Chippewa Tribe



To get started in American Indian Research

Various Spellings: Chippewa, Ojibway, Ojibwa

Chippewa is the Anglicized version of Ojibway (also spelled Ojibwe and Ojibwa). The name Chippewa is more commonly used in the United States and the name Ojibway is more common in Canada.

Bands: Missisaugaa and Salteaux Other Bands: Fish, Loon, Marten, Crane, and the Bear

Little Shell Band of Chippewa

List of bands from the National Archives descriptive pamphlet: Bad River Chippewa, Bois Fort Chippewa, Cass Lake and Winnibigoshish Chippewa, Chippewa Chippewa, Fond du Lac Chippewa. Grand Portage Chippewa, Gull Lake Chippewa, Lac Courte Oreilles Chippewa, Lac du Flambeau Chippewa, Leech Lake Pillager Chippewa, Mille Lac Chippewa, Nett Lake Chippewa, Otter Tail Pillage, Pembina, Red Cliff Chippewa, Red Lake Chippewa, Rice Lake Chippewa, turtle Mountain, Vermillion Lake Chippewa, and White Earth Chippewa

Original Homelands: Great Lakes region; Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota and Ontario.

Linguistic: Algonquian

See also: Chippewa-Cree

History
The Chippewa or Ojibway Indians are one of the largest groups of American Indians in North America. There are nearly 150 different bands of Chippewa in the northern part of the United States and in southern Canada (especially in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan).

The Chippewa were exposed to non-indians in the early 1600's. The tribe established trade relations with the French. During the French and Indian War they fought with the French to protect their trade relationships.

Relationships with other tribes developed as inter tribial warfare broght them together with the Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sac, Meskwaki and Kickapoo to defeat the Illinois in 1769.

The tribe fought with and supported the British during the Revolutionary War.

Land cessions began in 1815, and continued through the mid 1800's. As land was ceded many tribal members migrated.

In 1860 the tribe was removed to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. In 1892 assigned to Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, later assigned to the Rocky Boy's reservation in Montana with the Cree tribe with whom they had united with in the 1890's later becoming known as Chippewa-Cree

Additional References to the History of the Tribe and/or Bands
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Chippewa tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Ohio History Central article on the Chippewa Indians

Chippewa Customs. by Frances Densmore and Smithsonian Institution

Edmund Jefferson Danziger. The Chippewas of Lake Superior. Norman, OK. University of OK. 1978.

Brief Timeline

 * 1622: encounter a Frenchman employed by Samuel de Champlain
 * 1689-1763: fought with French in the French and Indian War, to protect their trade interest
 * 1754-63:fought with French in French and Indian War
 * 1769:Joined the Ottawa, Potawatomi, Sac, Meskwaki and Kickapoo to defeat the Illinois tribe
 * 1776-1783: Fought with British during the Revolutionary War
 * 1815:Ceded much of their land
 * 1830: in opposition to the Indian removal Act; many of the tribe moved north to Canada. Some remained in the U.S.
 * 1836: May 9, the Swan Creek and Black River Chippewa sign a treaty.
 * 1847: ceded land in Michigan and Wisconsin
 * 1860: removed to Indian territory (Oklahoma)
 * 1890's the Chippewa tribe united with the Cree tribe
 * 1892: assigned to Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota
 * 1916: assigned to Rocky Boy's Reservation in Montana with the Plains Cree
 * 1968: the American Indian Movement (AIM) founded by three Ojibwa: Dennis Banks, George Mitchell, and Clyde Bellecourt

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources.

Bay Mills, Grand Portage, Leeck Lake, Mille Lacs, Red Lake, Nett Lake, Turtle Mountain, White Earth, Rocky Boy's, Bad River, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau, Keweenaw Bay, Fond Du Lac, Mole Lake, Red Cliff, and St. Croix

United States
Many of the bands or groups of Chippewa in the United States reside in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The band names have changed or have been spelled differently over time. Many of the groups listed below have their own reservation. Some are federally recognized and have an agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs with whom they interact. Multiple groups sometimes interact with a single BIA Agency. More information will be forthcoming on pages for each of the bands or groups listed below.

Some of the larger bands of Chippewa in the United States are:

Canada
The Ojibway First Nation in Canada live primarily in Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.

Agencies
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Idaho has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.


