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Origin Pre-War Post-War What Outsiders Know The Reality Population Territory and Locations Organization Government, National and Local Justice, Social Control, Punishment Political Factions, Dissent Famous/Infamous Persons Relationships with Other Groups Culture Ethnic Groups, Immigration and Emigration Social Divisions and Castes Religion, Beliefs and Superstition The Medicine Society Morality and Values Progress and Failure Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender Education and Language Environment and Agriculture Food Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation Fashion and Appearance Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture Equipment and Resources Economy Science, Medicine and Technology Weapons and Military Equipment Communications Vehicles Watercraft

 

     A Native American culture found around the Great Lakes; specifically, the groups which are part of the Council of Three Fires. The culturally similar Cree, to the north, will be treated separately due to their different living conditions and relations with other groups. The plural form for a group of these people is Anishinaabeg.

     Do note that this is just a sketchy description of several related cultures, set in a post-apocalyptic future. No offense intended! Don't use this page as a reference to any real-life Anishinaabe practices or beliefs, etc.

     Another point:  there are no fixed dictionaries, mass media, or commonly-accepted written histories. Beliefs, practices in daily life, political and clan relationships, etc. can be (and often are) very different in some communities from the "standard" presented here. Some villages or bands will claim to be Ojibwe, but will be speaking a language more Ottawa-like, and have beliefs or practices more like the Cree, or the Mississauga, or even the frontaliers.

 

Origin

 

Pre-War

     They occupied reservations in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and (especially) Minnesota, plus some as far west as Montana. In the pre-Columbian era, they were more concentrated around the Great Lakes.

 

Post-War

     While their reserves and rural communities weren't damaged much by the nuclear blasts, fallout and 20 years of nuclear winter were very hard on the First Nations (and everyone else).

 

What Outsiders Know

     They're well-known to the communities and cultures around the Great Lakes as non-industrial folks living in small forest communities. A lot of trade happens between the villages and the Mariners, the frontaliers, the Arcadian Republic, and other folk at the edges of the lakes.

 

The Reality

     The five main cultural groups currently around the Lakes  -- the Ojibwe, Chippewa, Ottawa, Potawatomi and Mississauga.

 

Population

     There are at least 100,000 Anishinaabeg (plural form of the term) between Lake Ontario and central Manitoba as of 2140.

 

Territory and Locations

 

     In southern Ontario are the Mississauga communities. The Ottawa are mostly around Sudbury; the Chippewa and Ojibwe communities are mixed in rest of the area. The rare Potawatomi communities are all in Ontario north of Lake Superior.

     None of their villages is larger than a few hundred people; some are as few as 20 to 50 people. A large band (several villages) might be 300 people.

     There are some areas regarded as sacred, or particularly favorable (or dangerous) for spirit contact ... for example:

 

Cape Gargantua

A promontory in Lake Superior, along the Ontario shore, formed of volcanic rock. An 18 meter-tall lozenge-shaped rock on the cape is named "The Devil's Chair". The cape is rocky, with many evergreen trees.       There are many small islands around the cape.      The Ojibwe tribe considers the cape to be a sacred site, home to Nanabozho, a trickster god -- he governs the moods of Lake Superior, and invented writing and fishing.      From mid-May until August is mosquito season; they are at their peak at dawn and dusk, and live in swampy or heavily forested areas.      From mid-May until the end of June is black fly season. They bite all day round!

 

     Mooningwanekaaning (Madeline Island), in Lake Superior, is another place with historic, legendary and spiritual connections.

 

Organization

 

     Every Anishinaabeg belongs to a single clan, each named for a totem animal (see below). A person's clan membership is inherited from their father. Clan relationships are very powerful, but there are no clan councils (above the village level) or chiefs. The elders of each clan, in a particular village or gathering, will form a council.

     Councils and important meetings will sometimes use a "speaking stick" or feather to allow members to speak without interruption. The usual order is outsiders first, then youngest to oldest, women to men. Note as mentioned below, a person's "social" gender might not match their physical gender.

 

Government, National and Local

     The Council of the Three Fires is a coalition of the Ojibwe/Chippewa, Ottawa and Potawatomi tribes. In time of war, this council chooses one or more "Outside Chiefs" to lead the Anishinaabeg in battle. It takes weeks for the Council of the Three Fires to meet; the small Potawatomi tribe is usually "in charge" of choosing a meeting location and making preparations.

