Chippewa

Chippewa, river, United States

Chippewa (chĭp`əwô', –wä'), river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, rising in several forks in the lake region of N Wis. and flowing SW to the Mississippi, which it enters at the foot of Lake Pepin. Eau Claire and Chippewa Falls are on its banks. The river was once important in the lumbering industry.

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Chippewa, indigenous people of North America

Chippewa: see Ojibwa.

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Ojibwa

 or Chippewa

North American Plains Indian people living mostly in southern Canada and the north-central U.S. Ojibwa is one of the Algonquian languages. The people's name, spelled Ojibwe in Canada and given as Chippewa in many official U.S. documents, is derived from an Algonquian word ojib-ubway, meaning “puckering,” probably referring to a type of moccasin. They call themselves Anishinaabe, meaning “original people.” They formerly inhabited a region north of the Great Lakes but during the 17th–18th centuries moved west to what is now northern Minnesota. Each Ojibwa tribe was divided into migratory bands. In the autumn, bands separated into family units for hunting; in summer, families gathered at fishing sites. They grew corn and collected wild rice. The Midewiwin, or Grand Medicine Society, was the major Ojibwa religious organization. The Ojibwa were one of the largest Native American groups in North America in the early 21st century, numbering some 175,000 individuals in the U.S. and Canada. They are closely related to the Ottawa and Potawatomi.