Impacts of Globalization on the Culture

Overview of Past Globalization

During the 1600s one of the first contacts with Europeans had occurred with the Ojibwe people. The people that the Ojibwe had come in contact where of the French Jesuits of 1640. The French Jesuits are a male religious congregation of the Catholic Church, where the members were known as Jesuits. The French Jesuits had sent messages back to France to alert traders to come to Canada. Coureur des bois were of the traders to come and they were also known as the runner of the woods, who had ventured into areas of the Ojibwe people. The coureur des bois had established many friendships with the Ojibwe people, which had led to the result of trade occurring. The French having received fur and pelt, the Ojibwe people had acculturated guns and weapons from the French, which they had taken by choice, resulting in the globalization of the time. Other First Nation tribes were trying to preserve their traditional methods, and had rejected the trade between the Europeans. Many other European goods traded by the French were traded with the Ojibwe people, which had led the Ojibwe people to dominate their traditional enemies of other regions, such as the Fox and Lakota to their west and east. The result of globalization with the Ojibwe people was more critical than mainly any other tribes of the First Nations. Voyageurs coming from Europe had wanted to trade more fur with the Ojibwe people which the Ojibwe people in return had received many more goods from them.

Political Globalization

During the 1800s, the Ojibwe people were mainly at wars with tribes nearby them. A main enemy was the Sioux, who were a First Nation’s tribe in areas of Manitoba, beside the Ojibwe. Due to the Ojibwe people having made good relationships with the French and accomodating them, the Ojibwe people had obtained various weapons and firearms to drive out the Sioux people. Through this advantage the Ojibwe had taken places of various locations. These locations include present day Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and entire shores of Lake Superior, which had led to these areas being known as the Plains Ojibwe or Saulteaux. The expansion had led to globalization of the Ojibwe people in the areas, and other tribes having to make decisions on the Ojibwe peoples actions. As time progressed, the Ojibwe had allied with the French, and had therefore assisted in French wars, such as the “French and Indian War” and against the British in the “War of 1812”. The United States government at the time had decided to take action as well, and had created movements to remove all of the Ojibwe to the west of Minnesota. Tragedies and several deaths had occurred, and some families were taken to Kansas, which is still set to this day. The European government at the time was concerned about the Ojibwe people and had wanted to integrate and assimilate them into the European society. A lot of the Ojibwe people were assimilated into European culture, through residential schools. Residential schools had tried to integrate the Ojibwe and many other Aboriginal tribes into adopting a culture of those which the Europeans have. However Residential schools had made many problems, leading to the society of the current day. Many of the Ojibwe people have lost their cultural identity with one another. and have also lost much of their language leading towards effects in their individual and cultural identity. Residential schools has also led to the marginalization of Ojibwe people in the current day society, as they are generally looked down upon.

Economic Globalization

Originally the Ojibwe had been trading furs and maple sugar with the Huron, near Lake Huron for maize and tobacco. During the 1600s when the French coureur de bois, voyageurs and other French traders had come to trade with the Ojibwe, they were primarily interested in trading one specific item, which was beaver pelts/fur. The Ojibwe being a First Nations tribe, with excellent hunting traits, had traded the beaver pelts with the French, which had ultimately led to the era of fur trading. The trade with the French and British had led to an impact on the identities of the Ojibwe, as they had originally been trading with nearby allies such as the Huron, and trading with the French and European had led to the globalization with the Europeans. As a result homogenization had occurred, because Europeans had traded with and been to nearly most of the world at the current time, and had then shared a lot of their knowledge with the Ojibwe, which was also ultimately positive for the Ojibwe. However, In the current day world the Ojibwe are being mainly challenged, by having their land occupied by the government for the needs of finite resources. In the end it causes damage to the environment and pollution to occur, which is something that the Ojibwe people will be concerned about, as they have connections to the land around them.

Social Globalization

The Ojibwe people in the past didn't have much of a social globalization. They had only communicated with the European people through speech and letters. This had allowed for trade to be more efficient at its time, but however things had started to change. In the current world the mass media mainly controls the social area of globalization. The internet and satellite television has influenced the audience in creating a marginalized look towards the Ojibwe people and how they express their identity. The homogenization of the world is also creating effects on how the whole world can view people of a certain area and how they can feel about it. Certainly, Aboriginal people can create their own media stations, to counter the mass media and what it displays. The APTN (Aboriginal Peoples Television Network) is a news channel which expresses the identity of Aborginal people, which the Ojibwe are nonetheless from. This allows for a more positive effect on the Ojibwe people, and allows for them to express their identity in more meaningful ways through social media. Ultimately it allows for the affirmation of identity for the Ojibwe people and allows them to be able to integrate into the current day society.

Opportunities of Globalization

Positive Impacts on the Culture's Identity

The acculturation of weapons from the French and British had led to ways for the Ojibwe to conquer nearby rivals and enemies.
The trade had allowed the Ojibwe people to experience new technologies at the time.
Trade had allowed for knowledge and ideas to be shared, amongst one another, which had resulted in homogenization of the 2 cultures at the time, which had lead people to further share the knowledge and ideas, with other people.

Negative Impacts on the Culture's Identity

Over the years of European trade, the Europeans had wanted to assimilate the Ojibwe people into a European background, and to accomplish this residential schools were made, which had resulted in loss of cultural identity for the Ojibwe people. Residential schools had led to various difficulties for the Ojibwe people such as abuses and harassments. Not only the Ojibwe, but various other Aboriginal tribes had been taken to residential schools as well.

In the current day world, the Ojibwe have lost right to their own land through globalization. The U.S federal land has not given ownership to the inherited land of the Ojibwe till this day, in areas of Minnesota and Dakota.

Challenges Presented by Globalization in the Current Day Society

A main challenge of globalization that occurred in the past with the Ojibwe people, is the lack of cultural identity. The number of people that speak Ojibwemowin has decreased to almost 35,000 from its original 220,000 which has had a big impact on the cultural identity and culture of the Ojibwe people. The Ojibwe people have also lost access to the lands of Minnesota and Dakota, in which they had originally inhabited, for the past centuries. The group of Ojibwe people have also been marginalized in the current day society. This leads to a tougher time for the Ojibwe people to have their rights concerned on the media or through press talk. Accommodation and integration has been attempted with the Ojibwe people, but has a tougher time with getting the positive results which disallows Ojibwe people to express their identity intuitevely.