While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Chippewa or Ojibwa. Traditional significance of name in their own
language, "to roast until puckered up," referring to the puckered seam in
their moccasins. Also called:
An-ish-in-aub-ag, another native term meaning "spontaneous men."
Aχshissayé-rúnu, Wyandot name.
Bawichtigouek, name in Jesuit Relations.
Bedzaqetcha, Tsattine name,
meaning "long hairs."
Bedzietcho, Kawchodinne name.
Bungees, so called by Hudson Bay traders.
Cabellos realzados, the Spanish translation of French Cheveux-releves.
De-wă-kă-nhă',
Mohawk name.
Dshipowe-hags, Caughnawaga name.
Dwă-kă-nĕn, Onondaga name.
Eskiaeronnon, Huron name, meaning "people of the falls."
Hahatonwan, Dakota name.
Hahatonway, Hidatsa name, meaning "leapers."
Jumpers, incorrect rendering
of Saulteurs.
Kútaki, Fox name.
Leapers, same as Jumpers.
Né-a-ya-og, Cree name, meaning "those speaking the same language."
Ne-gá-tch, Winnebago name.
Nwă'-kă, Tuscarora name.
Ostiagahoroones, Iroquois name.
Paouichtigouin, name in Jesuit Relations.
Saulteurs, or Saulteaux, given to part of the tribe from the falls at
Sault
Sainte Marie.
Sotoes, Anglicization of above.
Wah-kah-towah, Assiniboin name, according to Tanner.
Connections. The Chippewa are the type tribe of one of the two largest
divisions of the Algonquian linguistic stock.
Location. The earliest accounts of the Chippewa associate them
particularly with the region of Sault Sainte Marie, but they came in time
to extend over the entire northern shore of Lake Huron and both shores of
Lake Superior, besides well into the northern interior and as far west as
the Turtle Mountains of North Dakota. (See also Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Canada.)
Subdivisions
There were a number of major and numerous minor divisions of this tribe.
According to Warren, there were 10 major divisions, as follows:
Betonukeengainubejig, in northern Wisconsin.
Kechegummewininewug, on the south shore of Lake Superior.
Kechesebewininewug, on the upper Mississippi in Minnesota.
Kojejewininewug, on Rainy Lake and River, about the northern
boundary of
Minnesota.
Mukmeduawininewug, or Pillagers, on Leech Lake, Minn.
Munominikasheenhug, at the headwaters of St. Croix River in
Wisconsin and
Minnesota.
Ottawa Lake Men, on Lac Courte Oreilles, Wis.
Sugwaundugahwininewug, north
of Lake Superior.
Wahsuahgunewininewug, at the head of Wisconsin River.
Wazhush, on the northwest side of Lake Superior at the Canadian border.
Villages and Small Bands
Amikwa, on the north shore of Lake Huron, opposite Manitoulin Island.
Angwassag, near St. Charles, Saginaw County, Mich.
Anibiminanisibiwininiwak, a band, on Pembina River in the extreme
northern
part of Minnesota and the adjacent part of Manitoba.
Bagoache, a band, about the northern shore of Lake Superior.
Bay du Noe, perhaps Chippewa, probably on Noquet Bay in upper Michigan.
Beaver Island Indians, on the Beaver Islands of Lake Michigan, at the
outlet.
Big Rock, the location of a reservation in lower Michigan.
Blackbird, on Tittibawassee River, Saginaw County, Mich.
Burnt Woods, Chippewa, on Bois Braid River near the west end of Lake
Superior, northern Wisconsin.
Chetac Lake, on the lake of the same name in Sawyer County, Wis.
Crow Wing River, at the mouth of Crow Wing River in north central
Minnesota. Doki's Band, at the head of French River where it leaves Lake
Nipissing, Ont. Epinette, on the north shore of Lake Superior, east of
Michipicoton River, Ont. Flying Post, about the post of that name in
Ontario.
Fond du Lac, on St. Louis River near Fond du Lac, Minn.
Gamiskwakokawininiwak, about Cass Lake, near the head of the
Mississippi, in
Minn.
