Anishinaabe means “original people”. It is a collective name for groups of indigenous people living in the United States and Canada. The population of Anishinaabe includes several Algonquian tribes, including the communities of Potawatomi, Algonquin, Ojibway, Mississauga, Nipissing, Saulteaux, Ottawa and Oji-Cree. These communities have a common origin and share cultural values and traditions. The anishinaabe population was commonly found in the sub-Arctic region and the Great Lakes region.
The Ojibwe
The Ojibwe are one of the indigenous groups of people in North America and Canada. There are approximately 330,000 Ojibwes currently residing in the United States and Canada. They are the second Canadian group on the list of native Canadian tribes. In the United States, they are the fourth in the list of the largest native tribes. They speak the Ojibwe language which is part of the Algonquian languages spoken by the Anishinaabe people. In the past, the people of Ojibwe were mainly farmers. They used canoes as a means of transport and recorded important events on birch bark rolls. The Ojibwes handed down traditions to their young generations through storytelling. They practiced the traditional Ojibwe religion until the missionaries came and introduced Christianity.
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi peoples belong to the Algonquian tribes that form the native tribes of America. They lived traditionally in the Great Lakes region, where they devoted themselves to fishing and hunting for a living. At the end of the 18th century, Europeans pushed the Potawatomi out of their land and headed for Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, large corn and bean farms have started to grow and cultivate. They also cultivated medicinal herbs that they sold to neighboring communities. They were divided into clans that served as a system of government. People spoke the Potawatomi language which has close ties to the Algonquin languages. Currently, an estimate of the 1,300 elders speaks Potawatomi as a mother tongue.
Algonquin People
Algonquins are indigenous tribes that originally lived in North America. Currently, most of the Algonquins are found in Quebec, Canada. It is estimated that they are Algonquin 11,000 natives still alive to this day. Traditionally, the people of Algonquin lived in simple structures made of birch bark and wood. They practiced animism where they believed in the spirits of the natural world. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Catholic missionaries from France introduced Christianity into the community. Today, the people of Algonquin practice a combination of Christianity and traditional Algonquin religion. The Algonquin used to hunt and fish for livelihoods. They also grew corn and pumpkin on their farms. In modern times, the Algonquins successfully protested against the commercial harvest of wild rice by the Canadian government in 1981. It put pressure on the wild rice to be harvested by hand as they had done for centuries. The Algonques speak the Algonquian language, which is a dialect of the Algonquian language.
The Oji-Cree
Oji-Cree people are part of the large Anishinaabe community. They originated from marriages between the Cree and the Ojibwe. Their cultural values and traditions are a blend of Ojibwe culture and Cree culture. The Oji-Cree people speak a dialect of the Ojibwe language that falls into the linguistic category of Algonquine. Oji-Cree lives near waterways where they can fish and hunt wild life.
Anishinaabe traditions
The people of Anishinaabe have preserved their traditions to this day. They are known for their experience in traditional medicine. Midewiwin is a community of health workers in the Anishinaabe society. The people of Anishinaabe are also famous for the “Fire Dance”, a celebratory performance made around the fire. They have a respected and powerful spiritual leader who guides them through their daily rituals. Although the population of Anishinaabe has decreased significantly in the population, the few remaining elders have contributed to preserving the language and other important traditions.
