottawa, they
were expert in the use, of the canoe, and in their early history depended
largely on fish for food. There is abundant evidence that polygamy was
common, and indeed it still occurs among the more wandering bands (Jones).
Their wigwams were made of birch bark or of grass mats; poles were first
planted in the ground in a circle, the tops bent together and tied, and
the bark or mats thrown over them, leaving a smoke hole at the top. They
imagined that the shade, after the death of the body, followed a wide
beaten path, leading toward the west, finally arriving in a country
abounding in everything the Indian desires. It is a general belief among
the northern Chippewa that the spirit often returns to visit the grave, so
long as the body is not reduced to dust. Their creation myth is that
common among the northern Algonquians. Like most other tribes they believe
that a mysterious power dwells in all objects, animate and inanimate. Such
objects are manitus, which are ever wakeful and quick to hear
everything in the summer, but in winter, after snow falls, are in a torpid
state. The Chippewa regard dreams as revelations, and some object which
appears therein is often chosen as a tutelary deity. The Medewiwin, or
grand medicine society (see Hoffman, 7th Rep. B. A. E., 1891), was
formerly a powerful organization of the Chippewa, which controlled the
movements of the tribe and was a formidable obstacle to the introduction
of Christianity.
When a Chippewa died it was customary to place
the body in a grave facing west, often in a sitting posture, or to scoop a
shallow cavity in the earth and deposit the body therein on its back or
side, covering it with earth so as to form a small mound, over which
boards, poles, or birch bark were placed. According to McKenney (Tour to
the Lakes, 1827), the Chippewa of Fond du Lac, Wis., practiced scaffold
burial, the corpse being inclosed in a box., Mourning for a lost relative
continued for a year, unless shortened by the meda or by certain
exploits in war.
It is impossible to determine the past or present
numbers of the Chippewa, as in former times only a small part of the tribe
came in contact with the whites at any period, and they are now so mixed
with other tribes in many quarters that no separate returns are given. The
principal estimates are as follow: In 1764, about 25,006; 1783 and 1794,
about 15,000; 1843, about 30,000; 1851, about 28,000. I t is probable that
most of these estimates take no account of more remote hands. In 1884
there were in Dakota 914; in Minnesota, 5,885; in Wisconsin, 3,656; in
Michigan, 3,500 returned separately, and 6,000 Chippewa and Ottawa, of
whom perhaps one-third are Chippewa; in Kansas, 76 Chippewa and Munsee.
The entire number in the United States at this time was therefore about
16,000. In British America those of Ontario, including the Nipissing,
numbered at the same time about 9,000, while in Manitoba and the Northwest
Territories there were 17,129 Chippewa and Cree on reservations under the
same agencies. The Chippewa now (1905) probably number 30,000 to
32,000-15,000 in British America and l,144 in the United States, exclusive
of about 3,000 in Michigan.
