The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an
Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the
Eastern Woodlands
The Eastern Woodlands is a cultural area of the indigenous people of North America. The Eastern Woodlands extended roughly from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern Great Plains, and from the Great Lakes region to the Gulf of Mexico, which is now p ...
region, commonly known as the northeastern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and southeastern
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. They have long had territory that crosses the current border between the two countries, and they are federally recognized as
Native American tribes in the United States and have numerous recognized
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
bands in Canada. They are one of the
Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
g, related to but distinct from the
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
and
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...
peoples.
After migrating from the East Coast in ancient times, they settled on
Manitoulin Island
Manitoulin Island is an island in Lake Huron, located within the borders of the Canadian province of Ontario, in the bioregion known as Laurentia. With an area of , it is the largest lake island in the world, large enough that it has over 100 ...
, near the northern shores of
Lake Huron
Lake Huron ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrology, Hydrologically, it comprises the easterly portion of Lake Michigan–Huron, having the same surface elevation as Lake Michigan, to which it is connected by the , Strait ...
, and the
Bruce Peninsula
The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Islan ...
in the present-day province of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. They considered this their original homeland. After the 17th century, they also settled along the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
, and in the present-day states of
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
and Wisconsin, as well as through the Midwest south of the Great Lakes in what became the United States. In the 21st century, there are approximately 15,000 Odawa living in Ontario, and Michigan and
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
(former
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
, United States).
The
Ottawa dialect is part of the
Algonquian language family
The Algonquian languages ( or ; also Algonkian) are a subfamily of indigenous American languages that include most languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically simi ...
. This large family has numerous smaller tribal groups or "bands," commonly called a "Tribe" in the United States and "First Nation" in Canada. Their language is considered a divergent dialect of
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains.
According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
, characterized by frequent
syncope.
["Odawa", ''Canadian Oxford Dictionary'']
Tribe name
''Odawaa'' (syncoped as ''Daawaa'', is believed to be derived from the Anishinaabe word ''adaawe'', meaning "to trade," or "to buy and sell"); this term is common to the
Cree
The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
,
Algonquin
Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to:
Languages and peoples
*Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia
**Algonquin la ...
,
Nipissing,
Innu
The Innu / Ilnu ("man", "person") or Innut / Innuat / Ilnuatsh ("people"), formerly called Montagnais from the French colonial period ( French for "mountain people", English pronunciation: ), are the Indigenous inhabitants of territory in the ...
, Odawa, and Ojibwe. The
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...
spelling of ''Odawa'' and the English derivative "Ottawa" are also common. The
Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
word for "Those men who trade, or buy and sell" is ''Wadaawewinini(wag).'' Fr.
Frederic Baraga
Irenaeus Frederic Baraga (June 29, 1797 – January 19, 1868; sl, Irenej Friderik Baraga) was a Slovenian Roman Catholic missionary to the United States and a grammarian by and author of Christian poetry and hymns in Native American langu ...
, a Catholic missionary in Michigan, transliterated this and recorded it in his ''
A Dictionary of the Otchipwe Language
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'' as ''"Watawawininiwok,"'' noting that it meant "men of the bulrushes", associated with the many bulrushes in the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
. But, this recorded meaning is more appropriately associated with the ''Matàwackariniwak,'' a historical
Algonquin
Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to:
Languages and peoples
*Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia
**Algonquin la ...
band who lived along the Ottawa River. The only American tribe that is Odawa are the
Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians, the rest are considered Ottawa.
Their neighbors applied the "Trader" name to the Odawa because in early traditional times, and also during the early European contact period, they were noted as intertribal traders and barterers. The Odawa were described as having dealt "chiefly in
cornmeal
Cornmeal is a meal (coarse flour) or a cell membrane ground from dried corn. It is a common staple food, and is ground to coarse, medium, and fine consistencies, but not as fine as wheat flour can be.Herbst, Sharon, ''Food Lover's Companion'', ...
,
sunflower oil
Sunflower oil is the non-volatile oil pressed from the seeds of the sunflower (''Helianthus annuus''). Sunflower oil is commonly used in food as a frying oil, and in cosmetic formulations as an emollient.
Sunflower oil is primarily composed ...
,
fur
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
s and
skin
Skin is the layer of usually soft, flexible outer tissue covering the body of a vertebrate animal, with three main functions: protection, regulation, and sensation.
Other cuticle, animal coverings, such as the arthropod exoskeleton, have diffe ...
s,
rugs
Rug or RUG may refer to:
* Rug, or carpet, a textile floor covering
* Rug, slang for a toupée
* Ghent University (''Rijksunversiteit Gent'', or RUG)
* Really Useful Group, or RUG, a company set up by Andrew Lloyd Webber
* Rugby railway station, N ...
and
mats,
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
, and medicinal
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
s and
herb
In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...
s."
[Burton, Clarence M. (ed.) (1922). ''The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701–1922'', p. 49. The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company.]
The Odawa name in its English transcription is the source of the place names of
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, and the
Ottawa River
The Ottawa River (french: Rivière des Outaouais, Algonquin: ''Kichi-Sìbì/Kitchissippi'') is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word 'to trade', as it was the major trade route of Eastern ...