     Centuries ago, the Sault Ste. Marie area was usually chosen for the Council of the Three Fires; in the 22nd Century, it's usually at an "undisclosed location" between Lake Superior and the Trans-Canada Highway.

     Any group of villages which choose to have a common council, or perhaps just a common chief, is called a "band" in this document.

 

Justice, Social Control, Punishment

     Crimes and lawbreaking are dealt with at the village level; the village council and chief will decide serious matters. Minor troubles are often resolved by the weh-ehs of the persons involved.

     A tribe will usually respect the decisions of a component council.

     Banishment is the most common serious punishment.

 

Political Factions, Dissent

     Each tribe is of course a faction, as is each clan, and each village or band. Tribes, villages and bands have councils and chiefs; the clans do not. The "six eldest clans" are usually considered to have more sway.

     Larger villages, and important councils, will sometimes choose an Outside Chief to lead negotiations or battles (in which case the usual term is War Chief).

 

Famous/Infamous Persons

 

     Besides many pre-Atomic War members of the tribes, and even some pre-Columbian members, there are several more current people of note ... which the referee will have to describe at some point.

 

Relationships with Other Groups

     The Cree, Algonquin, Odawa, Potawatomi, Mississauga, and a few other tribal groups share some language base -- divide a character's Ojibwe, Chippewa or Ottawa language by 4 to determine their level in any of the other Algonquian languages. Of course, there are a dozen Cree dialects, not all of those are understood by any one Cree person.

     Since 2112 the Canadian government has been ignoring the First Nations chiefs and councils, and operating in the tribal lands without much care for anyone's opinions. The First Nations have been angered by this, but (being a sedentary culture) weren't willing to provoke retaliation.

     The frontaliers, the Arcadian Republic, and the Mariners get along fine with the Anishinaabeg. Frontaliers actually operate in Anishinaabe territory, with an acknowledged right to do so, and respect the authority of chiefs and councils.

     The Mississauga tribe has a good relationship with the Canadian government, and a stable trading relationship with the residents of Troyt; tribe members trade with the military post at Hagersville, and work in the tyre dump there. Salvage from the Detroit / Windsor area is brought to Hagersville, and bartered for manufactured goods.

 

Culture

 

Ethnic Groups, Immigration and Emigration

 

     As mentioned, for our purposes there are the:

 

• Ojibwe:  most numerous, including the Nakawē who live further west in Canada

• Chippewa:  the differences between the Chippewa and the Ojibwe are less than the differences between villages; and for some purposes they are treated as the same tribe.
  

• Ottawa

• Potawatomi:  very low population of these people, sometimes mistaken for members of the Ottawa 

• Mississauga:  not part of the Council of the Three Fires 

 

     Intermarriage with the Cree tribes to the north, and with frontaliers, is the most common form of immigration/emigration.

     The Anishinaabeg are more mobile than, say medieval European peasants, but few of them will have visited a large town or seen a motor vehicle.

 

Social Divisions and Castes

     A number of clans exist, each with a totem animal. A given village will have members of various clans; the eldest or most respected members of each clan form a village council, which in turn chooses a chief. Some of the clans are:

 

• Bear -- one of the six eldest clans, seen as "defenders and healers"; the most numerous, in fact this clan is divided into:

• Blood

• Feet

• Head or Skull
  

• Liver

• Ribs

• Beaver -- "scouts and hunters"
  

• Brown Bullhead Catfish -- one of the six eldest; "teaching and healing"
  

• Caribou -- almost entirely found north of Lake Superior; "scouts and hunters"
  

• Carp -- "teaching and healing"
  

• Crab -- "teaching and healing"
  

• Crane -- one of the six eldest; "couriers, traders and diplomats"
  

• Crow -- "mediators, council fires"
  

• Deer -- "poets and peacemakers", or "scouts and hunters"
  

• Eagle -- "Americans", mostly in the former United States
  

• Elk -- "scouts and hunters". Sub-groups are:
  

• Stag

• Antler

• Fox -- "scouts and hunters"
  

• Frog -- "teaching and healing"
  

