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Ottawa Indians |
| Category: | People | |
| Sub Category: | First Nations People of Canada |
| Place: | |
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| State/Country: | Ontario, Canada |
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| Alternative Names: | Odawa
Odaawa
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| Summary Information: | |
| The Ottawa Indians originally lived on the northern shores of Lake Huron and were known as accomplished traders. The Ottawa people are considered to be an offshoot of the Ojibwe tribe, as they speak the same language. However, the Ottawa people have always maintained their own political independence. Like the Ojibwe, however, the Ottawa usually referred to themselves as Anishinaabe (plural: Anishinabek), meaning 'original people.' There are 15,000 Ottawas in Michigan, Ontario, and Oklahoma today, most of whom live on reservations of their traditional lands. |
| Detailed Information: | |
| 'The Ojibwe and Ottawa Indians are members of a longstanding alliance also including the Potawatomi tribe. Called the Council of Three Fires, this alliance was a powerful one which clashed with the mighty Iroquois Confederacy and the Sioux. The Ottawa were staunch allies of the French, and it was an Ottawa chief, Pontiac, who led a devastating Indian rebellion against the British after they took over the French colonies in 1763. This rebellion ultimately failed, however, and despite making peace, Pontiac was assassinated by an Illinois Indian the Ottawas suspected of being a British mercenary, sparking the near-destruction of the Illinois at the hands of the angry Three Fires warriors.' Native Languages of the Americas, 'Ottawa Indians': http://www.native-languages.org/ottawa.htm (at 24 June 2005). | |
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