. The Odawa home territory at the time of early European contact, but not their trading zone, was well to the west of the city and river named after them.
Ottawa, Ohio
Ottawa is a village and the county seat of Putnam County, Ohio, United States. It is located 51 miles southwest of Toledo, a major port city on the Maumee River. The population was 4,460 at the 2010 census.
History
The region was long inhabi ...
, is the county seat of
Putnam County, developed at the site of the last Ottawa reservation in Ohio.
Language
The Odawa dialect is considered one of several divergent dialects of the
Ojibwe language
Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian lan ...
group, noted for its frequent
syncope. In the Odawa language, the general language group is known as ''Nishnabemwin'', while the Odawa language is called ''Daawaamwin''. Of the estimated 5,000 ethnic Odawa and additional 10,000 people with some Odawa ancestry, in the early 21st century an estimated 500 people in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
speak this language. The
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma is one of four federally recognized Native American tribes of Odawa people in the United States. Its Algonquian-speaking ancestors had migrated gradually from the Atlantic coast and Great Lakes areas, reaching what ar ...
has three fluent speakers.
Early history
Oral histories and early recorded histories
According to Anishinaabeg tradition, and from recordings in
Wiigwaasabak
''Wiigwaasabak'' (in Anishinaabe syllabics: , plural: ''wiigwaasabakoon'' ) are birch bark scrolls, on which the Ojibwa (Anishinaabe) people of North America wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes, also known as a "written language." ...
(birch bark scrolls), the Odawa people came from the eastern areas of North America, or
Turtle Island, and from a region called
Dawnland along the East Coast (where there are numerous Algonquian-language peoples). Directed by the ''miigis'' (luminescent) beings, the Anishinaabe peoples moved inland along the
Saint Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
. At the "Third Stopping Place" near what is now
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, Michigan, the southern group of Anishinaabeg divided into three groups, the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi.
There is
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
evidence that the
Saugeen complex people, a
Hopewell-influenced group who were located on the
Bruce Peninsula
The Bruce Peninsula is a peninsula in Ontario, Canada, that divides Georgian Bay of Lake Huron from the lake's main basin. The peninsula extends roughly northwestwards from the rest of Southwestern Ontario, pointing towards Manitoulin Islan ...
during the Middle Woodland period, may have evolved into the Odawa people. The Hopewell tradition was a widely extended trading network operating from about 200BCE to 500 CE. Some of these peoples constructed earthwork
mounds
A mound is an artificial heap or pile, especially of earth, rocks, or sand.
Mound and Mounds may also refer to:
Places
* Mound, Louisiana, United States
* Mound, Minnesota, United States
* Mound, Texas, United States
* Mound, West Virginia
* Moun ...
for burials, a practice that ended about 250 CE.
The Saugeen mounds have not been excavated.
The Odawa, together with the Ojibwe and Potawatomi, were part of a long-term tribal alliance called the
Council of Three Fires
The Council of Three Fires (in oj, label=Anishinaabe, Niswi-mishkodewinan, also known as the People of the Three Fires; the Three Fires Confederacy; or the United Nations of Chippewa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi Indians) is a long-standing Anishina ...
, which fought the
Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...
and the
Dakota people
The Dakota (pronounced , Dakota language: ''Dakȟóta/Dakhóta'') are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into ...
. In 1615 French explorer
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...
met 300 men of a nation which, he said, "we call ''les cheueux releuez''" (modern French: ''cheveux relevés'' (hair lifted, raised, rolled up)) near the
French River mouth. Of these, he said: "Their arms consisted only of a bow and arrows, a buckler of boiled leather and the club. They wore no breech clouts, their bodies were tattooed in many fashions and designs, their faces painted and their noses pierced."
[ In 1616, Champlain left the Huron villages and visited the "Cheueux releuez," who lived westward from the lands of the Huron Confederacy.][Frederick Webb Hodge, "Ottawa"](_blank)
''Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico,'' Vol. N-Z, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1910, pp. 167–172
The ''Jesuit Relations
''The Jesuit Relations'', also known as ''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France'', are chronicles of the Jesuit missions in New France. The works were written annually and printed beginning in 1632 and ending in 1673.
Originally written ...
'' of 1667 report three tribes living in the same town: the Odawa, the Kiskakon Odawa, and the Sinago Odawa. All three tribes spoke the same language.
Fur trade
Due to the extensive trade network maintained by the Odawa, many of the North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
n interior nations became known by the names their trading partners used for them, rather than by the nations’ own names (endonyms). For example, these exonyms include ''Winnebago'' (from ''Wiinibiigoo'') for the Ho-Chunk
The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hoocągra or Winnebago (referred to as ''Hotúŋe'' in the neighboring indigenous Iowa-Otoe language), are a Siouan-speaking Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iow ...
