From the south they come,
The birds, the warlike birds,
With sounding wings.
I wish to change myself
To the body of that swift bird.
I throw my body in the strife.

One summer evening, scarcely an hour before sunset, the father of a family lay in his lodge, dying. Weeping beside him were his wife and three children. Two of them were almost grown up; the youngest was but a small child.

These were the only human beings near the dying man, for the lodge stood on a little green mound away from all others of the tribe.

A breeze from the lake gave the sick man a brief return of strength. He raised himself a little and addressed his family.

“I know that I will leave you soon. Your mother, my partner of many years, will not stay long behind. She will soon join me in the pleasant land of spirits. But, O my children, my poor children! You have just begun life. All unkindness and other wickedness’s are still before you.

“I have contented myself with the company of your mother and yourselves for many years, in order to keep you from evil example. I will die content, my children, if you will promise me to love each other. Promise me that on no account will you forsake your youngest brother. I leave him in your charge. Love him and hold him dear.”

The effort to speak exhausted the sick man. But taking a hand of each of his older children, he continued his plea. “My daughter, never forsake your little brother! My son, never forsake your little brother!”

“Never, never!” they both exclaimed.

“Never, never!” repeated the father. And then he died, happily sure that his command would be obeyed.

Time wore heavily away. Five long moons passed, and when the sixth moon was nearly full, the mother also died. In her last moments she reminded the two older children of their promise to their father. Willingly they renewed their promise to take care of their little brother. They were still free from any selfishness.

The winter passed away, and spring came. The girl, the oldest, directed her brothers. She seemed to feel an especially tender and sisterly affection for the youngest, who was sickly and delicate. The older boy, however, already showed signs of selfishness. One day he spoke sharply to his sister.

“My sister, are we always to live as if there were no other human beings in the world? Must I never associate with other men? I am going to visit the villages of my tribe. I have made up my mind, and you cannot prevent me.”

“My brother,” replied his sister, “I do not say no to what you wish. We were not forbidden to associate with others, but we were commanded never to forsake each other. If we separate to follow our own selfish desires, will we not be compelled to forsake our young brother? Both of us have promised to take care of him.”

Making no reply, the young man picked up his bow and arrows, left the wigwam, and returned no more.

For many moons the girl took kindly care of her little brother. At last however, she too began to weary of their solitude and wished to escape from her duty. Her strength and her ability to provide food and clothing had increased through the years, but so had her desire for company. Her solitude troubled her more and more, as the years went slowly by. At last, thinking only of herself, she decided to forsake her little brother, as the older brother had already done.

One day, she placed in the lodge all the food she had gathered. After bringing a pile of wood to the door, she said to her young brother, “Do not stray far from the lodge while I am gone. I am going to look for our brother. I shall soon be back.”

Then taking her bundle, she set off for the villages. She found a pleasant one on the shore of a lake. Soon she became so much occupied with the pleasures of her new life that her affection for her brother gradually left her heart. In time, she was married. For a long time, she did not even think of the sickly little brother she had left in the woods.

In the meantime the older brother had settled in a village on the same lake, not far from the graves of their parents and the solitary home of the little brother.

As soon as the little fellow had eaten all the food left by his sister, he had to pick berries and dig roots. Winter came on, and the poor child was exposed to its cold winds. Snow covered the earth. Forced to leave the lodge in search of food, he strayed far without shelter. Sometimes he passed the night in the crotch of an old tree and ate the fragments left by wolves.

Soon he had to depend for his food entirely on what the wolves did not eat. He became so fearless that he would sit close to them while they devoured the animals they had killed. His condition aroused the pity of the animals, and they always left something for him. Thus he lived on the kindness of the wolves until spring came. As soon as the lake was free from ice, he followed his new friends and companions to the shore.

Now it happened that his brother was fishing in his canoe, far out on the same lake, when he thought he heard the cry of a child. “How can any child live on this bleak shore?” he said to himself. He listened again, and he thought he heard the cry repeated. Paddling toward the shore as quickly as possible, he saw and recognized his brother. The young one was singing,

My brother, my brother! I am now turning into a wolf. I am turning into a wolf!

At the end of his song, he howled like a wolf. His brother, approaching, was shocked to find him half a wolf and half a human being. Leaping to the shore, the older brother tried to catch him in his arms. Soothingly he said, “My brother, my brother, come to me!”

