Prehistoric Origins of the Chippewa Indians

This paper investigates the location of precontact Chippewa contacts and the complexities of the geographic environment in which they occurred. Reconstructed land use and settlement maps along with recent archaeological and linguistic research have added new ideas concerning the origin, early migrations, and contacts of the Chippewa Indians. Very little is known about the culture and the area that the Chippewa occupied before the time of European influence. According to the legends and traditions of the Chippewa, they originally inhabited the area next to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence River, near the Atlantic Ocean, and gradually moved westward and settled in the Sault Ste. Marie area. Here is where the French first contacted the Chippewa. The belief that the Chippewa originated in the east is further supported by certain Chippewa ceremonies such as in the traditions of the "Midewiwin" (Grand Medicine Society) through which the tribal history was handed down from one generation to another.