Language Information

The original name for the Saulteaux tribe was the Plains Ojibeway. It is believed that the Indians are descendants of the Asiatic Immigrants who thousands of years ago came from Siberia to Alaska across the Bering Strait. The Ojibeway people came from the Manitoba area and moved along the prairies in search of furs. The Hudson Bay trading post was already in full business making trades with the Indians. The Ojibeway people moved to Manitoba during the late 1700s and they adopted the plains lifestyle and continued west into Montana and Saskatchewan. At the same time, other Ojibeway moved south to settle in northern Illinois. By 1800 Ojibeway were living in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. No other tribe has ever come close to controlling so vast an area as the Ojibeway did at this time. White settlement ultimately took most of their land and forced them onto reservations. Two small Ojibeway bans remained in their homeland.In 1883, the wild buffalo herds were near extinction which forced the Ojibeway to become dependent on the Canadian Government. The Government taught them how to build one room mud shacks. The Ojibeway mainly kept the mud shacks close to the water in the long cold winter seasons. Gradually, the Ojibeway Indians built themselves brick houses with supplies provided through their treaty agreement. Small pox and Tuberculosis were some of the disease and sickness that wiped out a lot of the Ojibeway and their families. But just as any other tribe, the Ojibeway Indians turned to their own medicine for cures. They relied on a prudent selection of roots and prayers while smoking the sacred peace pipe. The Ojibeway Indians and the Chippawan Indians got along and traded their medicines, beadwork, and even their women for horses. The Chippawan were considered the Woodland Indians. Traditionally, these people were known as the forest people and were feared by the Southern Plains Cree because of their magical powers.

Canada, United States of America.