, and Sioux
The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
(from ''Naadawensiw'') for the Dakota. From the start of the colony of New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
, the Odawa became so important to the French and Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
s in fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
that before 1670, colonists in Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
(then called Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
) usually referred to any Algonquian speaker from the Great Lakes region as an Odawa. In their own language, the Odawa (like the Ojibwe) identified as Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
(''Neshnabek'') meaning "people."
The mostly highly prized fur was beaver. Other furs traded included deer, marten, raccoon, fox, otter, and muskrat. In exchange the Odawa received "hatchets, knives, kettles, traps, needles, fish hooks, cloth and blankets, jewelry and decorative items, and later firearms and alcohol." Up to the time of Nicolas Perrot
Nicolas Perrot (–1717), a French explorer, fur trader, and diplomat, was one of the first European men to travel in the Upper Mississippi Valley, in what is now Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Biography
Nicolas Perrot was born in France between 1641 ...
, the Odawa had a monopoly on all fur trade that came through Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...
, or Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie ( ') is the only city in, and county seat of, Chippewa County, Michigan, Chippewa County in the U.S. state of Michigan. With a population of 13,337 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most populated ...
. They allegedly did "their best to exploit" the tribes in those areas "who did not use the canoe, by bartering with them bits of iron and steel and worn-out European articles for extravagant quantities of furs." For example, "the Crees gave the Ottawas 'all their beaver robes for old knives, blunted awls, wretched nets and kettles used until they were past service.'"
Wars and refugees
The Odawa had disputes and warfare with other tribes, particularly over the lucrative fur trade. For example, the tribe once waged war against the Mascouten
The Mascouten (also ''Mascoutin'', ''Mathkoutench'', ''Muscoden,'' or ''Musketoon'') were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans located in the Midwest. They are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River, adjacent to ...
. In the mid-17th century the Odawa allied with other Algonquian tribes around the Great Lakes against the powerful Mohawk (of present-day New York) and their Iroquois allies in the Beaver Wars
The Beaver Wars ( moh, Tsianì kayonkwere), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (french: Guerres franco-iroquoises) were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout t ...
. The traditional balance of power in the region had been destroyed by the European introduction of guns and other weapons, changing economic risks and rewards. All indigenous peoples on both sides were disrupted or decimated; some groups, such as the Iroquoian Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
, were exterminated as tribes. By the mid-17th century, the tribes were more severely affected by disease than warfare. Lacking acquired immunity
Immunity may refer to:
Medicine
* Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease
* ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press
Biology
* Immune system
Engineering
* Radiofrequence immunity desc ...
to the new European infectious diseases, they suffered epidemics with high fatalities.
In 1701 the French colonists built Fort Detroit
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a fort established on the north bank of the Detroit River by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and the Italian Alphonse de Tonty in 1701. In the 18th century, Fre ...
and established a trading post. Many Odawa moved there from their traditional homeland of Manitoulin Island near the Bruce Peninsula, and Wyandot (Huron) also moved near the post. Some Odawa had already settled across northern Michigan in the Lower Peninsula, and more bands established villages around and south of Detroit. Their area extended into present-day Ohio.
With movements of the tribes in relation to warfare and colonial encroachment, the tribes settled in roughly the following pattern:
"Sandwiched between the French, in the north and west, and the English, in the south and east, the Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
settled in present-day Indiana and western Ohio; the Ottawa settled in Northwest Ohio along the Maumee, the Auglaize, and the Blanchard rivers; the Wyandot
Wyandot may refer to:
Native American ethnography
* Wyandot people, also known as the Huron
* Wyandot language
* Wyandot religion
Places
* Wyandot, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* Wyandot County, Ohio
* Camp Wyandot, a Camp Fire Boys and ...
settled in Central Ohio; the Shawnee
The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...
in Southwest Ohio; and the Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
(Lenape) in Southeast and Eastern Ohio."[Helen Hornbeck Tanner, ed., ''Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History'' (University of Oklahoma Press: Norman, 1986) pp. 3, 58–59; and R. Douglas Hurt, ''The Ohio Frontier: Crucible of the Old Northwest, 1720–1830'' (Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 1998), pp. 8–12.]
In the mid-18th century, the Odawa allied with their French trading partners against the British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
in the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
, known as the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
in the North American colonies. They made raids against Anglo-American colonists. The Odawa chief Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
has historically been reported to have been born at the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers, where modern Defiance, Ohio
Defiance is a city in and the county seat of Defiance County, Ohio, United States, about southwest of Toledo, Ohio, Toledo and northeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in Ohio's northwestern corner. The population was 16,494 at the 2010 United State ...
, later developed. In 1763, after the British had defeated France, Pontiac led a rebellion against the British, but he was unable to prevent British colonial settlement of the region.
A decade later, Chief Egushawa Egushawa (c. 1726 – March 1796), also spelled Egouch-e-ouay, Agushaway, Agashawa, Gushgushagwa, Negushwa, and many other variants, was a war chief and principal political chief of the Ottawa tribe of North American Indians. His name is loosel ...