• Goose -- "mediators, council fires"
  

• Hawk -- "couriers, traders and diplomats"
  

• Loon -- one of the six eldest clans; "mediators, council fires"
  

• Lynx -- "defenders and healers"
  

• Marten -- "scouts and hunters", but also the clan of persons with a non-Anishinaabe (or unknown) parent
  

• Moose -- one of the six eldest; "scouts and hunters"
  

• Muskrat -- "scouts and hunters"
  

• Otter -- "teaching and healing"
  

• Pike -- "teaching and healing"
  

• Pintail Duck -- one of the six eldest -- "mediators, council fires"
  

• Porcupine -- "scouts and hunters"
  

• Rabbit -- "scouts and hunters"; members of this clan prefer cremation instead of burial
  

• Raccoon -- "scouts and hunters"
  

• Raven -- "mediators, council fires"

• Snake -- "teaching and healing"
  

• Squirrel -- "scouts and hunters"
  

• Sturgeon -- "teaching and healing"
  

• Thunderbird -- "couriers, traders and diplomats"
  

• Turkey -- "mediators, council fires"
  

• Turtle -- "teaching and healing"

 

     Certainly not all of the clans are found in a given village, and in fact only a handful of people from each clan are found in most villages.  Many of the clans are only found in one culture. The clans listed as "eldest" are found in every tribe (though the attribution of "eldest" may not be applied, and some tribes may have a slightly different set of eldest clans).

     The traditional attributes of particular clans are of course no more accurate than calling the French romantic, Scandinavians suicidal, or Canadians polite. That is to say -- almost everyone believes it, despite any contrary example.

     The language expresses the complex interaction between family, clan, village, and tribe. There are many terms for particular relationships -- "my parent's female cross-cousin" for example. Interestingly, one general term, aanikoobijigan, covers both distant ancestors and yet-unborn descendants.

 

Religion, Beliefs and Superstition

     The Gitchee Manitou ("Great Spirit") is the creator of all things, and gave life to the people and animals. There are other, lesser spirits, some benevolent, some not; spirits are in animals, rocks, the sun, lighting, the thunderbirds ... One of these is Hobomok, more likely to listen to calls for aid, but also capricious or even wicked ... of course not all prayers request nice results ...

     The spirits of the dead are feared; destroyed cities are avoided, but also old battlegrounds, cemeteries, etc.  Spirits of all sorts are less active, or even hibernating, in the winter.

     The wendigo is a monster active in the winter. People who commit cannibalism are said to be possessed by the wendigo.

     Children are protected by dreamcatchers -- adults are considered to be able to deal with dreams or nightmares, and indeed should interpret them for guidance.

     Some (but not all) Anishinaabeg will have a spirit guide, acquired in a trance or dream.

     The four colors of man are:  red, yellow, black and white; see the symbol at the top of this page.

     The North American continent is called, "Turtle Island".

     Dogs should be kept away from sacred areas, ceremonies, and objects. In some villages or bands, menstruating women are isolated in special wigwams.

     One important feature of the clan system:  members of the same clan may not marry each other -- it's considered incest. This extends to marriages between people from other cultures whose clan names are the same, or who have a name that's similar to a clan name.

     Traditional friendships, rivalries and hatreds exist between the clans; the web of these relationships is filled with regional and local differences and contradictions. "The Moose and Raven clans have always hated each other" ... "Oh, the way I heard it in our area, Moose gets along with Raven fine; you must mean Moose and Crow."

     The dead are usually buried, and covered by a low mound, with some thin covering of poles or birch bark over it. 

    A small number of villages or bands are Christian in outlook, more or less tied to the traditional tribal beliefs.

 

The Medicine Society

 

     The Medicine Society is a sophisticated, secretive religious organization found among the Anishinaabeg. Members of the society act as priests/shamans for their communities, as well as being resources for tradition and history. They are often the only literate persons in a village.

 

A member of the Medicine Society will have EDU of 12 or more.

 

    They do practice "physical" medicine (mostly based on herbalism), but spiritual and traditional practices make up much more of their lore. There are several -- at least four -- stages or degrees of knowledge. Medicine-men are called upon at childbirth, at the naming of children, after a child's first successful hunt, for coming-of-age ceremonies, for marriages, and for wakes and funerals. Members of the Society are all "socially" men -- whatever their physical gender may be.

