Ojibwa Culture
odd: label: Introduction
content: The Woodlands Indians comprised the many tribes inhabiting the vast area extending from Ontario and Minnesota eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. The Ojibwa Indians, an Algonquian-speaking Woodlands people, originally lived at the east end of Lake Superior. During the fur trade, they moved north- and westward until they had spread over the largest geographic area occupied by one tribal group in North America. During the 19th century, in this country they gradually ceded most of their land in treaties with the government and settled on numerous reservations, principally in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

White birchbark has been a vital resource for the Woodlands Indians for centuries. The bark of the common birch tree played a major role in everyday life of the tribes of the vast Woodlands area. The bark products of the Ojibwa and other Algonquian-speaking people of the Great Lakes area included large items such as canoes and mats for covering wigwams, and smaller objects such as dishes, cookware, and religious scrolls. Even the most basic utensil made of birchbark was artistic in concept, and its design and decoration were considered an integral part of the creation. Most completed birchbark crafts are not white but rather a golden brown. The inner side of the bark is placed on the outside of the item, for it is smoother and more attractive to the eye. (The white side tends to be lightly rough.) This reversal also provides longer life.

Although many traditional birchbark articles in Ojibwa culture were gradually replaced by those of European American manufacture (oil cans, for example, replaced bark receptacles to collect maple sap) many Ojibwa continue to perpetuate the birchbark crafts of their ancestors. At the 1981 Festival, Ojibwa participants demonstrated the construction of the wigwam, canoe, and food vessels made of bark.
label: Participants
content: Sue G. Anderson, 1918-, birchbark basket maker, Leech Lake Reservation, Minnesota

Millie Benjamin, rush rug maker, hide tanner, Mille Lacs Reservation, Minnesota

Marilee Benjamin, 1964-2003, headwork, costume maker, dancer, Mille Lacs Reservation, Minnesota

Terry Benjamin, headwork, costume maker, dancer, Mille Lacs Reservation, Minnesota

William Bineshi Baker, dance roach maker, singer, pipe stem carver, Lac Court Oreilles Reservation, Wisconsin

Albert Kingbird, singer, Red Lake Reservation, Minnesota

Johnson Kingbird, 1919-1999, singer, Red Lake Reservation, Minnesota

Marvin French, pipe carver, White Earth Reservation, Minnesota

Mark Kingbird, 1922-1993, singer, Red Lake Reservation, Minnesota

McKinley Kingbird, 1922-1983, singer, Red Lake Reservation, Minnesota

George McGeshick, singer, birchbark canoe construction, wild rice preparation, Mole Lake Reservation, Wisconsin

Mary McGeshick, headwork, moccasin maker, wild rice preparation – Mole Lake Reservation, Wisconsin

John Nahgahgwon, black ash basket maker, Ausable, Michigan

Susan Nahgahgwon, black ash basket maker, Ausable, Michigan

Ernie St. Germaine, 1948-, wigwam construction, singer, Lac du Flambeau Reservation, Wisconsin
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Smithsonian Institution. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
setName: label: See more items in
content: Smithsonian Folklife Festival records: 1981 Festival of American Folklife
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections
identifier: label: Identifier
content: CFCH.SFF.1981, Series 9
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials