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Anishinaabe
The spiritual and political functions of
the Late Western Shield people living at
Lake of the Woods differed from others in
the region. While winter-hunting forays
remained a mainstay for the communities,
the availability of fish and rice promoted
the development of several settlements,
each self-governing band generally having
less than 400 people. While males from the
separate bands did not gather together to
hunt, members of the various communities
travelled regionally, to trade, inter-marry
and form war alliances.
When Europeans intruded onto life at Lake
of the Woods, the Anishinaabe, also known
as the Ojibwa, were living much as they
had for centuries: in wigwams – a
pole frame covered with animal skin or birch
bark, and in settled communities where women
and children gathered and preserved fruit
and berries, and tended gardens of pumpkin,
squash and corn for a fall harvest and winter
food supply. After the rice harvest, the
women and children remained in the settlements,
while the men went to winter hunting grounds.
The Ojibwa men that hunted caribou, deer
and elk, also fished, made bows, arrows,
traps and wigwams, were usually the shamen
(spiritual leaders) and only a man could
be Chief.
Clan System:
In their leisure, the women decorated animal
skin clothing and blankets with beads made
from dyed, flattened bird feather quills,
shells, bone and stones. The designs they
created often carried cultural significance,
honouring a totem, an animal symbol of the
Anishinaabe clan system.
The Anishinaabe believe in natural harmony
to sustain food, medicine, leadership and
education; honouring the seven clans is
part of that goal. Every family has its
symbol, usually handed down through the
male line – no one may marry someone
of the same clan.
Crane – shares power
of Chieftainship with the Loon Clan.
Loon – shares power
of Chieftainship with the Crane Clan.
Fish – teachers and
scholars, they counsel the Crane and Loon
Clan.
Bear – settlement
guardians, they patrol the local area; also,
they know medicinal plants.
Hoof – nurturing,
peaceful and poetic, they are gentle like
the caribou and deer.
Martin – warriors,
hunters, gatherers, defenders of the people.
Bird – spiritual
leaders, they have highly developed minds
and clear vision.
Clan membership determined a person’s
family life, social role and occupation.
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