_(14782566514).jpg)
© Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada
The Provincal Park is situated in the southeastern corner of Ontario's Peterborough Crown Game Preserve. Image of the inital entrance sign with the base still being completed. The Curve Lake First Nation Reserve is 47km away. Peterborough is 57km, where the Canadian Canoe Museum. is located.
Peterborough Petroglyphs, Ontario
A Great Horned snake
The Peterbourgh Petroglyphs lie on historically Anishinaabe land There are many images for which there are no known indigenious comparables in North America. The main figure in the center image has rays coming from the head. CanadaDZ / CC BY 2.0
It's speculated the glyphs were made ca. 900 - 1400 C.E.
The person in the image provides scale for the size of the glyphs. A shelter was erected to protect the site from the elements and vandalism that has since gotten criticism for aesthetics and cultural appropriateness. The site is a pilgrimage for the Ojibwa people today. © Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada
They were "found" in 1954.
The exposed material at the site is white marble that is incised with hundreds of humans, turtles, snakes, birds, deer, wolves, and mythological creatures. In addition there are numerous abstractions of unknown meaning. The total number of glyphs is over 1,200. CanadaDZ / CC BY 2.0)
The mythological
Some of the imagery is elaborate and took a great deal of time to execute. Even the simple ones took time with a depth of 2-3 inches. wikicommons
Grandmother Turtle
This turtle image and others link to the Anishinaabe. There are boats with oars, masts, and bow and stern posts with figureheads that do not and that connection.
The Curve Lake First Nation is the spiritual custodian of the site , administer the visitor center, and enforce the no photoraphy rules of the petroglyphs. In 1998 the elders requested no photography of the glyphs, so that the "spirits of the rock were not captured".
© Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada, B. Morin
Abstractions with figures
The figure on the left has a tail. The figure on the right appears related to the thunderbird used by the 501st Airborne. © Parks Canada Agency / Agence Parcs Canada, B. Morin
Pictographs
Ojibwa pictograph, panel X, Agawa Rock,
Ontario. Anishinaabe Pictographs[267]
- Sanilac Petroglyphs Historic State Park "Ezhibiigadek asin" Ojibwe for "written on stone", Michigan.
- Pimachiowin Aki is a UNESCO World Heritage site on Lake Winnipeg, with over 30 individual sites, it is Canada's largest grouping of pictographs.
- Hegman Lake Pictographs in Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
- Lake Superior Provincial Park contains the Agawa Rock Pictographs. "Aagawaa" means "sheltered place" in the Ojibwa.
- Wabakimi Provincial Park has multiple pictographs near Cliff Lake.
- Mazinaw Pictographs National Historic Site of Canada. "Mazinaw" is Ojibwa for "picture" or "writing"
- Chippewa Pictograph Sites of the Border States; Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin[268] wikicommons
Underwater Panther at the Agawa Rock,
Ojibwa pictograph of Underwater Panther at the Agawa Rock pictographs, Lake Superior Provincial Park, Ontario. wikicommons
Nanabozho
Nanabozho (the trickster) pictograph, Upper Mazinaw Lake, Ontario Nanabozhoo is said to have shown the Ojibwa how to make the bow and arrow, canoes, and snowshoes. wikicommons
Turtle Petroform at Bannock Point, Manitoba
The turtle, or Grandmother Earth, represents wisdom, healing, health and protection.
The rattlesnake or Grandfather Earth has petroforms nearby. wikicommons
Petroform at Whiteshell Park, Manitoba
Whiteshell Provincial Park's petroforms serve as reminders of the instructions given to the Anishinaabe by the Creator Gitche Manitou. The Anishinaabe Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society, considers the area containing the petroforms to be "Manito Ahbee", where the Gitche Manitou sits. It is the site where the Gitche Manitou lowered the original Anishinaabe from the sky to the ground according to oral history.
