For your consideration is this late, 20th century Great Lakes / Northeastern Woodlands Ojibwe tribe birch wood bow loom. The Ojibwe people moved westward from the Atlantic Coast roughly 1,500 years ago. They travelled in small groups, following the Great Lakes. According to Ojibwe oral history, a series of prophecies prompted their migration to the Minnesota region around 900 CE. The Ojibwe are well-known for their birchbark canoes, birchbark scrolls, copper mining and trading, and wild rice and maple syrup production. Today, the Ojibwe people inhabit in the Canadian provinces of Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, as well as the U.S. states of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana. This bow loom shows carefully cleaned, dyed and untrimmed porcupine quills woven into two parallel zigzagging lines. Natural dyes from plants were used before the introduction of commercial aniline dyes in the late 19th century. Once the quills had been prepped, they need to be flattened and moistened to make them pliable for weaving. The two zigzagged lines are carefully crafted with one showing colors of red with a yellow line going through the middle, while the other shows a blue color with the same yellow line cutting through the middle of the blue colors. Through the center of the piece is a blue line. One end is held onto the loom by numerous strings, while the other side shows a rawhide patch connected to the quill work and looped around the loom. On the loom's handle is a piece of antler secured by a screw. The piece shows good condition overall with no wear present and no signs of major damage. The loom measures 15 1/4" L x 2 1/2" W x 5 1/4" H and weighs under 6 ounces.