(also spelled Agushawa), who had a village at the mouth of the Maumee River on Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
where Toledo later developed, led the Odawa as an ally of the British in the American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
. He hoped to build on their support to exclude the European-American colonists from his territory in northwest Ohio and southern Michigan.[Barnes, Celia (2003). ''Native American Power in the United States, 1783–1795'', p. 203. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. .] The defeat of the British by the United States had a far-ranging influence on British-allied Native American tribes, as many were forced to cede their land to the United States.
Following the Revolutionary War, in the 1790s, Egushawa, together with numerous members of other regional tribes, including the Wyandot and Council of Three Fires, Shawnee, Lenape, and Mingo, fought the United States in a series of battles and campaigns in what became known as the Northwest Indian War
The Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), also known by other names, was an armed conflict for control of the Northwest Territory fought between the United States and a united group of Native American nations known today as the Northwestern ...
. The Indians hoped to repulse the European-American pioneers coming to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains, but were finally defeated. In a campaign during 1794, Anthony Wayne
Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...
built a string of forts in the upper Maumee River
The Maumee River (pronounced ) ( sjw, Hotaawathiipi; mia, Taawaawa siipiiwi) is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and ...
watershed, including Fort Defiance, across the river from the site of Pontiac's birth. While the British had encouraged this effort, they did not want to get drawn into open conflict again with the United States and withdrew from offering direct support to the Native Americans. Wayne's army defeated several hundred members of the Indian confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers
The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their British allies, against the nascent United States ...
, near the future site of Maumee, Ohio
Maumee ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Maumee River, it is about 10 miles southwest of Toledo. The population was 14,286 at the 2010 census. Maumee was declared an All-America City by the National Civic L ...
and about 11 miles upriver of present-day Toledo.
Raid on Pickawillany
In the winter of 1751–1752, Charles Langlade
Charles Michel Mouet de Langlade (9 May 1729 – after 26 July 1801)''Dictionnaire Généalogique Tanguay'' was a Great Lakes fur trader and war chief who was important in protecting French territory in North America. His mother was Ottawa and hi ...
began assembling a war party of Odawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibwe warriors who traveled to Pickawillany
"ash people"
, settlement_type = Historic Native American village
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_alt =
, image_map1 = OHMap-doton-Piqua.png
, mapsize1 = 22 ...
. They attacked the village in mid-morning on June 21, 1752, and killed thirteen Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
men and captured five English traders. Down to as few as twenty warriors the Miami tried to negotiate terms of surrender, and Langlade promised to allow the Miami men to return home if they handed over the English. The Miami only sent three of the five Englishmen. When the Englishmen reached Langlade's lines one of his men stabbed one of the Englishmen to death, scalped him and ripped his heart out and ate it in front of the Miami men. Langlade's men then seized the Miami chief Memeskia Memeskia (in Miami-Illinois: Meemeehšihkia - ′Dragonfly′, c. 1695 – June 21, 1752), known as "Old Briton" by the British and as "La Demoiselle" by the French, was an eighteenth-century Piankashaw chieftain who fought against the French in 174 ...
, and he was killed, boiled and eaten in front of his Miami men. Afterward the Odawa released the Miami women and left for Detroit with four captured Englishmen and more than $300,000 worth (in today's dollars) of trade goods. This victory over the English led to the French and Indian War
The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
and contributed to the Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754 ...
.
Treaties and removals
In 1795, under the Treaty of Greenville
The Treaty of Greenville, formally titled Treaty with the Wyandots, etc., was a 1795 treaty between the United States and indigenous nations of the Northwest Territory (now Midwestern United States), including the Wyandot and Delaware peoples, ...
, the Odawa and other members of the Western Confederacy ceded all of Ohio except the northwest area. This was part of the area controlled by the Detroit Odawa.
In 1807, the Detroit Odawa joined three other tribes, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Wyandot people
The Wyandot people, or Wyandotte and Waⁿdát, are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. The Wyandot are Iroquoian Indigenous peoples of North America who emerged as a confederacy of tribes around the north shore of Lake Ontario ...
, in signing the Treaty of Detroit
The Treaty of Detroit was a treaty between the United States and the Ottawa, Chippewa, Wyandot and Potawatomi Native American nations. The treaty was signed in Detroit, Michigan on November 17, 1807, with William Hull, governor of the Michi ...
under pressure from the United States. The agreement, between the tribes and William Hull
William Hull (June 24, 1753 – November 29, 1825) was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the American Revolutionary War and was appointed as Governor of Michigan Territory (1805–13), gaining large land cessions from several Ame ...
, representing the Michigan Territory
The Territory of Michigan was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 30, 1805, until January 26, 1837, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Michigan. Detroit w ...
, gave the United States a large portion of today's Southeastern Michigan
Southeast Michigan, also called southeastern Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan that is home to a majority of the state's businesses and industries as well as slightly over half of the state's population, most of whom are c ...
and a section of northwest Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
near the Maumee River
The Maumee River (pronounced ) ( sjw, Hotaawathiipi; mia, Taawaawa siipiiwi) is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and ...
. Many Odawa bands moved into northern Michigan. The tribes retained communal control of relatively small pockets of land in the territory of the Maumee River. Bands of Odawa occupied areas known as Roche de Boeuf, and Wolf Rapids on the upper Maumee River.