wikicommons
Chippewa: Steatite(soapstone) Pipes
Just north of Rainy Lake, in Canada, the Chippewa had found a jet black stone, steatite/soapstone, that they used to make pipes.[252][253][254] It is slightly harder than the Red Pipestone from southern Minnesota and is less well known in comparison.[255] The Chippewa also quarried steatite near Devils Lake, Sauk County, Wisconsin and other sites in Ontario.[256] [257] [258] [259] [260] Another source has a quarry at Pillager, Minnesota and a quarry north of Duluth that produced a jet black material that took a high polish.[261]
Longfellow's poem places the Red Pipestone quarry in Ojibwa lore stating Gitche Manitou called the tribes together there.[262]
Chief Aysh-ke-bah-ke-ko-zhay (Flat-Mouth), Leech-Lake steatite pipe, collected 1866, Smithsonian[263]
Bois-Forte steatite pipe with lead and catlinite inlaid, ca. 1900, Harvard University Peabody Museum[264]
Cass Lake pipe with lead and catlinite inlaid.[265]
Lake Winnibigoshish/Leech-Lake steatite pipe, Smithsonian[266]
Chippewa Steatitie pipe inlaid with lead and catlinite. © Heartland Artifact Auctions
Ojibwa-Chippewa War, Pipe, Scalp, and Snowshoe Dances. Plus snowshoes collected at Leach Lake.
Medicine Men:
Ojibwa Medicine Man with drum emblazoned for the Turtle (Mikinaak/Mshiikenh) clan ca.1900.
Minnesota Historical Society, wikicommons
Grand Portage Chief Medicine Man Axel Pasey with His Family 1936. Most references state that the Ojibwa have 3 classes of Medicine men. The Chippeway Hearld, Vol. 1, No.2 February 1902 published by Theo and Gus Beaulieu, at White Earth Reservation. They identify three of types: Meda (medicine man), Gee-sah-ke-we-nine (jugglar), and the A-nun-ann-du-we-e-way-we-nin (blower). The Webeno (dreamer) was not listed. https://newspapers.mnhs.org/jsp/PsImageViewer.jsp?doc_id=9f9cced7-0e56-4398-87d3-1f1ab339d023%2Fmnhi0031%2FXETFTD5A%2F02020101
wikicommons
1919, H.R.H. Edward, the Prince of Wales spent 3 days fishing with Ojibwa guides on the Nipigon River in Ontario. His cousin Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn had recommended the trip having done it himself the year prior with the Ojibwa. In total, Edward's entourage had 20 guides, one was Chief of the Nipigon Ojibway Band. Another guide caught Edward's attention, as he was certain they had met before. They had, at a field inspection the Prince held in France prior to the Battle of Cambrai (1917).[188] Edward also met with the League of Canadian Indians at Sault Ste Marie and inaugurated Canada's "Warriors' Day" at the Canadian National Exhibition during his 1919 trip.
wikicommons
Figures from history:
Marie Louise Baldwin Bottineau ca. 1910-15 American University law school graduate.
wikicommons
Chief Nah-gun-e-gah-bow, Rabbit- Lake band. Offered to fight the Sioux in 1862.
wikicommons
1870-80s, Stephen & Georg Bonga were African American Ojibwe fur traders and translators.[16] Both passed away at Leach Lake.
wikicommons
Lewis & Clark and the Chippewa and historians question how?
ca. 1933 picture of 1803 Lewis & Clark Presentation Flag owned by the Oji-Cree in Montana. Held by 2 Oji-Cree, Loud Thunder or Jim Gopher and the Frenchman with Frank Linderman. Lewis & Clark had several different versions of the flag with them. This one has the Great Seal with 13 stars in the canton. The shield with 3 stars symbolizes the branches of government. Linderman was greatly involved in Rocky Boy's band getting a reservation in 1916.