But the boy fled, still singing as he ran, “I am turning into a wolf! I am turning into a wolf!” And at the end of his song he howled a terrifying howl.

Conscience-stricken, feeling his love return to his heart, his brother called to him, “My brother, O my brother! Come back to me!”

But the nearer he came to the child, the more rapidly the change to a wolf took place. Still the younger brother sang his song, and still he howled. Sometimes he called on his brother, and sometimes he called on his sister. When the change was complete, he ran toward the wood. He knew that he was a wolf. “I am a wolf! I am a wolf!” he cried, as he bounded out of sight.

The older brother, all the rest of his life, felt a gnawing sense of guilt. And the sister, when she heard what had happened to her little brother, remembered with grief the promise she had solemnly made to their father. She wept many tears and never ceased to mourn until her death.

http://www.indigenouspeople.net/forsbrot.htm

Chippewa (popular adaptation of Ojibway, ‘to roast till puckered up,’ referring, to the puckered seam on their moccasins; from ojib ‘to pucker up,’ ub-way ‘to roast’). One of the largest tribes North of Mexico, whose range was formerly along both shores of Lake Huron and Superior, extending across Minnesota Turtle Mountains, North Dakota. Although strong in numbers and occupying an extensive territory, the Chippewa were never prominent in history, owing to their remoteness from the frontier during the period of the colonial wars. According tradition they are part of an Algonquian body, including the Ottawa and Potawatomi, which separated into divisions when it reached Mackinaw in its we ward movement, having come from so point north or northeast of Mackinaw. Warren (Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll., v, 1885) asst that they were settled in a large village at La Pointe, Wis., about the time of the discovery of America, and Verwyst (Missionary Labors, 1886) says that about 1612 they suddenly abandoned this locality, many of them going back to the Sault, while others settled at, the west end of Lake Superior, where Father Allouez found there in 1665-67. There is nothing found to sustain the statement of Warren and Verwyst in regard to the early residence of the tribe at La Pointe.

They were first noticed in the Jesuit Relation of 1640 under the name Baouichtigouin (probably Bāwa’tigōwininiwŭg, ‘people of the Sault’), as residing at the Sault, and it is possible that Nicollet met them in 1634 or 1639. In 1642 they were visited by Raymbaut and Jogues, who found them at the Sault and at war with a people to the west, doubtless the Sioux. A remnant or offshoot of the tribe resided north of Lake Superior after the main body moved south to Sault Ste Marie, or when it had reached the vicinity of the Sault. The Marameg, a tribe closely related to if not an actual division of the Chippewa, who dwelt along the north shore of the lake, were apparently incorporated with the latter while they were at the Sault, or at any rate prior to 1670 (Jesuit Rel., 1670). On the north the Chippewa are so closely connected with the Cree and Maskegon that the three can be distinguished only by those intimately acquainted with their dialects and customs, while on the south the Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi have always formed a sort of loose confederacy, frequently designated in the last century the Three Fires. It seems to be well established that some of the Chippewa have resided north of Lake Superior from time immemorial. These and the Marameg claimed the north side of the lake as their country. According to Perrot some of the Chippewa living south of Lake Superior in 1670-99, although relying chiefly on the chase, cultivated some maize, and were then at peace with the neighboring Sioux. It is singular that this author omits to mention wild rice (Zizania aquatica) among their food supplies, since the possession of wild-rice fields was one of the chief causes of their wars with the Dakota, Foxes, and other nations, and according to Jenks (19th Rep. B.A.E., 1900) 10,000 Chippewa in the United States use it at the present time. About this period they first came into possession of firearms, and were pushing their way westward, alternately at peace and at war with the Sioux and in almost constant conflict with the Foxes. The French, in 1692, reestablished a trading post at Shaugawaumikong, now La Pointe, Island, Ashland County, Wis., which became an important Chippewa settlement. In the beginning of the 18th century the Chippewa succeeded in driving the Foxes, already reduced by war with the French, from north Wisconsin, compelling them to take refuge with the Sauk. They then turned against the Sioux, driving them across the Mississippi and south to Minnesota river, and continued their westward march across Minnesota and North Dakota until they, occupied the headwaters of Red river, and established their westernmost band in the Turtle mountains. It was not until after 1736 that they obtained a foothold west of Lake Superior. While the main divisions of the tribe were thus extending their possessions in the west, others overran the peninsula between Lake Huron and Lake Erie, which had long been claimed by the Iroquois through conquest. The Iroquois were forced to withdraw, and the whole region was occupied by the Chippewa bands, most of whore are now known as Missisauga, although they still call themselves Ojibwa. The Chippewa took part with the other tribes of the northwest in all the wars against the frontier settlements to the close of the war of 1812. Those living within the United States made a treaty with the Government in 1815, and have since remained peaceful, all residing on reservations or allotted lands within their original territory in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota, with the exception of the small band of Swan Creek and Black River Chippewa, who sold their lands in south Michigan in 1836 and are now with the Munsee in Franklin county, bands.