In 1817, in the first treaty involving land cessions after the War of 1812, the Ohio Odawa ceded their lands, accepting reservations at Blanchard's Creek and the Little Auglaize River (34 square miles total). These were only reserves, for which they were paid annuities for ten years. Pressure continued to build against the Odawa as European-American settlers moved into the area.
After passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States President Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, and for ...
, the US government arranged for the Odawa to cede their reserves in 1831. The four following bands eventually all removed to areas of Kansas: Blanchard's Creek, Little Auglaize, Roche de Boeuf, and Wolf Rapids bands.
Modern history
The population of the different Odawa groups has been estimated. In 1906, the Ojibwe and Odawa on Manitoulin
Manitoulin District is a district in Northeastern Ontario within the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1888 from part of the Algoma District. The district seat is in Gore Bay.
It comprises Manitoulin Island primarily, as well as a ...
and Cockburn Island were 1,497, of whom about half were Odawa. There were 197 Odawa listed as associated with the Seneca School in Oklahoma, where some Odawa had settled after the American Civil War. In 1900 in Michigan there were 5,587 scattered Ojibwe and Odawa, of whom about two-thirds are Odawa.
In the early 21st century, the total number of enrolled members of the federally recognized Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma is one of four federally recognized Native American tribes of Odawa people in the United States. Its Algonquian-speaking ancestors had migrated gradually from the Atlantic coast and Great Lakes areas, reaching what ar ...
numbers about 4,700. There are about 10,000 Odawa in the United States, with the majority in Michigan. Another several thousand live in Ontario, Canada.
There has been one major anthropological study of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians ( oj, Gichi-wiikwedong Odaawaag miina ojibweg) is a federally recognized Native American tribe located in northwest Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula. Sam McClellan is the current tribal ch ...
. Jane Willetts Ettawageshik devoted approximately two years of study in the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians community. Jane Willetts Ettawageshik recorded Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
stories speak of how the Anishinaabe
The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawatomi, ...
people related to their land, to their people, and various other means of communicating their values, outlooks and histories in and around Northern Michigan. These stories have been translated into a book "Ottawa Stories from the Springs, Anishinaabe dibaadjimowinan wodi gaa binjibaamigak wodi mookodjiwong e zhinikaadek" by Howard Webkamigad.
Known villages
The following are or were Odawa villages:
Former villages not on reserves/reservations
* Aegakotcheising
* Agushawas' Village
* Anamiewatigong
* Apontigoumy
* Machonee
* Menawzhetaunaung
* Michilimackinac
Michilimackinac ( ) is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire regio ...
* Ogontz's Village
* Saint Simon Mission
* Shabawywyagun
* Wequetong
Former reserves/reservations and their villages
By the end of the eighteenth century, the Ottawa in Ohio were concentrated in the northwest area along the Maumee River (which has its mouth at Lake Erie.) The reservations and reserves below resulted from the Treaty of Greenville (1795), and following ones. These are listed by Frederick Webb Hodge Frederick Webb Hodge (October 28, 1864 – September 28, 1956) was an American editor, anthropologist, archaeologist, and historian. Born in England, he immigrated at the age of seven with his family to Washington, DC. He was educated at America ...
in his 1910 history of ''American Indians North of Mexico.'' Also see Lee Sultzman, "Ottawa History"[Lee Sultzman, "Ottawa History"](_blank)
website
* Auglaize Reserve, Ohio – Oquanoxa's Village
* Blanchard's Fork Reserve, Ohio – Lower Tawa Town, Upper Tawa Town
* North Maumee River Reserve, Ohio – Meshkemau's Village, Wassonquet's Village, Waugau's Village
* Obidgewong Reserve, Ontario – Obijewong, Ontario (located east of Evansville, Ontario)
* Roche de Bœuf Reserve, Ohio – Nawash's Village, Tontaganie's Village
* South Maumee River Reserve, Ohio – 34-mile square reserve on the south side of the river. McCarty's Village (''"Tushquegan"'') was the principal one, located near Presque Isle. Ottokee and his band lived at the mouth of the Maumee River; he was a son of Otussa and grandson of chief Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
. His group were the last of the Odawa to remove from Ohio to Kansas in 1839.[Janet E. Rozick, "Side Cut, Farnsworth, Bend View, and Providence Metroparks", pp. 10–11 (Cited to Tanner, 48 – 51), Larry Angelo, ''The Migration of the Ottawas from 1615 to Present,'' (1997), pp. 3–6]
* Wolf Rapids Reserve, Ohio – Kinjoino's Village (''"Anpatonajowin"'' (''Aabitanagaajiwan''))
* Ottawas of Blanchard's Fork Indian Reservation, Kansas – Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
* Ottawas of Roche de Bœuf and Wolf Rapids Indian Reservation, Kansas
Current reserves/reservations and associated villages
* Grand Traverse Indian Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Michigan – Peshawbestown
* Little River Indian Reservation, Michigan – Manistee, Muskegon
Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expan ...