©Distinctly Montana
Peace Medal, 1st size, for head chief's. It was collected in 1900 at Mille-Lacs. Jefferson medals were the first to have a President's profile on them. This medal belonged to Chief Katawabeda of the Sandy Lake band and "Emperor" of all Mississippi band Chippewa. Mille-Lacs band oral history has that he received it from Lewis & Clark in 1804. It was donated to Jefferson Nat. Expansion Mem. in St. Louis, Missiouri, in 1964. The Fond-du-Lac band also received a medal from Lewis & Clark and is in their oral history. They are identified as the "foriegn nation" that received a 3rd size medal from Lewis & Clark p.17 reference: Indian Peace Medals in American History, Francis Paul Prucha (index p.179, "Fond du Lac") Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections, 2025, https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/smof/publicliaison/blackwell/box-032/40_047_7007434_032_019_2017.pdf
©National Park Service
Turtle-Mountain Chief Little Shell III:
Chief Little Shell III of the Turtle-Mountain band of Chippewa. He received a Lincoln Indian Peace Medal at the 1863 signing of the Treaty of Old Crossing.
wikicommons
In 1900 the Massachusetts State Seal was redesigned by Edmund H. Garrett. He used Chief Little Shell III of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa as his model. There is now an effort in Massachusetts to remove the Chief from the State seal claiming using his image is racist. Massachsetts is the only state to acknowledge a First Nation's leader on it's State Seal and State flag. In heraldry, a figure centered on a design, typically within the shield (or escutcheon), is called a "charge". In Heraldry an arm holding a sword above a figure generally symbolizes authority, military prowess, or the protection of justice. The sword itself is a common symbol of honor, bravery, and military might.
Saulteaux Chief Peguis:
Chief Perguis 12' monument by Marguerite Judd Taylor. Erected 1923 in Kildonan Park, Winnipeg, Canada. Chief Peguis led his band from Sault Ste. Marie to Rupert's Land ca.1790. In 1817 Chief Perguis signed the Perguis Selkirk Treaty that recognized indigenious rights. It included lands that would become Minnesota and North Dakota. The Peguis First Nation is the largest in Manitoba today.
©Trevor Brine/CBC
©City of Winnipeg
Government tug "Pegius II" at the Marine Museum of Manitoba. Was named for Chief Peguis. She assisted dredging operations on Lake Winnipeg waterways.
©Robert B. Farrow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and the Chippewa:
Longfellow is forever linked to the Chippewa by his 1855 "The Song of Hiawatha". It is an epic poem that launched his career. It became a part of 8th grade english across the U.S. for many years The main male character is the Chippewa warrior Hiawatha who is linked to the legend of Nanabozho. In the Song of Hiawatha Longfellow used a large number of Ojibwa words to give authenticity to his sterotyped characters. With a student population primarily Dacotah and Chippewa the Pipestone Indian School boyscouts made the poem a scout production in 1927. It became an annual school project that engaged the local community. It grew to become a regional event that the community continued long after Pipestone closed.
In Michigan Chief George Kabaosa of the Garden River band and, grandson of Chief Shingwaukonse made a stage adaptation of the poem. The tribe first preformed in 1901. Their preformances were popular and went international, with shows in Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, London, Portsmouth, Amsterdam, and Antwerp. They also preformed for 20,000 people per night for two weeks at the Toronto Exhibition in 1937. "The Song of Hiawatha", SOOTODAY.COM , 2020 https://www.sootoday.com/columns/remember-this/the-song-of-hiawatha-2147109. From 1905-10 the G.R.& I. R.R. funded and advertised the play at Round Lake, Michigan to promote tourists to see the native American production. They hired Canadian Louis O. Armstrong who worked with Ojibwa from the Garden River Reserve in Ontario. In 2015 the Michigan Historical Commission erected a marker to commerate the history. (Marker # 736.)
It was from this work that the Milwaukee Railroad choose the name for it's "Hiawatha" trains. The "Hiawatha's" served mainlines and were in the everyday vernacular. They ran the mainline from Chicago to St. Paul and the Hiawatha Olympian went to Seattle. Hiawatha's provided service on railroad's Chippewa Valley Line in Wisconsin also. When the railrod updated service to Milwaukee they choose to name the service "Chippewa" for Hiawatha's heritage. It was later changed to Chippewa Hiawatha. But when the railroad went out of business the name did not die. Today's Amtrak still has a "Hiawatha" named for Longfellow's fictional Chippewa warrior.
