Environmental Change
Ojibwe culture places a strong value in their connection with the natural world and a respect for the environment. In Ojibwe territory, the environment has been hugely altered by outsiders through climate change, land loss, the endangerment of important animals and the addition of invasive species. This has had a large effect on the resources available for crafting and the ways of aquiring themways.
Porcupines are an important animal to the Ojibwe and have a legend of why they have quills. Porcupine quills are an irreplaceable aspect of quillwork, which is such a valuble aspect of many Ojibwe crafts. Porcupines are now endangered and very difficult to come across naturally. The porcupines that are used in today's quillwork are almost always roadkill that are then donated to artists.(Walker-Keishik).
White birch trees are also very important to many Ojibwe traditions, and their bark is heavily utilized in crafting. With great respect for the trees wellbeing, the bark is collected every year in the spring when the bark can be easily peeled from the tree and does no harm(Nyholm). Due to climate change, this is no longer occurring in the same way and collection of bark without causing harm to the tree is much more difficult. The bronze birch borer is an invasive beetle that has done great harm to white birch populations across the midwest(Williamson).
The environmnetal impacts of climate change are detrimetal to the future of many Ojibwe crafting practices.