170 



OTTAWA 



[ B. A. E. 



The two tribes lived together until 

 about 1700, when the Hurons removed 

 to the vicinity of Detroit, while a portion 

 of the Ottawa about this time seems to 

 have obtained a foothold on the w. shore 

 of L. Huron between Saginaw bay and 

 Detroit, where the Potawatomi were 

 probably in close union with them. Four 

 divisions of the tribe were represented 

 by a deput}^ at the treaty signed at Mon- 

 treal in 1700. The band which had 

 moved to the s. e. part of the lower 

 Michigan peninsula returned to Macki- 

 naw about 1706. Soon afterward the 

 chief seat of a portion of the tribe was 

 fixed at Waganakisi (L'Arbre Croche), 

 near the lower end of L. Michigan. 

 From this point they spread in every 

 direction, the majority settling along the 

 E. shore of the lake, as far s. as St Joseph 

 r., while a few found their way into s. 

 Wisconsin and n. e. Illinois. In the n. 

 they shared Manitoulin id. and the n. 

 shore of L. Huron with the Chippewa, 

 and in the s. e. their villages alternated 

 with those of their old allies the Hurons, 

 now called Wyandot, along the shore of 

 "L. Erie from Detroit to the vicinity of 

 Beaver cr. in Pennsylvania. They took 

 an active part in all the Indian wars of 

 that region up to the close of the War of 

 1812. The celebrated chief Pontiac was 

 a member of this tribe, and Pontiac' s 

 war of 1763, waged chiefly around De- 

 troit, is a prominent event in their his- 

 tory. A small part of the tribe which 

 refused to submit to the authority of the 

 United States removed to Canada, and 

 together with some Chippewa and Pota- 

 watomi, is now settled on Walpole id. in 

 L. St Clair. The other Ottawa in Cana- 

 dian territory are on Manitoulin and 

 Cockburn ids. and the adjacent shore of 

 L. Huron. 



All the Ottawa lands along the w. 

 shore of L. Michigan were ceded by va- 

 rious treaties, ending with the Chicago 

 treaty of Sept. 26, 1833, wherein they 

 agreed to remove to lands granted them 

 on Missouri r. in the n. e. corner of 

 Kansas. Other bands, known as the Ot- 

 tawa of Blanchard's fork of Great Au- 

 glaize r., and of Roche de Boeuf on 

 Maumee r., resided in Ohio, but these 

 removed w. of the Mississippi about 1832 

 and are now living in Oklahoma. The 

 great body, however, remained in the 

 lower peninsula of Michigan, where they 

 are still found scattered in a number of 

 small villages and settlements. 



In his Histoiredu Canada (i, 190, 1836), 

 Fr Sagard mentions a people whom he 

 calls "la nation du bois." He met two 

 canoe loads of these Indians in a village 

 of the Nipissing, describinj; them as be- 

 longing to a very distant inland tribe, 

 dwelling bethought toward the "sea of 

 the south," which was probably L. On- 



tario. He says that they were depend- 

 ents of the Ottawa (Cheueux Releuez) 

 and formed with them as it were a single 

 tribe. The men were entirely naked, at 

 which the Hurons, he says, were appar- 

 ently greatly shocked, although scarcely 

 less indecent themselves. Their faces 

 were gaily painted in many colors in 

 grease, some with one side in green and 

 the other in red; others seemed to have 

 the face covered with a natural lace, per- 

 fectly well-made, and others in still dif- 

 ferent styles. He says the Hurons had 

 not the pretty work nor the invention of 

 the many small toys and trinkets which 

 this "Gens de Bois" had. Thistribehas 

 not yet been definitely identified, but it 

 may have been one of the three tribes 

 mentioned by Sagard in his Dictionnaire de 

 la Lav g re Hrronne, under the rubric "na- 

 tions," as dependents of the Ottawa (An- 

 datahoiiat), namely, the Chiserhonon, 

 Squierhonon, and Hoindarhonon. 



Charlevoix says the Ottawa were one 

 of the rudest nations of Canada, cruel and 

 barbarous to k\\ unusual degree and some- 

 times guilty of cannibalism. Bacqueville 

 de la Potherie (Hist. Am. Sept., 1753) 

 says they were formerly very rude, but 

 by intercourse with the Hurons they have 

 become more intelligent, imitating their 

 valor, making themselves formidable to 

 all the tribes with whom they were at 

 enmity and respected by those with 

 whom they were in alliance. It was said 

 of them in 1859: "This people is still ad- 

 vancing in agricultural pursuits; they 

 may be said to have entirely abandoned 

 the chase; all of them live in good, com- 

 fortable log cabins; have fields inclosed 

 with rail fences, and own domestic ani- 

 mals." The Ottawa were expert canoe- 

 men ; as a means of defense they some- 

 times built forts, probably similar to 

 those of the Hurons. 



In the latter part of the 17th century 

 the tribe consisted of 4, possibly 5, divi- 

 sions. It is repeatedly stated that there 

 were 4 bands, and no greater number is 

 ever mentioned, yet 5 names are given, 

 as follows: Kishkakon, Sinago, Keinou- 

 che, Nassauaketon, and Sable. La Mothe 

 Cadillac says there were 4 bands: Kis- 

 kakon, Sinago, Sable, and Nassauake- 

 ton (Verwyst, Miss. Labors, 210, 1886). 

 Outaoutiboy, chief of the Ottawa, speak- 

 ing at the conference with Gov. de Cal- 

 lieres, Sept. 3, 1700, said: "I speak in 

 the name of the four Outaouais ^nations, 

 to wit: The Outaouaes of the Sable, the 

 Outaouaes Sinago, the Kiskakons, and 

 the people of the Fork" ( Nassawaketon ) . 

 In addition to these chief divisions there 

 were minor local bands, as Blanchard's 

 Fork, Kajienatroene, Maskasinik, Nega- 

 ouichiriniouek, Niscak, Oinmunise, Oton- 

 tagan. Talon, and Thunder Bay. Chau- 

 vignerie in 1736 distinguished the Ottawa 