* Little Traverse Bay Indian Reservation, Michigan ("Wequetonsing" (''Wiikwedoonsing'')) – Charlevoix
Charlevoix ( , ) is a cultural and natural region in Quebec, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River as well as in the Laurentian Mountains area of the Canadian Shield. This dramatic landscape includes rolling terrain, fjords, headlands ...
, Cross Village
Cross Village Township is a civil township of Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 census, the township population was 281.
Communities
* Cross Village is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in the town ...
, L'Arbre Croche
L'Arbre Croche, known by the Odawa people as Waganagisi, was a large Odawa settlement in Northern Michigan. The French called it L'Arbre Croche for the large crocked tree that marked the center of the settlement and was visible for many miles. It c ...
("Waganakisi" (''Waaganaakizi'')), Middle Village, Petoskey
* M'Chigeeng 22 Indian Reserve, Ontario – M'Chigeeng (formerly known as "West Bay")
* Ottawa OTSA
The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma is one of four federally recognized Native American tribes of Odawa people
The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the E ...
, Oklahoma – Miami, Oklahoma
Miami ( ) is a city in and county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom.
This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capital of ...
* Point Grondine Indian Reserve, Ontario – Beaverstone
* Sheshegwaning 20 Indian Reserve, Ontario – Sheshegwaning
* Walpole Island 46 Indian Reserve, Ontario (''Bakejiwanong'' 'Bkejwanong'' – Foreplex, Myersville, Wallaceburg
Wallaceburg ( 2016 population 10,098) is an unincorporated community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent in Southern (Southwestern) Ontario, Canada. Originally a small settlement, it was recognized for its significant contribution to the lumber ...
, Walpole Island
Walpole Island is an island and First Nation reserve in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border between Ontario and Michigan in the United States. It is located in the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair, about by road from Winds ...
, Williamsville
* Wiikwemkoong Unceded Reserve, Ontario – Buzwah, Kaboni, Maiangowi, Murray Hill, South Bay, Two O'Clock, Wabozominissing, Wikwemikong, Wikwemikonsing
* Zhiibaahaasing 19 Indian Reserve, Ontario (formerly known as "Cockburn Island 19 Indian Reserve")
* Zhiibaahaasing 19A Indian Reserve, Ontario – Zhiibaahaasing
Governments
![Bandera Ottawa nation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Bandera_Ottawa_nation.png)
Recognized/status Odawa governments
United States:
* Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians ( oj, Gichi-wiikwedong Odaawaag miina ojibweg) is a federally recognized Native American tribe located in northwest Michigan on the Leelanau Peninsula. Sam McClellan is the current tribal ch ...
, Michigan (formerly ''Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 2'')
* Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians ( oj, Gaaching-Ziibi Daawaa Anishinaabe) is a federally recognized Native American tribe of the Odawa people in the United States. It is based in Manistee and Mason counties in northwest Michigan. It was recogn ...
, Michigan (formerly ''Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 7'')
* Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
The Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (LTBBOI, oj, Waganakising Odawa) is a federally recognized Native American tribe of Odawa. A large percentage of the more than 4000 tribal members continue to reside within the tribe's traditiona ...
, Michigan (formerly ''Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 1'')
* Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
The Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma is one of four federally recognized Native American tribes of Odawa people in the United States. Its Algonquian-speaking ancestors had migrated gradually from the Atlantic coast and Great Lakes areas, reaching what ar ...
Canada:
* M'Chigeeng First Nation
M'Chigeeng First Nation, also known as West Bay, is an Ojibwe First Nation band government in the Manitoulin District of Ontario, Canada. The total registered population as of December 2018, was 2623 people, of which their on-reserve population ...
(formerly "West Bay First Nation")
* Sheshegwaning First Nation
Sheshegwaning First Nation is an Odawa First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada. Its land base is located on the Sheshegwaning 20 reserve
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana ...
, Ontario
* Walpole Island First Nation
Walpole Island is an island and First Nation reserve in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border between Ontario and Michigan in the United States. It is located in the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair, about by road from Wind ...
, on unceded territory
Aboriginal title is a common law doctrine that the land rights of indigenous peoples to customary tenure persist after the assumption of sovereignty under settler colonialism. The requirements of proof for the recognition of aboriginal title, ...
of Walpole Island
Walpole Island is an island and First Nation reserve in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the border between Ontario and Michigan in the United States. It is located in the mouth of the St. Clair River on Lake St. Clair, about by road from Winds ...
located between Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
and Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
* Wiikwemkoong First Nation
The Wiikwemkoong First Nation is a First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Northern Ontario. The Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory (nicknamed Wiky, previously named Wikwemikong) is the First Nation reserve in the northeast of Manitoulin Island in Man ...
, located on the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Reserve, Ontario
* Zhiibaahaasing First Nation
Zhiibaahaasing First Nation (formerly Cockburn Island First Nation) is a First Nation band government in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is a member of the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin.
An Odawa and Ojibwe community located in t ...
