Saulteaux
Location: The Saulteaux were originally located west of Lake Winnipeg in Sault Ste. Marie which was on an outlet of Lake Superior in Canada. They were also located in northern Michigan and much of the Great Lakes regions. Many Saulteaux may now be found on Canadian reservations.
Language: In earlier years before the Europeans settled in the United States and Canada, the Saulteaux tribe spoke the Algonquin language. The Algonquin language is one the nine families found in the macro-Algonquin phylum and is found in southern Ontario. In the 21st century, the Saulteaux tribe speaks mostly English with the Algonquin language saved for tribal ceremonies.
History: The Saulteaux are part of a larger group that live in the northern states and Canada called the Ojibwa or Chippewa. The Saulteaux had moved west from the Sault Ste. Marie and northern Michigan areas because of the expansion of the fur trading industry and White settlement in the Great Lakes region. The Algonquin language had become the unofficial language of the fur industry because of the extensive trading done by the chiefs of the many Saulteaux tribes. The land of the Saulteaux was not settled by many of the Europeans due to poor soil conditions and a short growing season. Because the chiefs of the Saulteaux tribe were the only connection to the European settlers, much of the Saulteaux culture and language were preserved.
Daily Life:The poor conditions in the Northern Great Lakes region gave the tribe no reason to develop a farming process. With little or no farming, this led the tribe to a hunting and gathering lifestyle. The tribe divided into migratory bands depending on the season. In the summer, the families live together in order to work together in fishing and the gathering of wild rice and maple sugar; and in the fall, the families move apart to hunt different areas of the land. The Saulteaux utilized birch bark to create many of their tools and canoes that were useful in their gathering and hunting.
Written by: Tara Rose Zitzmann
“Ojibwa.” The New Encyclopedia Britannica. 1998. Ed.
http://www.dickshovel.com/ojib.html. Last accessed on March 28, 2000.
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/5579/ojibwa.html. Last accessed on March 28, 2000.