The Chippewa, like all Anishinaabe peoples were extremely creative with oration and expressed it significantly through Poetry and Song.
As a result of a culture valuing this art form for millennia, it is common to find modern Chippewa naturally inclined to poetry and music.
One of the most famous Chippewa poets was historical War Chief Waubojeeg, (son of Chief Mamongazeda).
He created “Waubojeeg’s Battle Song”, which his son-in-law John Johnston translated into English:
“On that day when our heroes lay low, lay low,
On that day when our heroes lay low
I fought by their side, and thought, ere I died,
Just vengeance to take on the foe,
Just vengeance to take on the foe.
On that day, when our chieftains lay dead, lay dead,
On that day, when our chieftains lay dead,
I fought hand to hand at the head of my band,
And here on my breast have I bled, have I bled,
And here on my breast have I bled.
Our chiefs shall return no more, no more,
Our chiefs shall return no more –
Nor their brethren of war, who can show scar for scar,
Like women their fates shall deplore, deplore,
Like women their fates shall deplore.
Five winters in hunting we’ll spend, we’ll spend,
Five winters in hunting we’ll spend,
Till our youth, grown to men, we’ll to the war lead again,
And our days like our fathers’ will end, will end,
And our days like our fathers’ will end.
In the early 1900s, American ethnologist Frances Densmore undertook almost 80 research trips to Indian reservations of various tribes in order to archive what most felt was the death of the Native culture in the United States.
With the help of interpreters, she recorded over 2500 Indians songs.
In 1917 Densmore released an archive of poetry from the Chippewa and Sioux.
Excerpts from Densmores Chippewa Poetry Collection:
Read: 1917 Poems of the Chippewa and Sioux by Frances Densmore
