About the Ottawa Indians

Of the Native American tribes and Nations portrayed in United States history, many names come to mind. When one hears the words Apache, Mohawk, Sioux, Comanche, Iroquois and Huron they bring to mind vivid mythic imagery of blood thirsty and untamed savages wreaking havoc upon the Western plains, only to be defeated in the nick of time by brave men of the U.S Calvary. However this is not always the case. In this article, we will look at a tribe who has not gotten much press and yet played a very important part in the history of our nation: the Ottawa tribe.

The Facts

The Ottawa tribe is the name of the "First Nations" tribe that inhabited the lands surrounding the Ottawa river, known today as western Quebec. As foreign settlers began to inhabit those lands in the 1600s, the Ottawa began slowly moving from Lake Huron towards Michigan. Like many Native Americans of that region, the Ottawa usually refer to their nation specifically as "Nishnaabe," which means "original people."

Identification

The name Ottawa is said to be derived from the word "Odawa," which means to barter or trade. So it should not be so surprising that the Ottawa tribe were known primarily as inter-tribal traders, freely establishing commerce with other First Nations people. The Ottawa's chief means of commerce were products such as furs, skins, hand woven rugs, tobacco, cornmeal and medicinal roots and herbs. Their ability to trade in this manner gave them access to several tribes along the Great Lakes region, including the Delaware, Algonquin and the Shawnee. For the most part, the Ottawa tribe was able to live and trade peaceably with the tribes of this region except for the Iroquois and Wyandot nations, who were related warring nations. In fact the Ottawa tribe were part of an alliance called the "The Council of Three Fires." Along with the Ojibwa and Potawatomi, the Ottawa were instrumental in fighting the Iroquois Confederacy and the Sioux Nations.

Features

The language spoken by the Ottawa tribe is part of the Algonquian language family and is characterized by frequent syncope. Syncope in phonetics describes the loss of one or more unstressed vowels in the interior of the word. Even today, there are an estimated 5,000 people of Ottawa descendants who continue to speak this language in Canada.

History of

As foreign settlers tamed the region, the Ottawa tribe moved into the Ohio region around 1740, to establish commerce in the fur trade with the British that had become a staple item of existence during that time. Oddly enough, although the tribe freely traded with the British, their alliances were with the nation of France, beginning with the explorer Champlain, who met the tribe while on expedition. This alliance was so established that in 1763, along with the French, Chief Pontiac led a rebellion against the British. Although the great chief was able to destroy nine out of 11 British forts, the war to drive the British from Native American soil came to a head when the British defeated the Nation, forcing them to make peace. This forced alliance held when Pontiac's successor led his nation to war as an ally to the British during the American Revolution.

Significance

After the surrender of the British to the Americans, they abandoned their Native American allies, leaving the Ottawa Nation to continue fighting the Americans on their own. This war continued until the Ottawa, along with several tribes of that region, surrendered most of their lands in 1795, with the signing of the Treaty of Greeneville. And as history has shown, the Native Americans were slowly but surely being systematically phased out of the American fabric. Finally, in 1833, United States forced the Ottawa Nation to give up its remaining lands in Ohio and transplanted them to a reservation in Kansas.

Evolution

In 1861, When Kansas was admitted as the 34th state, the Ottawa tribe were in danger of extinction. They agreed with the United States to relinquish their tribal status, dissolve their government and become citizens, which came with an appeasement consisting of 160 acres of land. Unfortunately, unable to settle their tribal relations, the Nation sold off their Kansas land, which was to benefit the planned Ottawa University, and moved to Indian Territory, where they purchased land from the Shawnee in northeast Oklahoma. Unfortunately, this land was not for the Shawnee to sell and in 1891, due to the requirement by the Dawes Act, which authorized the president of the United States to divide land for individual Native American families, the Ottawa tribe lost this purchased land as well. As a result of this crushing blow, the educational benefits intended never came to fruition. Over the course of generations a lawsuit to recover the value of the donated allotments, in addition to the financial compensation for lands sold illegally by Shawnee Indian agents, was finally settled in 1965. Unfortunately after generations of dispersal and aggressive and aggravated neglect by the United States government, it is uncertain as to how many of the Ottawa tribe actually exist.

Expert Insight

Without banging an overly beaten drum, one should look at the treatment of the Indians on a personal level instead of a political ' level. In society back then, the men were responsible for the hunting and gathering, the protecting and furthering of their people. When men are incapable of doing fulfilling their roles, when their esteem is taken away, whether through circumstantial means or the conquering of their nation, it creates a wound that is very difficult to heal. In the case of the Ottawa, this happened to a nation who, through legislation, were forced into a role for which they were not intended--one of subservience to a foreign entity, their personal sovereignty stripped away. Imagine this type of aggressive and legislated beating upon a nation or tribe. After time, the will to survive diminishes as the spirit is crushed. To heal our relations with the original peoples of this nation, we have to address the real issue, which was the aggressive and legislated emasculation of the men of Native American nations.

Resources

• Native Americans.com