Pamela's+Essay

Home Page The Rise of the Ojibwe People Bibliography  =Essay = By: Pamela Barnes Mentor: Marika Kungla

__The history of the Ojibwe nation from the rise to the Golden-age has taught us the values of family life, culture and the importance of art.__ Everywhere you go you will find all sorts of people that make up many different nationalities, backgrounds, and cultures in Ontario. But there has been a history of Canadian inhabitants that has originated in North America long before any other nationalities discovered this continent. A powerful native tribe is included among the original inhabitants of this land, The Ojibwe. The Ojibwe have come along way as regards to art, family life and culture.

The Ojibwe, among many other native tribes, have captured their idea of nature and dreams into their art, such the clothing that they wore, the symbols that were used to identify their people and tribe, and so on. The Dreaming is crucial to the understanding of Aboriginal art. Art is a means to the Dreaming. Religion and the native people’s idea of Dreamtime are two factors that helped the Ojibwe to create the art that we today are mesmerized with. Dreamtime is something that can't be translated by a short phrase. It involves much, much more, including exploring Aboriginal ideas about the nature of the world. Through the Ojibwe art, today we are capable of understanding the feelings, surroundings and life that was lived by the Ojibwe people. With that, people today can grasp the ideas that were being portrayed, and see the importance of the way that the Ojibwe interpreted dreams then captured the meaning of it through the various artifacts.

In the world today family can be describe in many different ways. Many people say today that the family is an arbitrary cultural structure and as a society changes, so does the family. Family today is- "a group of people held together by bonds of love and affection, which learn and benefit from family members, along with working together." To the Ojibwe, family meant gifts from the creator, teaching and learning, nature and culture. Among the Ojibwe tribe, children were treated with great respect because they were viewed as a gift from the creator. Therefore children were watched over, cared for and given the freedom to explore and play. But were guided and taught with gentleness. When it came to teaching and learning, knowledge and tradition is very important to the Ojibwe. Elders taught about life through stories and myths taught to them from generations past. Children (birth-7 years) were taught by women and elders about the basics. When it came to family life, everyone had responsibilities. Boys learned to make canoes from cedar wood, and practiced fishing with woven nets. Girls taught to clean, cook meat, weave fishing nets and make pottery, and birch containers. The men and boys where responsible for hunting and fishing for their families. Whereas the women and girls did household arts and skills, planting and harvesting, along with making clothes and tools. During the different seasons, women would plant small gardens of maize, beans, squash, and pumpkins, and gather wild nuts and berries. Also when the Europeans came into contact with the natives, the Ojibwe were able to share these ways of life with them so that their families can survive together. So from the history of the Ojibwe families, we can see how far and what benefit we today can receive from their example when it comes to working together, showing love for one another and benefiting from past knowledge.

In Canada all sorts of cultures have the opportunity to bring forth knowledge and understanding about the differences between their way of living compared to that of another's. In the native culture much information, facts and reasoning are based on the knowledge that has been passed down to them based upon stories about their beginning. The Ojibwe people and culture are alive and growing today. During the summer months, the people attend pow-wows or "pau waus" at various reservations in the US and reserves in Canada. Many people still follow the traditional ways of harvesting wild rice, picking berries, hunting and making maple sugar. When it comes to the topic of creation, the Ojibwe believe that the land was created by a women (The Sky Women), who was pregnant with the twins of a god, put soil on a turtles back and created to earth that we live on today. The reason why many native tribes value nature and animals is many due to this story of creation. Everywhere around you there are different cultures that have so much to offer and teach. Therefore today we need to learn how to respect and celebrate the different cultures that surround us and honor our own heritage.

So in conclusion the ways of living, the meaning of the Ojibwe art, culture and their view of family life is something that all of us can benefit from. The Ojibwe made use of their surroundings, nature, land, food, in order to sustain themselves. They made sure that they were not wasteful, showed appreciation for their families and life, and respected their culture. Today we too can learn vital lessons from the Ojibwe people and their way of life, from the past and the present.