1760-1763.] PONTIAC. 183 



chief would in no degree account for the extent of 

 his power ; for, among Indians, many a chief's son 

 sinks back into insignificance, while the offspring 

 of a common warrior may succeed to his place. 

 Among all the wild tribes of the continent, per- 

 sonal merit is indispensable to gaining or preserving 

 dignity. Courage, resolution, address, and elo- 

 quence are sure passports to distinction. With 

 all these Pontiac was pre-eminently endowed, and 

 it was chiefly to them, urged to their highest 

 activity by a vehement ambition, that he owed 

 his greatness. He possessed a commanding energy 

 and force of mind, and in subtlety and craft could 

 match the best of his wily race. But, though 

 capable of acts of magnanimity, he w^as a thorough 

 savage, with a wider range of intellect than those 

 around him, but sharing all their passions and 

 prejudices, their fierceness and treachery. His 

 faults were the faults of his race ; and they cannot 

 eclipse his nobler qualities. His memory is still 

 cherished among the remnants of many Algon- 

 quin tribes, and the celebrated Tecumseh adopted 

 him for his model, proving himself no unworthy 

 imitatorJ 



1 Drake, Life of Tecumseh, 138. 



Several tribes, the Miami s. Sacs, and others, have claimed connection 

 ■with the great chief ; but it is certain that he was, by adoption at least, 

 an Ottawa. Henry Conner, formerly government interpreter for the 

 northern tribes, declared, on the faith of Indian tradition, that he was 

 born among the Ottawas of an Ojibwa mother, a circumstance which 

 proved an advantage to him by increasing his influence over both tribes. 

 An Ojibwa Indian told the writer that some portion of his power was to 

 be ascribed to his being a chief of the Metai, a magical association among 

 the Indians of the lakes, in which character he exerted an influence on 

 the superstition of his followers. 