Schoolcraft, who was personally acquainted with the Chippewa and married a woman of the tribe, describes the Chippewa warriors as equaling in physical appearance the best formed of the northwest Indians, with the possible exception of the Foxes. Their long and successful contest with the Sioux and Foxes exhibited their bravery and determination, yet they were uniformly friendly in their relations with the French. The Chippewa area timber people. Although they have long been in friendly relations with the whites, Christianity has had but little effect on them, owing largely to the conservatism of the native medicine-men. It is affirmed by Warren, who is not disposed to accept any statement that tends to disparage the character of his people, that, according to tradition, the division of the tribe residing at La Pointe practiced cannibalism, while Fattier Belcourt affirms that, although the Chippewa of Canada treated the vanquished with most horrible barbarity and at these times ate human flesh, they looked upon cannibalism, except under such conditions, with horror. According to Dr William Jones (inf’n, 1905), the Pillagers of Bear id. assert that cannibalism was occasionally practiced ceremonially by the Chippewa of Leech lake, and that since 1902 the eating of human flesh occurred on Rainy river during stress of hunger. It was the custom of the Pillager band to allow a warrior who scalped an enemy to wear on his head two eagle feathers, and the act of capturing a wounded prisoner on the battlefield earned the distinction of wearing five. Like the Ottawa, they were expert in the use, of the canoe, and in their early history depended largely on fish for food. There is abundant evidence that polygamy was common, and indeed it still occurs among the more wandering bands (Jones). Their wigwams were made of birch bark or of grass mats; poles were first planted in the ground in a circle, the tops bent together and tied, and the bark or mats thrown over them, leaving a smoke hole at the top. They imagined that the shade, after the death of the body, followed a wide beaten path, leading toward the west, finally arriving in a country abounding in everything the Indian desires. It is a general belief among the northern Chippewa that the spirit often returns to visit the grave, so long as the body is not reduced to dust. Their creation myth is that common among the northern Algonquians. Like most other tribes they believe that a mysterious power dwells in all objects, animate and inanimate. Such objects are manitus, which are ever wakeful and quick to hear everything in the summer, but in winter, after snow falls, are in a torpid state. The Chippewa regard dreams as revelations, and some object which appears therein is often chosen as a tutelary deity. The Medewiwin, or grand medicine society (see Hoffman, 7th Rep. B. A. E., 1891), was formerly a powerful organization of the Chippewa, which controlled the movements of the tribe and was a formidable obstacle to the introduction of Christianity.
When a Chippewa died it was customary to place the body in a grave facing west, often in a sitting posture, or to scoop a shallow cavity in the earth and deposit the body therein on its back or side, covering it with earth so as to form a small mound, over which boards, poles, or birch bark were placed. According to McKenney (Tour to the Lakes, 1827), the Chippewa of Fond du Lac, Wis., practiced scaffold burial, the corpse being inclosed in a box., Mourning for a lost relative continued for a year, unless shortened by the meda or by certain exploits in war.

