Turtle Mountain Tales

"Our myths and legends have told us that a time would come when our wisdom was needed to save the planet and we believe that time is now." --Anne Wilson Schaef: "Native Wisdom for White Minds"

The Chippewas are one of the largest American Indian groups in North America. There are nearly 150 different bands of Chippewa Indians living throughout their original homeland in the northern United States, including on Turtle Mountain in North Dakota. There is no difference between Chippewa, Ojibway, Ojibwe, and Ojibw. All these different spellings refer to the same people. In the United States more people use 'Chippewa,' and in Canada, more people use 'Ojibway,' but all four of these spellings are common. Since the Ojibwe language did not originally have its own alphabet, spellings of Ojibwe words in English can sometimes vary a lot, and most people use them interchangeably.

Ojibwe comes from an Algonquian word meaning 'puckered,' probably because of the tribe's distinctive puckered style of shoes. The pronunciation is similar to o-jib-way, but many native speakers pronounce the first syllable very short or even drop it, which is why it sounded like "Chippewa" to some colonists. The Ojibway people also call themselves Anishinabe in their own language, which means 'original person.'

From folklore passed down, share stories of Nanabush, how dogs came to the natives, the origin of corn, the Great Serpent and the Great Flood, the world's creation, and more from the indigenous eyes.