People Who Trade: the Ottawa

We've already met two of their leaders, Pontiac and Egushawa, so today we'll take a closer look at the people whose name is most familiar to North Americans as the capitol city of Canada.

The Ottawa are an Algonquian-speaking Eastern Woodlands people closely related to the Ojibwe and the Potawatomi.  Like those two groups, they refer to themselves as Ashinaabe, or Original People.  Other Algonquian speakers refer to them as Adaawe or a cognate term meaning "those who barter or trade".  Their ancient homeland was along the East Coast, though by the time White men encountered them they were living on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shore of Lake Huron, and the Bruce Peninsula in present-day Ontario.  They were known among other tribes of the area as well as French explorers and missionaries for being traders of Native commodities such as cornmeal, sunflower oil, furs and skins, rugs and mats, tobacco and medicinal herbs.  Incidentally, two traders prominent in the Great Lakes area during our time period, Madeleine LaFramboise and Petosegay, were mixed race Ottawa in origin.

Ottawa origin stories indicate that the Ashinaabe came from the East Coast to what is now the Detroit area and split into the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Ottawa.  Archeology finds some links between the Hopewell culture and all three groups.  The Ashinaabe formed the Council of Three Fires, defending themselves against both Iroquois and Sioan neighbors.  Like many Algonquian tribes, the Ottawa divided themselves into several different loosely affiliated bands.  A Jesuit missionary in 1675 recoded members of three bands living together in one village.  They became important players in the 17th century beaver trade.  As usual during this time period, war and disease took their toll and the Ottawa moved into what is now Michigan and down into Ohio, crowding in with other displaced tribes.  Pontiac was likely born near what is now Defiance, Ohio.

During the French and Indian War (1755-1762), the Ottawa sided with the French.  After the French were defeated, the Ottawa joined other tribes who were dissatisfied with British policies regarding trade goods and the sale of arms, munition and alcohol to the Natives.  Though Pontiac was an important leader and front man for the rebellion that bears his name (1764), there were other leaders from other tribes, such as Guyasuta of the Seneca, whom we've come across.  Other tribes did not join with the Ottawa-Seneca faction and operated independently.  The British ultimately put down the rebellion(s) after a fierce struggle and the Ottawa had to find ways to work with them.  During the Revolutionary War, Egushawa, discussed in a previous post, led Ottawa warriors on behalf of the British in the American Revolutionary War.  He and his warriors were also part of the Western Confederacy of tribes and took part in the Northwest Indian War (1785-1795). 

Under the Treaty of Greenville (1795), the Ottawa ceded their claims to Ohio except for the Northwestern portion, which was the range of the Detroit Ottawa.   They also ceded Southeastern Michigan, along with several other tribes who lived in that area.  The various bands then moved into upper Michigan and Canada.  They were given two reservations, one at Blanchard's Creek and another at the Little Anglaize River, but with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, they were increasingly under pressure to remove to the West.  Bands from Blanchard's Creek, Little Anglaize, Roche de Boeuf and Wolf Rapids moved to new territory in Kansas.  Today, the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma represents the Ottawa in the United States.  There are recognized First Nations bands of Ottawa on reserves in Canada.