Also known as Ojibways, an Algonquian family, living in scattered bands on the shores and islands of the upper lakes, first discovered by the
French in 1640 at the
Sault Ste. Marie, when they numbered about 2,000.
They were then at war with the
Iroquois, the Foxes, and the
Sioux; and they drove the latter from the head-waters of the
Mississippi and from the
Red River of the
North.
The
French established missionaries among them, and the Chippewas were the firm friends of these Europeans until the conquest of
Canada ended French dominion in
America.
In 1712 they aided the
French in repelling an attack of the Foxes on
Detroit.
In
Pontiac's conspiracy (see
Pontiac) they were his confederates; and they sided with the
British in the war of the Revolution and of 1812.
Joining the Miamis, they fought
Wayne and were defeated, and subscribed to the treaty at
Greenville in 1795.
In 1816 they took part in the pacification of the
Northwestern tribes, and in 1817 they gave up all their lands in
Ohio.
At that time they occupied a
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vast and undefined territory from
Mackinaw along the line of
Lake Superior to the
Mississippi River.
The limits of this territory were defined by a treaty in 1825, lands to the
United States for equivalent annuities.
All but a few bands had gone west of the
Mississippi in 1851; and in 1866 the scattered bands in
Canada, Michigan, on the borders of
Lake Superior, and beyond the
Mississippi numbered more than 15,000.
Their religion is simply a belief in a good and evil spirit, and the deification of the powers of nature.
Various denominations have missionaries among the Chippewas.
In 1899 there were 3,410 Chippewas at
Devil's Lake agency,
North Dakota; 4,682 at La Pointe agency,
Wisconsin; 7,833 at White Earth agency,
Minnesota; and 6,630 Chippewas and Ottawas combined at the Mackinac agency,
Michigan.
