Although most history books, regard the beginning of Canadian history from the arrival of European Settlers on “Turtle Island”, or Canada, this is incorrect in the eye of the Anishnaabe; a large First Nations group that resided in Canada long before Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River and claimed the island. The historical experience of the Anishinaabe/ Ojibwe tribe and its cultural influence, best represented in a timeline perspective that emphasizes the significant events that had a role in shaping the Ojibwe culture. The starting point of the Ojibwe history cannot be placed on a timeline; it dates back to a time before people recorded information. For this reason, Ojibwe is considered to have an oral history, in that information …show more content…
The creation of the Ojibwe tribe occurred sometime within the migration from the East Coast, to what is now called the Great Lakes region. They migrated because their spiritual divinities predicted “that a light-skinned race of men would come to this land and that there would be great disruptions to the way [life was] lived” (Ojibwe History, 2006) and it would be best to leave. Around 1534 European traders and missionaries found the tribe living on the shores of the Great Lakes, close to what is called Sault Ste. Marie. The Ojibwe adapted to the new world order via exchanging fur, for other goods and services, this continued until early 17th century. In 1603, Samuel de Champlain came to Canada. He and the French authorities developed the fur trading system where the native people had to travel all the way to the Quebec region to trade their furs for regulated quantities of sewing goods, cooking pots, clothing and knives. (Ojibwe History, 2006). The trade agreement ran relatively smoothly until 1611, which Champlain hired a man named Etienne Brule, to explore the land and find new opportunities for trade for the …show more content…
(Ojibwe History, 2006). Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the fur trade was stable, but then it began to die out. The expansion of the fur trade and the establishment of the Hudson’s Bay Company caused Ojibwe to dispersed into new areas as temporary trader-hunters, later as permanent residents. The tribe dispersed across the continent, and the Fur Trade had ended. By the latter part of the 19th century, the American government was brutally coercing First Nation tribes from their traditional territories. The Ojibwe were “overpowered by numbers and technology, many of Ojibwa were forced to settled onto the reservations that exist today” (Ojibwe History, 2006). Nearly a decade later “in 1977, The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples outlines the principles by which Canada’s First Nations and Canadian governments and institutions would restructure their relationship into a fairer and more equal partnership” (Suderman, 2008). The historical experience of the Ojibwe emphasize the impact fur trade had on Ojibwe life. Manufactured materials replaced traditional trade items and certain natural resources became