Art & Leisure
The Ojibwe have a very unique sense of art and give their art many uses. Ojibwe artists are known for their beautiful beadwork, particularly floral design. They also find porcupine quill work employing a floral design an important technique in the decoration of buckskin clothing and leather bags. Like the Eastern American Indians, the Ojibwe also crafted “wampum” out of purple and white shell beads. These were later traded as a kind of currency, but were also culturally important. The designs and pictures on wampum belts often told a story or represented a person’s family. But due to living in a heavily forested area with plenty of birch trees, the Ojibwe used birch bark for almost everything. They crafted utensils, storage containers, and most importantly canoes, from birch bark. It was also used to cover the roofs of their “wigwams” (dome-roofed homes), since birch bark is water proof and would not let rain inside.
Storytelling is very important to Ojibwe culture, since many traditional Ojibwe stories teach important lessons to children. Others were just for fun. Here is one legend about how dogs came to the Ojibwa tribe ( Click the link below ). Ojibwe music is also very individualistic and important to the Ojibwe culture. Ojibwe instruments include: Tambourines, water drums, rattles and flutes. Songs were obtained from dreams and had magical purposes. These include ensuring success in hunting and economic activities, invoking guardian spirits and curing sicknesses.
The Ojibwe are also very intelligent and did much to further increase their knowledge. They developed a form of pictional writing that they used in religious rites and recorded on birch bark scrolls. The many complex pictures on the sacred rolls communicate much about their historical, geometrical and mathematical knowledge. Their use of petroforms, petroglyphs and pictographs was common. Their petroforms and medicine wheels teach concepts of the four directions, astronomical observations about seasons and were used as memorizing tools for certain stories and beliefs.
The Ojibwa used petroglyphs and petroforms commonly
Most Ojibwe lived near the Great lakes with a short growing season and poor soil. They were hunter-gathers who harvested wild rice and maple sugar. The Ojibwe had no salt to preserve their foods and generally mixed everything with maple sugar as seasoning. The Ojibwe were skilled hunters and trappers, which were useful skills in war and fur trade. They were also very dependent on fishing, especially for sturgeon, which consisted much of their diets. Dogs were the only domestic animal available for the Ojibwe, and their favourite dish served at feasts.
In all, the Ojibwe had a great taste in art and music and had many useful ways to spend their leisure time.