Chief Pontiac was born circa 1720 on the Maumee River (now in Ohio), in the Great Lakes region of the United States. His given Odawa (Ottawa) name was Obwandiyag. Very little is known of his early life, but by the year 1755 he had become the Odawa tribal chief. The Seven Year’s War, also called the French and Indian War started in 1754 and ended in 1763. This was an imperial war between British and French forces over control of the Ohio territory. The war pitted the British colonists, which included a young George Washington, and their Native American allies against the French colonists and their Native American allies.
Chief Pontiac had a talent for strategic planning which enabled him to become a leader of a confederacy between the Ottawa, the Potawatomi, and the Ojibwa tribes. During the French and Indian War he met Major Robert Rogers on his way to Michilimackinac. Pontiac agreed to let the British troops pass through their lands unmolested on the condition that he be treated with respect. The respect was to last. In 1762, Pontiac enlisted the support from almost every Native American tribe from Lake Superior to the lower Mississippi for a joint campaign to expel the British forces. Chief Pontiac arranged for each tribe to attach their nearest fort in May 1763 and then combine to wipe out any undefended settlements. The British called this “Pontiac’s Conspiracy”. Chief Pontiac’s daring and courageous leader elected to capture the city of Detroit with a force of 300 members of different tribes and it is for this action that he is particularly remembered.
In July of 1766, Chief Pontiac and the British Superintendent of Indian Affairs negotiated an end to the war. Though the Native Americans were unable to force the British out of the Great Lakes region, the uprising demonstrated the possibility of multi-tribal cooperation in the struggle against European colonialism.
Chief Pontiac’s success led him to believe that he was the leader of a large group of Native Americans and he began to act as an absolute ruler. By the year 1768 he had gone from a great leader to a man without a home. On April 20, 1769, he was murdered by the nephew of Chief Makatchinga, Chief of the Peoria tribe of the Illinois Confederation, near Cahokia, Illinois.
Bibliography
Detroit Historical Society, “Chief Pontiac.” www.Detroithistorical.org, n.d., Web. 4 April, 2021
Amy Tikkanen, “Pontiac|Ottawa Chief” www.britannica.com, 23 Oct, 2006 Web 4 April, 2021
Khan Academy, “Pontiac’s Uprising” www.khanacademy.org, n.d., Web 4 April, 2021
University of Michigan, “Great Native American Chiefs|Obwandiyag” apps.lib.umich.edu, n.d., Web 4 April, 2021
Joshua Thomas- Troop 211 –Michigan Crossroads – Council Chippewa District – 45 – Assistant Scoutmaster – Pre Trail Report