Ojibwe in Minnesota

Ojibwe-Dakota Relations

the Ojib we  17 important long-term developments of the fur-trade period for the Minnesota Ojibwe were French-Ojibwe intermarriages , the eastward expansion of their territory, and their emergence as the dominant tribal military and economic power in the Great Lakes.12 Ojibwe-Dakota Relations During the fur-trade era and into the 1800s, Ojibwe relations with the neighboring Dakota were far more important than their relationships with the French, British, or Americans. Although historians tend to emphasize conflict between the two tribes,there was more peace than war between the Ojibwe and Dakota.The economic,social,and cultural exchanges between them were truly formative for both groups. Inthemid-1600s,OjibweconflictwiththeIroquoisinthe eastern Great Lakes was so brutal that many Ojibwe people sought refuge from the warfare with their Dakota neighbors to the west. In 1659,Father Allouez,a Jesuit priest,observed that more than four thousand Ojibwe people, and other tribes, had settled at Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin, near present-day Duluth,Minnesota,in what was usually consideredDakotaterritory .TheDakotawelcomedtheOjibweand other tribal refugees at first because they saw potential trade gains. The Dakota approached their visitors and, according to Nicolas Perrot,“began,according to their custom,to weep over every person they met, in order to manifest the lively joy they felt in meeting them; and they entreated the strangers to have pity on them ...[thanking the Great Spirit] for having guided to their country these peoples. [The Dakota] loaded them with endearing terms and showed the utmost submissiveness, in order to touch them with compassion.” The Ojibwe behaved similarly.13 In 1679, as the Ojibwe gained the upper hand in their eastern conflict with the Iroquois, they also cemented a 18  pe Ople Of minnes Ot a strong diplomatic relationship with the Dakota. The two tribes needed things from each other. Th Ojibwe were the linchpin to French defense and supply of the fur trade and were kept well outfitted in muskets,kettles,and other European trade goods as a result. The Ojibwe were powerful and numerous, with a population around sixty thousand in spite of warfare and disease epidemics. However, the Ojibwe lands around Sault Ste. Marie had been drastically overhunted and overtrapped. They needed new areas to hunt and trap in order to maintain their standard of living and meet French needs for furs.The Dakota held a huge territory with an abundance of furs,but they were too far away to actively and consistently engage the French in trade.14 Alliance,1679–1736 The Ojibwe and the Dakota formed an alliance in 1679 at Fond du Lac at the outlet of the St. Louis River, in what would later be Minnesota. This was probably the largest diplomatic event among Indians in North America observed—but not orchestrated—by Europeans. French explorers Nicolas Perrot and Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut (later corrupted into Duluth), attended. Ultimately, the Dakota allowed the Ojibwe to hunt and settle on much of their territory east of the Mississippi River in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Through peaceful diplomacy, La Pointe, Chequamegon Bay, Keweenaw Bay, Lac Courte Oreilles, Lac du Flambeau,and Fond du Lac became Ojibwe possessions after 1679.In return,the Ojibwe kept the Dakota well supplied with guns, knives, kettles, and other trade goods and sold Dakota furs to the French. The Ojibwe assumed the lucrative role of middlemen in Dakota-French trade. The peace agreement was mutually beneficial.Both the Dakota and the Ojibwe were better protected militarily. Both stood to gain economically. The French profited as well,dramaticallyexpandingtheirmarketsandfursupplies the Ojib we  19 without increasing their own labor or management costs. During the period of peace, the Dakota and the Ojibwe both grew in economic and political importance as well as population. The Ojibwe-Dakota peace had immediate and longlasting effects.As early as 1682,Ojibwe traders were traveling more than 150 miles into Dakota territory to pick up Dakota furs and deliver European trade goods.At the same time, more than a thousand Ojibwe had permanently settled at La Pointe on Madeline Island and many had spread outovertheChequamegonBayareaanddeepintotheinterior of Wisconsin.The bounty of mainland Wisconsin and DanielGreysolon, sieurdulhut, atthest.louis Riveroutlet.spirit Mountainloomsin thebackground. 20  pe Ople Of minnes Ot a Minnesota,where both the Ojibwe and the Dakota hunted, often together, was tremendous. There was an abundance of moose, caribou, buffalo, elk, and every kind of furbearing animal imaginable. The enduring peace between the Ojibwe and the...