Summary: The Ojibwe Nation

Before the colonization of the North America by the Europeans, there were millions of Natives living there in relative peace and were not just getting by, but were thriving. However, when North America was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus their livelihood was threatened. For when Columbus came to North America, he brought with him the might of Europe and Europe wanted the new land and everything in it, no matter the cost. This meant that the people that were already living there were just another obstacle in their way. Therefore, they got rid of that obstacle in any way they saw fit and they justified this act by saying the Natives living there were savage. However, not all the Natives took up arms against the Europeans to protect their …show more content…
“After their historic journey up the waterways of the Great Lakes around the time of Columbus, Ojibwe clans found economic opportunities and resources that allowed them to spread over a vast region of central North America” (Child, xiv). This exert from Holding Our World Together by Brenda J. Child shows how the Ojibwe nation was a very strong and lustrous nation that played a large role in the affairs of Native Americans (Child). Also since the nation was so vast and intricate, they had their own form of government and order to ensure their continuation (Child). This was in turn played a big role by the woman, who unlike many other nations held a large role in the way the nation was run (Child). “With the renewal of community life in the western Great Lakes, Ojibwe women began to hold an important and unique place in their cultures. They inhabited a world in which the earth was gendered female, and they played powerful roles as healers.” (Child, xiv). While this was unusual in many Native American nations, it proved to be one of the most important parts of the Ojibwe people, society, which allowed them to adapt to challenges colonization brought …show more content…
While these treaties at first did not change the lives of the Ojibwe nation that much, but as more and more treaties kept being written more and more of their livelihood was being threatened (Child). “Each treaty forced the Ojibwe to make impossible, difficult decisions, which they understood would influence future generations, yet they remained steadfast in the pursuit of their way of life” (Child, 64). This quote by Child shows the struggles that the nation was going through and their reason for the decisions they were making. Although though the Ojibwe did want to protect their way of life, each decision kept making it seem like they were losing everything and they could no longer take it (Child). For example, one executive order issued by President Taylor, “which called for the removal of all said Indians remaining on the lands ceded” (Child, 68). While this order itself did remove the Ojibwe from their land the many other treaties that followed did eventually get them to leave their land by trickery and would result in many hardships for the nation

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