, Ontario (formerly "Cockburn Island First Nation")
Other recognized/status governments with significant Odawa populations
Canada:
* Aamjiwnaang First Nation
The Aamjiwnaang First Nation (formerly known as Chippewas of Sarnia First Nation) is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) First Nations Band located on reserve land by the St. Clair River, three miles south of the southern tip of Lake Huron. The reserve is ...
(Sarnia), Ontario
* Aundeck-Omni-Kaning First Nation (Sucker Creek), Ontario
* Chippewas of Kettle & Stony Point
Kettle & Stony Point First Nation ( oj, Wiiwkwedong Anishinaabek, meaning: "in/at the bay") comprises the Kettle Point reserve and Stony Point Reserve (which is under remedial cleanup after over 50 years of occupation by the Canadian Armed Forces), ...
, Ontario
* Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation
Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation ( oj, Neyaashiinigmiing Anishinaabek) is an Anishinaabek First Nation from the Bruce Peninsula region in Ontario, Canada. Along with the Saugeen First Nation, they form the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. The Chi ...
, Ontario (formerly "Cape Croker First Nation")
* Chippewas of the Thames (Caradoc), Ontario
* Garden River First Nation
Garden River First Nation, also known as Ketegaunseebee (''Gitigaan-ziibi Anishinaabe'' in the Ojibwe language), is an Ojibwa band located at Garden River 14 near Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada.
The Garden River reserve consists of two non-co ...
, Ontario
* Mattagami First Nation
The Mattagami First Nation is an Anishnaabe First Nation band government - mainly Ojibwe, Oji-Cree and some Odawa - in the Canadian province of Ontario situated along the Mattagami River. The First Nation members of the community primarily l ...
, Ontario
* Mississauga First Nation
Mississauga First Nation is one of the six First Nations that make up the Mississauga Nations. It is located directly west of Blind River, Ontario, Canada, on the Mississagi River 8 Reserve. , Ontario
* Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation
The Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation, also known as Many Rivers Joining-Human Beings, is a First Nations band government located in Ontario, Canada. Sagamok's culture and language is Anishinabek and is made up of the Ojibwe, Odawa and Pottawatomi ...
, Ontario
* Saugeen First Nation
Saugeen First Nation ( oj, Saukiing) is an Ojibway First Nation band located along the Saugeen River and Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. The band states that their legal name is the "Chippewas of Saugeen". Organized in the mid-1970s, Saugeen ...
, Ontario
* Serpent River First Nation
The Serpent River First Nation ( oj, Genabaajing Anishinaabek), a signatory to the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850, is an Anishinaabe First Nation in the Canadian province of Ontario, located midway between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury along the ...
, Ontario
* Sheguiandah First Nation
Sheguiandah First Nation is an Anishinaabe First Nation on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada. Its land base is located on the Sheguiandah 24 reserve
Reserve or reserves may refer to:
Places
* Reserve, Kansas, a US city
* Reserve, Louisiana, ...
, Ontario
* Thessalon First Nation
Thessalon First Nation is an Ojibwe First Nation in Algoma District, Ontario. Their reserve is located at Thessalon 12. They are a member of the Anishinabek Nation
The Anishinabek Nation, also known as the Union of Ontario Indians, is a First ...
, Ontario
* Wasauksing First Nation
Wasauksing First Nation (formerly named as Parry Island First Nation, oj, Waaseyakosing, ''meaning: "Place that shines brightly in the reflection of the sacred light"'') is an Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi First Nation band government whose res ...
(Parry Island), Ontario
* Whitefish Lake First Nation
The Whitefish Lake First Nation ( cr, ᐊᑎᐦᑲᒣᐠ, atihkamek) is a First Nations band government in northern Alberta. Headquartered in Atikameg, it controls three Indian reserves, Utikoomak Lake 155, Utikoomak Lake 155A, and Utikoomak La ...
, Ontario
* Whitefish River First Nation
Whitefish River First Nation ( oj, Adikamegoshii-ziibiing)Weshki-ayaad, Charlie Lippert & Guy T. Gambill. FREELANG Ojibwe-English-Ojibwe online dictionarLink/ref> is an Ojibwe First Nation in Manitoulin District, Ontario. It is a member of the Uni ...
(Birch Island), Ontario
United States:
* (formerly ''Gun Lake Band of Grand River Ottawa Indians'' and as part of ''Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Units 3 and 4'')
* Saginaw Chippewa Tribal Nation
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan ( oj, Ziibiwing Anishinaabek) is a federally recognized band of Chippewa (a.k.a. Ojibwe) located in central Michigan in the United States.
The tribal government offices are located on the Isabella Indian ...
, Michigan
Unrecognized Odawa governments
* Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan (formerly "Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 8", currently recognized by Michigan)
* Genesee Valley Indian Association (formerly ''Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 9'')
* Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians, Michigan (formerly ''Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 3'', currently recognized by Michigan)
* Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians, Michigan (formerly "Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Units 11 through 17", currently recognized by Michigan)
* Maple River Band of Ottawa, Michigan
* Muskegon River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan (formerly "Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 5")
* Ottawa Colony Band of Grand River Ottawa Indians, Michigan (currently recognized only as part of the ) (formerly part of ''Northern Michigan Ottawa Association, Unit 3'')
Notable Odawa people
* Jean-Baptiste Assiginack
Jean-Baptiste Assiginack (1768 - 3 November 1866) was an Odawa leader in the early 19th-century. He was also known as "Blackbird," a literal translation of his name in the Anishinaabe language.
