A prophecy of each of these seven periods were then called a 'fire'. The remaining seven prophets appeared before and were recorded by the Anishinaabeg. According to oral tradition, the Mi'kmaq Nation heard the first Prophet. Originally, the prophecies were given by eight prophets in seven different time periods. William Commanda, an Algonquin elder and former chief of the Kitigàn-zìbì Anishinàbeg First Nation, was the wampum belt keeper for the seven fires prophecy. The Seven fires prophecy was originally taught among the practitioners of Midewiwin. Consequently, with the growth of the Pan-Indian Movement in the 1960s and the 1970s, concepts of the Seven fires prophecy merged with other similar prophetical teaching found among Indigenous peoples of North America forming a unified environmental, political, and socio-economic voice towards Canada and the United States.

However, the last half of the prophecy appears to apply to all peoples in contact with the Anishinaabeg.

Originally, the prophecy and the Ojibwa migration story were closely linked.

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