Ojibwe Origins and Migration to Minnesota A few thousand years ago, there were no people who called themselves the Ojibwe. Their ancestors actually lived throughout the northeastern part of North America and along the Atlantic Coast. Now, there are twenty-seven different tribes who trace their origins back to that particular group. They all share a similar language and culture, but each has their own significant differences. The Ojibwe group became a distinct subgroup around fifteen hundred years ago. At that time they consisted of many independent villages who shared language and culture. (Treuer, 2010, p. 5) An important aspect of the Ojibwe is their clan system. Clans were passed on through the father and determined each person's place
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When they did hunt, they mostly hunted small game. They farmed some crops, but harvested from nature as well. One important harvest was the wild rice grown in lakes. It is actually said that the Ojibwe prophecy was to move west to "the land where food grows on water." This is what likely brought the Ojibwe to the Minnesota area. There was also an abundance of tribes on the coast, creating competition between the tribes, this was likely another factor in their migration. It is thought that their migration was slow and took place over hundreds of years. (Treuer, 2010, p. …show more content…
Treuer (2010) explains:
The trouble began when Pierre Faultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Vérendrye, was commissioned by the government of New France to find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific. La Vérendrye’s son, Jean Baptiste, was adopted by the Cree at the French post in Rainy Lake and accompanied a joint Cree-Assiniboine war expedition against the Dakota and their Nakota brothers at Red Lake, Minnesota. (p. 20)
The Ojibwe and the Dakota retaliated, “killing nineteen of the twenty-one Frenchmen in the Rainy Lake area, including La Vérendrye’s son” (p. 20-21). From then on, La Vérendrye abandoned his original mission, focusing all of his energy and resources on avenging his son’s death. La Vérendrye held the Dakota solely responsible, despite Ojibwe involvement, and the Ojibwe were forced to choose between their alliance with the French, Ottawa, and Potawatomi or with the Dakota. Ultimately, the Ojibwe sided with the French and the Three Fires Alliance. The Dakota were furious, and territorial conflict ensued from 1736 to 1760. Many brief battles took place, but conflict was brutal, sometimes wiping out entire villages. While the fight continued, effort decreased in size after 1770. Finally, in the middle of the nineteenth century, both tribes gave up on the conflict. They were overwhelmed with all of the challenges brought on by an enormous flood of white settlement. It was at this time that, Treuer (2010) emphasizes
When they did hunt, they mostly hunted small game. They farmed some crops, but harvested from nature as well. One important harvest was the wild rice grown in lakes. It is actually said that the Ojibwe prophecy was to move west to "the land where food grows on water." This is what likely brought the Ojibwe to the Minnesota area. There was also an abundance of tribes on the coast, creating competition between the tribes, this was likely another factor in their migration. It is thought that their migration was slow and took place over hundreds of years. (Treuer, 2010, p. …show more content…
Treuer (2010) explains:
The trouble began when Pierre Faultier de Varennes, Sieur de la Vérendrye, was commissioned by the government of New France to find the Northwest Passage to the Pacific. La Vérendrye’s son, Jean Baptiste, was adopted by the Cree at the French post in Rainy Lake and accompanied a joint Cree-Assiniboine war expedition against the Dakota and their Nakota brothers at Red Lake, Minnesota. (p. 20)
The Ojibwe and the Dakota retaliated, “killing nineteen of the twenty-one Frenchmen in the Rainy Lake area, including La Vérendrye’s son” (p. 20-21). From then on, La Vérendrye abandoned his original mission, focusing all of his energy and resources on avenging his son’s death. La Vérendrye held the Dakota solely responsible, despite Ojibwe involvement, and the Ojibwe were forced to choose between their alliance with the French, Ottawa, and Potawatomi or with the Dakota. Ultimately, the Ojibwe sided with the French and the Three Fires Alliance. The Dakota were furious, and territorial conflict ensued from 1736 to 1760. Many brief battles took place, but conflict was brutal, sometimes wiping out entire villages. While the fight continued, effort decreased in size after 1770. Finally, in the middle of the nineteenth century, both tribes gave up on the conflict. They were overwhelmed with all of the challenges brought on by an enormous flood of white settlement. It was at this time that, Treuer (2010) emphasizes