The people in Love Medicine are from the Chippewa tribe. The Chippewa tribe is also referred to as the Ojibwe tribe. I looked up what the word Chippewa means on Wikipedia and this is what I found:
The autonym for this group of Anishinaabeg is "Ojibwe" (plural: Ojibweg). This name is also commonly anglicized as "Ojibwa" or "Ojibway." The name "Chippewa" is an alternative anglicization. Although many variations exist in literature, "Chippewa" is more common in the United States and "Ojibwa" predominates in Canada, but both terms exist in both countries. However, in many Ojibwe communities throughout Canada and the U.S., the more generalized name "Anishinaabe(-g)" is becoming more common. The exact meaning of the name "Ojibwe" is not known; the most common explanations on the name derivations are:

* from ojiibwabwe (/o/ + /jiibw/ + /abwe/), meaning "those who cook\roast until it puckers", referring to their fire-curing of moccasin seams to make them water-proof[3], though some sources instead say this was a method of torture the Ojibwe implemented upon their enemies.[4]
* from ozhibii'iwe (/o/ + /zhibii'/ + /iwe/), meaning "those who keep records [of a Vision]", referring to their form of pictorial writing, and pictographs used in Midewiwin rites[5]
* from ojiibwe (/o/ + /jiib/ + /we/), meaning "those who speak-stiffly"\"those who stammer", referring to how the Ojibwe sounded to the Cree