Gasakaskuatchimmekak, location uncertain.
Gatagetegauning, on Lac (Vieux) Desert or Gatagetegauning on the Michigan-
Wisconsin State line.
Gawababiganikak, about White Earth Lake, Minn.
Grand Portage, at Grand Portage on the northern shore of Lake
Superior in
Minn.
Gull Lake Band, on Gull Lake on the
upper Mississippi, in Cass County, Minn.
Kahmetahwungaguma, on Sandy Lake, Cass County, Minn.
Kawkawling, location uncertain.
Kechepukwaiwah, on the lake of the same name near Chippewa River,
Wis. Ketchewaundaugenink, on Shiawassee River on the trail between
Detroit and
Saginaw Bay, Mich.
Kishkawbawee, on Flint River in lower
Michigan. Knife Lake, location uncertain.
Lac Courte Oreilles, on the lake of the
same name at the headwaters of
Chippewa River, in Sawyer County, Wis.
Little Forks, a reservation on Tittibawassee River, in
lower Michigan.
Long Lake, on Long Lake north of Lake Superior, between Nipigon and Pic
River, Ont.
Matawachkirini, Matachewan, about Fort Matachewan, Ont.
Mattagami, about Mattagami Lake.
Mekadewagamitigweyawininiwak, on Black River, Mich.
Menitegow, on the east bank of Saginaw River in lower Michigan.
Menoquet's Village, on Cass River, lower Michigan.
Michilimackinac, on Mackinac Island, Mich.
Michipicoten, a band on Michipicoten River, Ont.
Midinakwadshiwininiwak, a band in the Turtle Mountain region, N. Dak.
Misisagaikaniwininiwak, a band on Mille Lacs, Minn.
Miskwagamiwisagaigan, a band about Red Lake River, Minn.
Nabobish, at the mouth of Saginaw River, Mich.
Nagonabe, in lower Michigan.
Nameuilni, a band northwest of Lake Superior, between Rainy Lake and Lake
Nipigon in Algoma, Ont.
Nibowisibiwininiwak, in Saskatchewan north of Lake Winnipeg.
Nipissing, about Lake Nipissing.
Obidgewong, with Ottawa, on the west shore of Lake Wolseley, Manitoulin
Island, Ont.
Ommunise, or Ottawa, on Carp River, Mich.
Onepowesepewenenewak, in Minnesota.
Ontonagon, a band on Ontonagon River in upper Michigan.
Oschekkamegawenenewak, 2 bands:
(1) near Rainy Lake (1753);
(2) east of
Mille
Lacs.
Ouasouarini, on Georgian Bay, Ont.
Oueschekgagamiouilimy, the Caribou gens of Rainy River, Minn.
Outchougai, on the east side of Georgian Bay and probably south of French
River,
connected with the Amikwa.
Otusson, on upper Huron River in Sanilac County, Mich.
Pawating, at Sault Ste. Marie, on the south bank of St. Mary's River,
Chippewa
County, Mich.
Pic River, at the mouth of Pic River on the north shore of Lake Superior,
Ont. Pokegama, on Pokegama Lake, Pine County, Minn.
Portage du Prairie, in Manitoba.
Rabbit Lake Chippewa, a band on Rabbit Lake, Minn.
Reaum's Village, in Flint River, Mich., about the boundary of Genesee and
Saginaw Counties.
Red Cedar Lake, on Red Cedar Lake, Barron County, Wis.
Red Cliff, near the west end of Lake Superior, in Wisconsin or Minnesota.
Rice Lake Band, on Rice Lake, Barron County, Wis.
Saginaw, with Ottawa, near Saginaw, Mich.
Saint Francis Xavier, a mission, on Mille Lacs, Aitkin County, Minn.
Shabwasing, a band, probably in lower Michigan.
Shaugawaumikong, on Long Island, on the west coast of Lake Superior, in
Ashland County, Wis.
Sukaauguning, on Pelican Lake, Oneida County, Wis.
Thunder Bay, Chippewa or Ottawa, a band on Thunder Bay, Alpena County,
Mich.