 * Chippewa Agency

Allotment Records
Land Tenure of the Rainy Lake Chippewa. item 5

1836 census - 6th article of 1836 Treaty of of men, women and children Item 4 or

National Archives film M2039, Correspondence, Field Notes, and Census Roll of all members or descendents of members who were on the roll of the Ottawa and the Chippewa trives of Michigan in 1870, and living on March 4, 1907 (Durant Roll).


 * The 1907 census, the so-called Durant Roll entries are arranged alphabetically by first letter of the surname and grouped by tribal bands. The census includes the 1870 census roll number (This number indexes Durant's filed notes and consists of two numbers separated by a hypen. The firs number is assigned to a spacific family; the second number is the page numbere on the field notes.  (source: NARA RR#1002)

National Archives film M234, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affaris, 1824-1881. Includes 1. 1838 list of Chippewa, Ottawa and Pottawatoie entitled to benefits at the Council Bluffs Agency. (File H571, Roll 215) 2. 1878 lists of heads of families for Pillager and Lake Winnebigoshish Chippewa, (Fild K259, Roll 1166) 3. 1878 lists of heads of families for White Oake, Point and Mississippi Chippewa, (File K266, Roll 166) (source: NAR RR #1002)

Treaties

 * 1785 January 21, at Fort McIntosh - Wyandot
 * 1789 January 9, at Fort Harmar - Wyandot
 * 1795 August 3, at Greenville - Wyandot
 * 1805 July 4, at Fort Industry - Wyandot
 * November 17, 1807, at Detroit - Ottawa
 * 1808 November 25, at Brownstown
 * 1815 September 8, at Spring Wells - Wyandot
 * 1816 August 24, at St. Louis - Ottawa
 * 1817 September 29, on the Miami - Wyandot
 * 1818 Wyandot
 * 1819 September 24, at Saginaw
 * 1820 June 16, at Sault Ste. Marie
 * 1820 July 6, L'Arbe Croche and Michilmackinac
 * 1821 August 29, at Chicago - Ottawa
 * 1825 with the Sioux
 * 1826August 19, at Fond du Lac
 * 1827 August 11, at Butte des Morts
 * 1828 August25, at Green Bay - Winnebago
 * 1829 July 29, at Prairie du Chien
 * September 26, 1833, at Chicago
 * March 28, 1836, - Ottawa
 * 1836 May 9, at Washington
 * 1837January 14, at Detroit
 * 1837 July 29, at St. Peter
 * 1837 December, at Flint River
 * 1838 January 23, at Saginaw
 * 1839 February 7,
 * 1842 October 4, at La Pointe
 * June 5 and 17, 1846, at Council Bluffs
 * 1846 Potawatomi Nation
 * August 2, 1847, at Fond du Lac
 * 1847 August 2, Chippewa of the Mississippi and Lake Superior
 * August 2, 1847, Pillager Band of Chippewa
 * August 21, 1847, at Leech Lake
 * 1854September 30, at La Pointe
 * 1855 February 22, at Washington
 * 1855 August 2,of Saginaw
 * July 31, 1855, at Detroit -
 * August 2, 1855, at Detroit -Chippewa of Sault Ste., Marie
 * 1859 July 16, at Sauk and Foxes Agency
 * March 11, 1863, at Washington
 * March 11, 1863, Chippewa of the Mississippi and the Pilager and Lake Winnibigoshish Bands,
 * 1863 October 2, at Red Lake and Pembina Bands
 * 1864 April 12, at Washington, Red Lakd and Pembina Bands
 * 1864May 7,at Washington
 * October 18, 1864, at Isabella Reserve
 * 1864 October 18, Chippewa of Saginaw, Swan Creek and Black River
 * 1866 April 7, at Washington, Bois Forte Band
 * 1867 March 19, at Washington, Chippewa of the Mississippi

Black River Treaty

 * May 9, 1836
 * 1855 August 2,
 * October 18, 1864

Vital Records

 * Consolidated Chippewa Agency, M595, births and deaths, 1924-1932,
 * Lad du Flambeau Agency, M595, births and deaths,1924-1932,
 * Red Lake Agency, M595,births and deaths, 1925-1932,
 * Turtle Mountain Agency, M595,births and deaths,1924-1932,

Important Web Sites

 * Basic facts about the Chippewa, primarily written for students.
 * More detailed history of the Ojibwa or Chippewa, by Hodge