Hiawatha and Minnehaha stature 1912 by Jacob Fjelde, Minneapois
© Minnesota Historical Society
Profesional Sports:
1897 The first Native American professional football player was George Shelafo. All records identify him as Chippewa, none give his band or home state or province.
Frank Gus Welch, Lac Courte Orielles band from Spooner Wisconsin & captain & quarterback Carisle football team. He was Jim Thorpe's roommate and best man. He was inducted into the NCAA and American Indian Football Halls of Fame.
Charles Bender, White Earth Reservation in Crow Wing County, Minnesota. Baseballl Hall of Fame plaque.
wikicommons
Eli Ankou, Dokis First Nation, defensive tackle Buffalo Bills. Has played for 7 teams.
©Buffalo Bills
In hockey the Red Lake Nation is associated with three skaters:
GARY SARGENT World Cup Silver Medal
HENRY BOUCHA Olymmpic Silver Medal NHL Hall of Fame
T.J. OSHI 3 Stanley Cups
©Henry Boucha
GEORGE ARMSTRONG Nipissing 4 STANLEY CUPS
JAMIE LEACH Berens River 1st Nation, STANLEY CUP
REGGIE LEACH Berens River 1st Nation, STANLEY CUP
BRANDON NOLAN Garden River 1st Nation
Garden River First Nation has Jordan Nolan a three time Stanley Cup winner and Dwight King (Metis) of the Los Angeles Kings.
©Indigenious Hockey
Clarance John "Taffy" Abel, Sault Ste. Marie band, Silver Medal 1924. Flag bearer for team USA. Hockey Hall of Fame. wikicommons
Abby Roque, Wahnapitae First Nation
Silver medal. U.S. Women's National Team forward at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing
©Sports Center ESPN
Ojibwa acknowledgement by U.S. & Canadian Post:
Canada's Post Office's: "Ojibwa thunderbird" & "Naskapi pattern" Se-tenant pair was issued on April 4, 1975. The thunderbird was created by Norval Morrisseau of the Ojibwa Sandpoint First Nation.
©Canada Post
George Morrison, Grand Portage band of Lake Superior Chippewa. (September 30, 1919 – April 17, 2000) Was an abstract painter and sculptor that the U.S. Post office acknowledged with a souvenir sheet of stamps of him and five of his works in 2022.
Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®
George Catlin and some of his Ojibbeway:
Pelican, Catlin 1845
Ud-je-jock, a boy
painted for the King of France,
Smithsonian copy wikicommons The paintings Catlin did for the King are now in the Musée du Quai Branly—Jacques Chirac.
King Louis Phillippe I 1845 Medal
The King gave personalized medals engraved with the names of the Walpole Island Ojibbeway he met with George Catlin in 1845. Pelican and Tempst bird both received one.
© Gilcrease Museum
Tempest Bird, Catlin 1845
Au-nim-muck-kwa-um,
painted for the King of France,
Smithsonian copy, wikicommons
The paintings Catlin did for the King are now in the Musée du Quai Branly—Jacques Chirac.
Boy Chief, Catlin 1835
Painted at Fort Snelling, Wisconsin Territory.
Smithsonian wikicommons
Hail-storm, war chief Catlin 1845
Say-say-gon was painted in Paris.
Smithsonian wikicommons
Kei-a-gis-gis, Catlin 1832
Painted at Fort Union, Missiouri Territory, Smithsonian. wikicommons
© Joe Valequez: other Ojibwa images @ Ansada Gr
"The Chippewa"
"Turtle Spirt Shield"
"Healing Light"
"Healing Light"
"Healing Light"
"Autumm Light"
"Ojibwa Night"
"The Growling Rapids"
Ojibwe gallery courtesy zs@liangst
"Searching for the Rogue Bear"
"Solitary Hunter"
"Waiting for the Right Moment"
"Water Lily"
"Solitary Hunter 2006"