It is impossible to determine the past or present numbers of the Chippewa, as in former times only a small part of the tribe came in contact with the whites at any period, and they are now so mixed with other tribes in many quarters that no separate returns are given. The principal estimates are as follow: In 1764, about 25,006; 1783 and 1794, about 15,000; 1843, about 30,000; 1851, about 28,000. I t is probable that most of these estimates take no account of more remote hands. In 1884 there were in Dakota 914; in Minnesota, 5,885; in Wisconsin, 3,656; in Michigan, 3,500 returned separately, and 6,000 Chippewa and Ottawa, of whom perhaps one-third are Chippewa; in Kansas, 76 Chippewa and Munsee. The entire number in the United States at this time was therefore about 16,000. In British America those of Ontario, including the Nipissing, numbered at the same time about 9,000, while in Manitoba and the Northwest Territories there were 17,129 Chippewa and Cree on reservations under the same agencies. The Chippewa now (1905) probably number 30,000 to 32,000-15,000 in British America and l,144 in the United States, exclusive of about 3,000 in Michigan.

Handbook of American Indians, 1906

Biauswah A Chippewa chief, also known as Byianswa, son of Biauswah, a leading man of the Loon gens which resided on the s. shore of L. Superior, 40 m. w. of La Pointe, N. w. Wis, He was taken prisoner by the Fox Indians when a boy, but was saved from torture and death by his father, who became a voluntary substitute. After the death of his father he moved with his people to Fond du Lac. Being made chief he led the warriors of various bands in an expedition against the Sioux of Sandy lake and succeeded in driving the latter from their village, and later the Sioux were forced to abandon their villages on Cass and Winnipeg lakes and their stronghold on Leech lake, whence they moved westward to the headwaters of Minnesota r. The Chippewa under Biauswah were those who settled in the country of the upper Mississippi about 1768 (Minn. Hist. Coll., v, 222, 1885). The date of his death is not recorded, but it probably occurred not long after the date named. (C. T. )

Broken Tooth. The son of Biauswah and chief of the Sandy Lake Chippewa, also referred to as Kadewabedas and Catawatabeta (strictly Ma‛kadēwâbidis, from ma‛kadē ‘black’, wábidis ‘tooth’), and by the French Brèche-dent. He is spoken of as a little boy in 1763, and is mentioned in 1805 by Lieut. Z. M. Pike, who be stowed on him a medal and a flag, and according to whom his band at that time numbered but 45 men. Broken Tooth was one of the signers of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, Aug. 19, 1825; his death occurred in 1828. His daughter was the wife of Ermatinger, a British trader. (C. T. )

Copway, George (Kagĭgegabo, he who stands forever. W. J.). A young Chippewa chief, born near the mouth of Trent r., Ontario, in the fall of 1818. His parents were Chippewa, and his father, until his conversion, was a medicine-man. George was educated in Illinois, and after acquiring considerable knowledge in English books returned to his people as a Wesleyan missionary. For many years he was connected with the press of New York city and lectured extensively in Europe and the United States, but he is noted chiefly as one of the few Indian authors. Among his published writings are: The Life, History, and Travels of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh (George Copway), Albany, 1847, and Philadelphia, 1847; The Life, Letters, and Speeches of Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh, New York, 1850; The Traditional History and Characteristic Sketches of the Ojibway Nation, London and Dublin, 1850, and Boston, 1851; Recollections of a Forest Life, London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, 1851, and London, 1855; Indian Life and Indian History, Boston, 1858; The Ojibway Conquest, a Tale of the Northwest, New York, 1850; Organization of a New Indian Territory East of the Missouri River, New York, 1850; Running Sketches of Men and Places in England, France, Germany, Belgium and Scotland, New York, 1851. Copway also wrote a hymn in the Chippewa language (London, 1851) and cooperated with the Rev. Sherman Hall in the translation of the Gospel of St Luke (Boston, 1837) and the Acts of the Apostles (Boston, 1838). He died at Pontiac, Mich., about 1863.

Curly Head (Babisĭgandĭbe). A chief of the Mississippi (or Sandy lake) Chippewa, born about the middle of the 18th century, on the s. shore of L. Superior. H e removed to the upper Mississippi about 1800 with a number of the Crane (Businausee) gens, of which he was a member, and settled near the site of the present. Crow Wing, Minn. Here his band was augmented by the bravest warriors and hardiest hunters of the eastern Chippewa until it became a bulwark against the Sioux raiders who hitherto had harried the Chippewa as far as the shores of L. Michigan. The white traders lavished gifts upon him, which he freely shared with his followers. His lodge was always well supplied with meat, and the hungry were welcomed. The peace and friendship that generally prevailed between the white pioneers and the Chippewa were due chiefly to Curly Head’s restraining influence. He was visited in 1805 by Lieut. Z. M. Pike, who passed the winter in his neighborhood. He died while returning from the conference, known as the treaty of Prairie du Chien, held Aug. 19, 1825, in which his name appears as “Babaseekeendase, Curling Hair.” According to Warren (Hist. Ojibway, 47, 1885) he was both civil and war chief of his people.