     There are four sacred medicines:  tobacco (often given as a gift to visitors), cedar, sage, and sweet grass. Instruction in their uses is carefully provided by the Medicine Society, usually in the winter; this is also when various traditional and instructive stories are passed from generation to generation.

     There have been times and places where the members of the Medicine Society were feared for their powers, or blamed for the weakness of their powers. Most people will say, "Oh, that was somewhere else, a long time ago."

 

Morality and Values

     There are seven traditional values:  courage; honesty; respect for elders, councils and chiefs; love of family; wisdom; humility (including submission to the village, clan and tribe); and truth.

 

Progress and Failure

     Age, and seniority among your clan mates in your community, are common goals. Living up to the traditional clan attributes are often though of as "success".

 

Family, Age, Sexuality and Gender

     Children take the clan affiliation of their father. If he doesn't have a clan affiliation (or if his affiliation isn't known), the children become members of the Marten clan (this also applies to foundlings).

     Marriages are monogamous. Divorce is uncommon but possible; a woman divorces her husband by placing his belongings outside their home. Remarriage is allowed after divorce, or after a year of mourning if a spouse has died. Spiritual leaders, such as members of the Medicine Society, may not marry divorced women; and in fact members of the Medicine Society are discouraged from marrying at all.

     Married women are responsible for childcare, farming, cooking and making clothes; married men hunt, provide for the village, and protect the tribe.

     People who take on opposite-gender roles are usually treated as a member of that gender. Since the language doesn't have a lot of gendered structures, and many names are equally usable by men and women, determining the gender of a person during a casual discussion of them is usually not possible.

 

Education and Language

     In ancient times, especially before the 19th Century, the Anishinaabeg recorded knowledge on birch-bark scrolls, or as pictographs on stones. The Medicine Society were the main users of this writing system, which remains rare -- maybe 1% of the Aninshinaabeg can understand anything from a scroll or carved rock.

     There are no common "casual" writing systems for any of the Anishinaabe languages around the Great Lakes. Some Latin script dictionaries were created before the Atomic War, but they are very rare now. Messages are conveyed on birch scrolls for serious matters, or are written in English. In either case, very few people know the written form of their own language.

     A list of some Chippewa and Ojibwe personal names:

 

• Chippewa

• Bagwunagijik (m., hole in the sky)

• Gaa-binagwiiyaas (m., wrinkled)
  

• Keezheekoni (f. or m.,, fire burning)

• Kiwidinok ((f., wind woman)

• Meoquanee (f., wears red)

• Migisi (f. or m., eagle)

• Nakoma (m. & f., I do as I promise)

• Namid (m.. star dancer)

• Namida (f., star dancer)

• Odahingum (f., rippling water)

• Sheshebens (f., small duck)

• Ojibwe

• Abedabun (f., sees in the distance)

• Abequa (f. stays at home)
  

• Aenohea-eotse (m., attacking hawk)

• Animikii (m., thunder)

• Ashwiyaa (f., arms oneself)

• Bemidii (m., river by a lake)

• Kechewaishke (m., great renewer)
  

• Maemaengwahn (f., butterfly)
  

• Medweganoonind (m., who is spoken to)
  

• Mitena (f., born at the new moon)

• Neche (f., friend)

• Nenaa'angebi (m., beautiful bird)
  

• Nodin (m., wind)
  

• Okemos (m., little chief)

• Onaiwah (f., dove, pigeon)

• Ozaawindib (m. or f., yellow head)
  

• Sakima (m. chief)

• Wabanquot (m., white cloud)

• Waubojeeg (m., white fisher)

• Wawatam (m., little goose)

 

     In most bands, names are chosen at the Naming ritual for babies, by a "name giver" -- a person chosen by the parents, with a strong spiritual connection (often a grandparent or elder). The name giver will normally either have already had a dream, vision, prophetic event, or some other inspiration for a name (or names); these are not always from any set list of names. Some names outside the Anishinaabe culture are given, and of course people can change their own name, or have a commonly-used nickname. Before the Naming ceremony, the parents will choose a couple of people to be "weh-eh" -- sort of like god-parents -- to the child. An un-Named infant has no gender in the Anishinaabe languages.

