The Great Migration of the Anishinaabe

The Great Migration is one of the most significant events in Anishinaabe history. According to oral tradition, the Anishinaabe people originally lived along the Atlantic coast. A prophecy told them to follow the miigis shell — a sacred cowrie shell — westward until they found the land where food grows on water.

Over several centuries, the people moved westward in stages, establishing communities along the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes, and ultimately arriving at the wild rice beds of what is now Minnesota and Ontario. The journey is recorded in the scrolls of the Midewiwin (Grand Medicine Society).

This migration shaped the geography, alliances, and cultural identity of the Anishinaabe nations. The wild rice (manoomin) that they found growing on water fulfilled the prophecy and remains a sacred food to this day.