Enmegahbowh ( The one who stands before his people.) An Indian preacher. He was an Ottawa by birth, but was adopted while young by the Chippewa and was converted to the Methodist faith in Canada, educated at the Methodist mission school at Jacksonville, 111., and ordained as a preacher with the name of the Rev. John Johnson. In 1839 he ac companied Elder T. B. Kavanaugh to the upper Mississippi, w r here he was a missionary among the Chippewa for 5 years, when the Methodist church with drew from that field. In 1852, at Johnson’s solicitation, the Episcopal church sent a minister into this section, and a mission and school w r ere established at Gull lake, Minn., in which he served as assistant and interpreter. In 1858 Johnson was admitted by Bishop Kemper to the first order of the Episcopal ministry at Faribault, and in 1859 was left in charge of the mission at Gull lake, where he continued until the Sioux outbreak of 1862, when he alone of the Episcopal missionaries remained in the field. In 1869 the Gull lake mission w T as removed to the reservation at White Earth, whither Johnson followed and was given charge, bringing into the church a number of his tribesmen and erecting a chapel and parsonage. Here the Rev. Joseph A. Gilfillan, who was assigned to White Earth as an Episcopal missionary in 1873, with Johnson’s aid established a school for the training of Indian clergy, and in a few years 9 Chippewa were ordained to the ministry. Johnson was living in 1898, at which time he was spoken as the “aged Indian pastor and co-worker of Bishop Whipple.”

Eshkebugecoshe (‘Flat-mouth , Wide-mouth’). A chief of the Pillager Chippewa; born in 1774, died about 1860. He belonged to the Awausee gens. In his youth Eshkebugecoshe engaged in distant expeditions, lived among the Cree and Assiniboin, and visited in war or peace the tribes of the upper Missouri, spending some time among the Hidatsa. His father, Yellow-hair (Wasonaunequa), was not a chief by descent, but gained ascendency over the Pillagers through his knowledge of medicine, and it is said that whoever incurred his hatred died mysteriously. The son was different, enjoying the respect of whites as well as Indians throughout his long life. He was much impressed by the prophecies of Tenskwatawa, and through his influence poisoning ceased among the Pillagers, as among other Chippewa. In the later contests with the Sioux for the head waters of the Mississippi he bore a valiant part. Although his band at Leech lake, Minn., was decimated in the ex terminating war, it continued to grow through accessions of the bravest spirits of the eastern villages. When a political agent sought to enlist the Pillagers in the British interest at the beginning of the war of 1812, Flat-mouth returned the proffered wampum belts, saying that he would as soon invite white men to aid him in his wars as take part in a quarrel between the whites. (F. H.)

Hole-in-the-day (Bagwŭnagijĭk, ‘hole, opening, rift in the sky’. W. J.). A Chippewa chief, a member of the warlike Noka (Bear) clan. He succeeded Curly-head (q. v.) as war chief in 1825. He had already been recognized as a chief by the Government for his bravery and fidelity to the Americans in the war of 1812. His whole subsequent life was spent in fighting the Sioux, and he ended the struggle that had lasted for centuries over the possession of the fisheries and hunting grounds of the L. Superior region by definitively driving the hereditary enemy across the Mississippi. Had not the Government intervened to compel the warring tribes to accept a line of demarcation, he threatened to plant his village on Minnesota r. and pursue the Sioux into the western plains. At Prairie du Chien he acknowledged the ancient possession by the Sioux of the territory from the Mississippi to Green bay and the head of L. Superior, but claimed it for the Chippewa by right of conquest. The Chippewa had the advantage of the earlier possession of firearms, but in the later feuds which Hole-in-the-day carried on the two peoples were equally armed. George Copway, who valued the friendship of Hole-in-the-day and once ran 270 miles in 4 days to apprise him of a Sioux raid, relates how he almost converted the old chief, who promised to embrace Christianity and advise his people to do so “after one I more battle with the Sioux.” He was succeeded as head chief of the Chippewa on his death in 1846 by his son, who bore his father s name and who carried on in Minnesota the ancient feud with the Dakota tribes. At the time of the Sioux rising in 1862 he was accused of planning a similar revolt. The second Hole-in-the-day was murdered by men of his own tribe at Crow Wing, Minn., June 27, 1868. (F. H.)

