Ojibwa & Dakota

Legends & OralTraditions

A little background on the Ojibwe and Dakota People…. The First Minnesotans!

The Dakota and Ojibwa Indians lived throughout Minnesota.

Ojibwa and Dakota Men & Women

Ojibwa and Dakota Clothing• Ojibwa women wore long dresses with removable sleeves.• Chippewa men wore breechcloths and leggings.

• Everybody wore moccasins on their feet and cloaks or ponchos in bad weather.

• Traditionally, the Ojibwa’s wore leather headbands with feathers standing straight up in back.

• Ojibwa men and women both wore their hair in long braids.• The Ojibwa painted their faces and arms with bright colors for

special occasions.

• Some Ojibwa, especially men, also wore tribal tattoos.

Dakota Children• They do the same things any child would do--

play with each other and help around the village.

• Many Dakota children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers.

• In the past, Indian children had more chores and less time to play, just like early colonists' children.

The Ojibwa believed in Spiritual beings:

The Sun, Moon, Four Winds, Thunder and Lighting.

The Great Spirit ruled over all the other beings.

Dreams and Visions had a lot of significance to the Ojibwa people.

• The Native American tribes had no written language. Knowledge had to be passed on by word of mouth - stories, legends, poems, songs, myths, dramas, rituals, proverbs, and riddles.

Oral Traditions:

Here are some examples of Dakota

legends …

Why the Porcupine has QuillsLong, long ago, the Porcupines had no quills. One day, a Porcupine was out in the woods. A Bear came along and would have eaten Porcupine, but he managed to get up a tree where the Bear couldn't get him.The next day Porcupine was out again and he went underneath a hawthorn tree, and he noticed how the thorns pricked him. He broke some branches off and put them on his back, then he went into the woods. Along came Bear and he jumped on Porcupine, who just curled himself up. The Bear just left him alone because the thorns pricked him so much.Wenebojo was watching them. He called to Porcupine and asked "How did you think of that trick?" Porcupine told him that he was in danger when Bear was around. Then Wenebojo took some thorns and peeled the bark off of them until they were all white. Then he got some clay and put it all over Porcupine's back and stuck the thorns in it. Wenebojo used his magic to make it into a proper skin, and told Porcupine come with him into the woods. When they got there, Wenebojo hid behind a tree. Wolf came along and saw Porcupine and jumped on him, but the new quills pricked at him and Wolf ran away. Bear was also afraid of the quills and Porcupine was safe. That is why Porcupines have quills.

Why the Buffalo has a HumpLong ago, the Buffalo didn't have any hump. In the summer he would race across the prairies for fun, and the Foxes would run in front of him and tell all the little animals to get out of the way because the Buffalo was coming. They didn't know that Wenebojo was watching them.So the Buffalo raced across the prairies. There were little birds nesting on the ground and the Buffalo raced over them and tramped their nests. The little birds cried out and told him not to go near their nests, but Buffalo didn't listen to them and ran right over them. The birds were sad and kept crying about their spoiled nests. Wenebojo heard them and he ran ahead of the Buffalo and Foxes and stopped them. With a stick, he hit the Buffalo on the shoulders, and the Buffalo hung his head and humped up his shoulders because he was afraid that Wenebojo would hit him with the stick again. But Wenebojo just said "You should be ashamed. You will always have a hump on your shoulder, and always carry your head low because of your shame." The Foxes were also afraid of Wenebojo and ran away and dug holes in the ground where they hid. And Wenebojo said to them "And you, Foxes, you will always live in the cold ground for hurting the birds." And that is why the Buffalo have humps, and why the Foxes have holes in the ground for their homes.

The Legend of WakinyanThe Great Storm Maker/Thunderbird

• Cleaned the Earth and Sky• Sometimes made life hard • Usually his work was good• Enemy was Unktehi, the Water Spirit

The Legend of UnktehiThe Water Spirit

• Churned up the surface of lakes and rivers• Sent white-caps crashing to shore