The Ojibwe or Anishinabe, as they prefer to be called, were hunter-gathers who harvested wild rice and maple sugar. They were located in the interior of northern Wisconsin and Minnesota and are prehistorically categorized as semi-nomadic. By the late 19th century they were nearing eastern North Dakota. The Ojibwe lived by the seasons of the year as a hunting-gathering-fishing society. Their environment was a factor that influenced the Ojibwe but not as much as it did others in Minnesota. If they settled in a specific area, they had a limited source of food because animals do not stay in one place and plants were not hardy everywhere. Before the introduction of salt the Ojibwe mixed everything with maple syrup, which was used as a seasoning.
They were skilled hunters and trappers. Hunting and trapping was done primarily by the males while gathering wild plants and gardening was the responsibility of the females. Women also built the lodges, spotted the game, and butchered the meat. The Ojibwe hunted deer, ducks, pigeons, moose, fox, wolves, bears, rabbits, beavers, and other small game. Contrary to popular belief the Ojibwe did not follow animals that they hunted. Numerous types of berries were gathered and dried. Some such as wintergreen, raspberries, and leaves and twigs were used to make teas. Women also prepared the hides to make clothing and dried meat for future use. They planted and harvested small fields of corn, pumpkins, and squash. Fishing was an important element in their diet and became progressively more important for the northernmost bands. Men used the hook and line, spears, and dip nets while women fished with nets only. The Ojibwe also engaged in cultivation and stored food for winter and early spring when food was harder to come by. Moving as the seasons changed was an Ojibwe adaptive strategy.
In the spring they practiced sugar-bushing, the name for the process of collecting sap from maple trees and making syrup, sugar cakes, and candy. This started when the snow melts, which was usually late March and continued until April. They also fished and gathered roots. During the summer the Ojibwe engaged in gathering berries and medicinal herbs because those were in season and fully developed. At this time they also began to store food for winter and early spring. They cultivated native potatoes, beans, pumpkin, squash, and corn. Types of berries that were gathered include wild strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, wild plums, cherries, acorns, ginger, chokecherries and cranberries.
In August and September they harvested wild rice, a staple of the Ojibwe diet. Around the middle of October, small groups moved to the fishing grounds. Fishing this time of year was most important. Also hunting provided much of the food and clothing needed during the winter. During the winter when men speared fish through the ice. Sometimes they used wooden decoys. The only economic activities in the winter were hunting and fishing. Trapping provided food, fur and hides for clothing and shelter. They also consumed the food that they had dried and stored during the summer.
“In the early days garden plots were found near all winter camps. The winter camps, the permanent camps, were usually located in the maple tree groves. In the spring the grass on the plots was burnt and the ground was worked with sticks. Corn, squash, pumpkins, and beans were planted and cared for until the families moved into the berry patches. After the wild rice had been harvested in the fall, families returned home and gathered their garden products.” (Hilger I44)
References
Buffalohead, Priscilla K. Farmers, Warriors, Traders; A Fresh Look at Ojibway Women. 1983
Densmore, Frances. Chippewa Customs. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1979.
Hilger, M. Inez. Chippewa Child Life and Its Cultural Background. Minnesota Historical Society Press: St. Paul, 1992.
Roufs, Timothy G. The Anishinaabe of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe. Indian Tribal Series, 1975.
Warren, William W. History of the Ojibway People. Minnesota Historical Press, St. Paul, 1984
Anishinabe Culture http://www.emuseum.mnsu.edu/history/mncultures/anishinabeculture.html
Ricing and Sugarbushing http://www.millelacsojibwe.org
Seasons of the Ojibwe http://www.uwcc.edu/greider/indigenous/Woodlands/Odawa/seasons_of_the_ojibwe.htm
Written by Becky Corle, Rhonda Drescher and Rie Yamada, 2002