Nanawonggabe. The principal chief, about the middle of the 19th century, of the Chippewa of Lake Superior. lie was born about 1800, and was noted chiefly as an orator, and as the father of Ahshahwaygeeshegoqua (‘The Hanging Cloud’), the so-cal led “Chippewa Princess”, who was renowned as a warrior and as the only female among the Chippewa allowed to participate in the war ceremonies and dances, and to wear the plumes of the warriors. Nanawonggabe is described as having been of less than medium height and size, and as having intelligent features. See Morse in W is. Hist. Soc. Coll., 111, 338,1857).

Shingabawassin (Shingábewasin, ‘reclining human figure of stone.’-W. J.).

A Chippewa chief of the Crane gens, born about 1763, and prominent during the first quarter of the 19th century. He was the eldest son of Maidosagee, the son of Gitcheojeedebun. His residence, during most of his years at least, was on the banks of St Mary’s river, Mich., at the outlet of Lake Superior. His life, so far as known, was characterized by but few marked incidents, though largely spent in behalf of the welfare of his people. During his younger days he took an active part in the war expeditions of his band, especially those against the Sioux, but after assuming the responsibilities of his official life he became a strong advocate of peace. At the councils convened for the purpose of entering into treaties, especially those at Prairie du Chien in 1825, Fond du Lac in 1826, and Butte des Mortes in 1827, he was the leading speaker and usually the most important person among the Indian delegates.

He seems to have risen, to a large extent, above the primitive beliefs of his people, and even went so far in one of the councils as to advise making known to the whites the situation of the great copper deposits, although these were regarded by the Indians as sacred. A favorite scheme which he advanced and vigorously advocated, but without effect, was to have the United States set apart a special reservation for the half-breeds. In addition to the treaties mentioned Shingabawassin signed the treaty of Sault Ste Marie, June 11, 1820. He died between 1828 and 1837, and was succeeded as chief of the Crane gens by his son Kabay Noden. Consult Schoolcraft, Pers. Mem., 1851; McKenney and Hall, Ind. Tribes, 1, 1854; Warren, Hist. Ojebway, 1885.

Sassaba. A minor Chippewa chief of the Crane gens, who first appears in history as a member of Tecumseh’s forces at the battle of the Thames, Canada, Oct. 5, 1813, in which his brother, to whom he seems to have been greatly attached, was killed while fighting by his side. This incident embittered Sassaba against the Americans during the remainder of his life. When Lewis Cass visited Sault Ste Marie, Mich., in 1820, to negotiate a treaty with the Chippewa for purchasing a small tract of land, Sassaba, who was one of the chiefs assembled on this occasion, not only manifested his bitter animosity toward the United States authorities, but displayed his eccentric character as well. During the council he hoisted the British flag over his tent, which was torn down by Gen. Cass in person. On this occasion he was thus dressed: “Beginning at the top an eagle’s feather, bear’s grease, vermilion and indigo, a red British military coat with two enormous epaulets, a large British silver medal, breech-clout, leggings, and moccasins.” He arose in council and remarked gruffly that the Chippewa did not wish to sell their land; and refusing the pipe, kicked over the presents that had been placed before him, and rushed from the tent under its side. He refused to sign the treaty (Wis. Hist. Soc. Coll, v, 414-15, 1868).

On Sept. 25, 1822, Sassaba and his wife and child were drowned at Sault Ste Marie. He had been drinking heavily at Point aux Pins, 6 miles above the rapids, and was intoxicated during the trip. According to Schoolcraft (Pers. Mem., 119, 1851) he would often walk through the village where he resided, divested of every particle of clothing except a large gray wolf’s skin, which he had drawn over his body in such manner as to let the tail dangle behind. From this habit the name Myeengun (‘wolf’) was sometimes applied to him. He was also known as The Count.

Handbook of American Indians, 1906