to 1600 A.D.) to convince archaeologists that ancestors of the present day Chippewa have lived in the Great Lakes region for several centuries. Early Woodland cultures, which date back to at least 500 B.C., were similar enough to Late Woodland cultures (800 A.D. It is most difficult to speak authoritatively about the Pre-contact period scant archaeological evidence and the ‘oral tradition’ are the only sources of knowledge for the time up to about 1600 A.D.
Historians generally divide Chippewa history into four periods: Pre-contact, French, English, and U.S.