Timagimi, about Lake Timagimi. Trout Lake, location uncertain.
Turtle
Portage, in Wisconsin.
Wabasemowenenewak, near a white rock perhaps in Minnesota.
Walpole Island, with other tribes, Ontario.
Wanamakewajejenik, near the Lake of the Woods.
Wapisiwiibiwininiwak, a band, on Swan Creek, near Lake St. Clair, Mich.
Wauswagiming, on Lac du Flambeau, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin.
Wequadong, near L'Anse at the head of Keweenaw Bay, Baraga County, Mich.
Whitefish, on Sturgeon River.
Wiaquahhechegumeeng, at the head of Lake Superior in Douglass County, Wis.
Winnebegoshishiwininewak, a band on Lake Winnibigashish, Minn.
Yellow
Lake, on Yellow Lake, Burnett County, Wis.
History. According to tradition, the Chippewa were part of a large body of
Indians which came from the east—how much east of their later homes is
uncertain—and after reaching Mackinaw separated into the Chippewa, Ottawa,
and Potawatomi. The Chippewa afterward pushed their way west along both
shores of Lake Superior, and in the eighteenth century, assisted by the
adoption of firearms, drove the Dakota from Mille Lacs, and spread over
the northern part of Minnesota and southern Manitoba as far as the Turtle
Mountains. They also flowed back around Lake Huron. During the nineteenth
century they were gradually gathered into reservations on both sides of
the International Boundary, but none were ever removed from their original
country except two small bands and some scattered families
which went to Kansas early in 1839, and in 1866 agreed to settle among the
Cherokee in Oklahoma.
Population. Mooney (1928) considered that there were 35,000 Chippewa in
1650. The tribe was so large and has so many ramifications that few early
estimates are very close to the truth. The principal are: In 1764, about
25,000; in 1783 and 1794, about 15,000; in 1843, about 30,000; in 1851,
about 28,000. In 1884 there were in Dakota 914; in Minnesota, 5,885; in
Wisconsin, 3,656; in Michigan, 3,500 returned separately and 6,000
combined Chippewa and Ottawa, of whom perhaps one-third were Chippewa; in
Kansas, 76 Chippewa and Munsee. In Canada the Chippewa 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 census of 1910 gave 20,214 in
the United States, of whom 8,234 were in Minnesota, 4,299 in Wisconsin,
3,725 in Michigan, 2,966 in North Dakota, and the balance scattered among
18 States. The United States Indian Office Report for 1923 gave 22,599. In
Canada there were probably somewhat less than 25,000, giving a total for
the tribe of about 45,000. It must, however, be remembered that the
present population of Chippewa includes thousands of mixed-bloods, partly
representing mixtures with other tribes and partly mixtures with Whites.
The United States Census of 1930 gives 21,549, including 9,495 in
Minnesota, 4,437 in Wisconsin, 3,827 in North Dakota, 1,865 in Michigan, and
1,549 in Montana. In 1937, 15,160 were returned from Minnesota, 4,303 from
Wisconsin, 6,513 from North Dakota, and 481 from Montana; a total in the
United States of 26,457.
Connection in which they have become noted. From early times the Chippewa
were one of those tribes most prominent in the minds of writers on
American Indians. This fact they owed in the first place to their numbers
and the extent of country covered by their bands; secondly, to their
central position and the many White men who became acquainted with them;
and, thirdly, to the popularization given them by Henry M. Schoolcraft
(1851—57), and the still wider popularity which they and their myths
attained through the use of Schoolcraft's material by Longfellow in his
famous poem of Hiawatha, for while the name Hiawatha is drawn from
Iroquois sources, the stories are nearly all Chippewa. The name is
preserved by streams in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ontario;
by counties in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota; by various places in
Pennsylvania, New York, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario; and by
Chippewa Bay, St. Lawrence County, N. Y.; Chippewa Falls, Chippewa County,
Wis.; Chippewa Lake, Mecosta County, Mich.; Chippewa Lake, Medina County,
Ohio; and Ojibwa in Sawyer County, Wis.