     Some Anishinaabe words that have entered the English language:  pow wow, wampum, teepee, wigwam, moccasin, moose. The usual name for Caucasians as a group is zhaagnaash.

     Perhaps one-tenth of the population knows a little English (Other Language:  English 10%), depending on their village's location. Of those, about one-tenth can read and write English. Members of the Potawatomi tribe will also be fluent in Cree. Tribe members with known frontalier parents or connections might know some Arcadian French.

 

If EDU is greater than 8, a person might know English at 10%.

If EDU is greater than 12, English is definitely known at some level above 10%.

 

Environment and Agriculture

     Except for their small villages and gardens, most Anishinaabeg have little impact on natural resources. Some tribes on Manitoulin Island and along the North Passage and Georgian Bay engage in lumbering, selling timber to the Mariners.

 

Food

     Hunting, fishing, gathered foods, and gardening produce the food needed in Anishinaabe villages. Wild rice is a staple harvested from lakeside rice-beds; gardens provide corn, beans, squash, pumpkins and other vegetables. In the spring, the Ottawa and Mississauga tribes set up temporary "sugar camps" to gather maple sap, which is processed into sugar and syrup.

     There are clan-based food prohibitions -- at least, you can't eat the totem animal of your clan.

     On Manitoulin Island, hawthorne berries are a common item in the diet.

 

Art and Entertainment, Music, Literature, Recreation

     Singing, dancing and drumming are typical performance arts.

 

Fashion and Appearance

     For a very traditional group:  in the summer, a light shirt and a breechcloth; in the winter, fringed buckskin leggings and tunics, and furs. Low or high moccasins, depending on the season. Adult women wear buckskin skirts or dresses. Lots of embroidery and beaded fabric.

     Some villages, bands or clans will decorate themselves with elaborate tattoos, face-paintings, and piercings.

     Less traditional groups wear woven fabric clothes (usually obtained through trade), and items in the style of the Great Lakes trading communities -- leather shoes, boots or sandals; shirts and pants; and otherwise dress about like the Arcadians or frontaliers.

 

Urban and Rural Areas, Architecture

     There are no urban areas inhabited by the Anishinaabeg; and they shun the Ancient cities.

     The basic dwelling is the wigwam -- a small building, 3 or 4 meters across and about 3 meters tall, with a wooden frame covered in woven mats or sheets of birch bark. More "advanced" villages feature log cabins and rail fences. During the summer, simple huts woven out of cattails (or other easily-obtained plants) are made near the wild rive beds.

     Any village will have at least one sweat lodge -- architecturally, a sort of sauna-tent; but with much significance in Anishinaabe beliefs.

     The Ottawa build log forts and palisades in some places.

     At a lake with a rice-bed, a member of the "farm labor force" (adult women) can gather up to 340 kilograms of rice each year.

 

Equipment and Resources

 

Economy

     Being a sedentary hunter-gatherer-gardener society, the Anishinaabe are listed as Trade Category "Agricultural, Non-Industrial". Barter is more common than the use of currency, but all but the most remote villages can manage to arrange "hard money" when it's needed.

 

Science, Medicine and Technology

     Tech level is "F", between 700 AD and 1770 AD. Some villages have unrifled muskets; muzzle-loading rifles are a tool used by the frontaliers. The Mississauga are more likely to have muskets than any other tribe.

     Besides their skill with spiritual matters, the healers of the Medicine Society are usually well-acquainted with first aid, and with the usable parts of 20th Century Western medicine. They don't have many of the old "European" medicines, or experience with transfusions or thoracic surgery (for example), but have preserved a lot of books, and some of them can diagnose illnesses pretty well.

 

Weapons and Military Equipment

     Knives, axes, clubs, bows (definitely not long bows), spears, muskets and (rarely) muzzle-loading rifles. The Bear and Lynx clans claim to be better at making traps.

 

Communications

     Messages are carried by couriers, and quite often are only in oral form.

 

Vehicles

     A few villages use horses. Otherwise, toboggans, some dogsleds and other person- or animal-pulled carts, sleds, etc. are employed.

 

Watercraft

     The Anishinaabeg are famous for their birch-bark canoes. Log rafts are used as ferries in some places.