Early Life and War of 1812
Assiginack is thought ...
, chief and public servant
* Andrew Blackbird
Andrew Jackson Blackbird (c. 1814 – 17 September 1908), also known as Makade-binesi ("Black Hawk")'','' was an Odawa (Ottawa) tribe leader and historian. He was author of the 1887 book, ''History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan'' ...
(ca. 1814/7–1908), tribal leader, historian, and author of tribal histories
* Kelly Church
Kelly Jean Church ( Match-e-benash-she-wish Potawatomi/ Odawa/Ojibwe) is a black ash basket maker, Woodlands style painter, birchbark biter, and educator.
Background
Kelly Church, a fifth-generation basket maker, was born in 1967. She grew up ...
, black ash basket weaver and birch bark biter
* Cobmoosa (1768–1866), chief
* Egushawa Egushawa (c. 1726 – March 1796), also spelled Egouch-e-ouay, Agushaway, Agashawa, Gushgushagwa, Negushwa, and many other variants, was a war chief and principal political chief of the Ottawa tribe of North American Indians. His name is loosel ...
(ca. 1726–1796), war chief
* Enmegahbowh (ca. 1807–1902), first Native American to be ordained as an Episcopal priest
* Magdelaine Laframboise
Magdelaine La Framboise (1780–1846), born Marguerite-Magdelaine Marcot,David A. Armour, "MARCOT, MARGUERITE-MAGDELAINE," in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography,'' vol. 7, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed September 11, 2 ...
, Odawa-French fur trader and businesswoman, also supported public education for children on Mackinac Island; added in 1984 to Michigan's Women's Hall of Fame
* Daphne Odjig
Daphne Odjig, D.Litt LL. D. (September 11, 1919 – October 1, 2016), was a Canadian First Nations artist of Odawa-Potawatomi-English heritage. Her paintings are often characterized as Woodlands Style or as the pictographic style.
She was the ...
(1919-2016), Woodlands style
Woodlands style, also called the Woodlands school, Legend painting, Medicine painting,
''Native Am ...
painter and member of the Indian Group of Seven
The Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation (PNIAI), informally known as the Indian Group of Seven, was a group of First Nations in Canada, First Nations artists from Canada, with one from the United States. Founded in November 1973, they ...
* Petosegay
Petosegay or Biidassige (Odawa language, Ottawa: ''Light that is Coming'') (c. 1787 – June 15, 1885) was a 19th-century Odawa merchant and fur trader. Both present-day Petoskey, Michigan, Petoskey State Park, and nearby Emmet County, Michigan, ...
(1787–1885), merchant and fur trader
* Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
(ca. 1720–1769), chief. Leader of Pontiac's War
Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a loose confederation of Native Americans dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754–176 ...
against British and Americans
* Wawatam
Wawatam (''little goose'') ( ''fl.'' 1762 – 1764) was an 18th-century Odawa chief who lived in the northern region of present-day Michigan's Lower Peninsula in an area along the Lake Michigan shoreline known by the Odawa as Waganawkezee (''i ...
(fl. 1762 – 1764), chief
References
Further reading
* Cappel, Constance, ''Odawa Language and Legends: Andrew J. Blackbird and Raymond Kiogima,'' Xlibris, 2006. (self-published)
* Cappel, Constance, ''The Smallpox Genocide of the Odawa Tribe at L'Arbre Croche
L'Arbre Croche, known by the Odawa people as Waganagisi, was a large Odawa settlement in Northern Michigan. The French called it L'Arbre Croche for the large crocked tree that marked the center of the settlement and was visible for many miles. It c ...
, 1763: The History of a Native American People,'' Edwin Mellen Press, 2007. (described by academic journal as a vanity press)
* McClurken, James A. ''Our People, Our Journey: The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians''. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 2009. This work was a 2010 Michigan Notable Book selected by the Library of Michigan.
* McDonnell, Michael A. ''Masters of Empire: Great Lakes Indians and the Making of America.'' New York Hill and Wang, 2015. Maps. 416 pp. .
* Wolff, Gerald W., and Cash, Joseph H. ''The Ottawa People,'' Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
: Indian Tribal Series, 1976.
External links
"Ottawa History"
Shultzman, L. (2000). ''First Nations Histories''.
Frederick Webb Hodge, "Ottawa"
''Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico,'' Vol. N-Z, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1910, pp. 167–172, full text online
The Archaeology of Ontario
Odawa
at The Canadian Encyclopedia
Official tribal websites
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians
Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
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Anishinaabe groups
Algonquian peoples
Great Lakes tribes
First Nations in Ontario
Native American tribes in Michigan
Native American tribes in Oklahoma
Algonquian ethnonyms