Pontiac
...Chief who fought for better conditions for Native people. It will be a three part profile that discusses his role in North American history.
Chief Pontiac's father was from the Otter Clan of the Ottawa Indians and his mother was of the Chippewa tribe. Raised as an Ottawa, he lived in the Ohio country in present day Michigan. Little is known of his early years but sources state he may have traded with French forts along the Great Lakes and with forts west of the Appalachian Mountains. He is most remembered for uniting a Native American front to resist westward English settlement. Pontiac's resistance started due to several factors that occurred in his time.
Trade was favored to the French because they respected Indian customs and did not impose a threat to settle the land and primarily lived in peace with the Natives. The French were known as trusted businessmen and sometimes took Native women as wives to establish a solidified kinship. The French practiced offerings presented to the Natives before trade negotiations in the form of tobacco, rum, ammunition, guns, and trinkets. The opposite was true for the English who were ignorant to Indian traders and thought that "it is no crime to cheat and gull an Indian." Alcohol was sometimes used to take advantage of the business deal which left the Indian trader with nothing.
The early colonial wars between France and Britain were fought mainly in Europe, the battle in North America called the French and Indian war played a minor part in the world war. England won. Pontiac's traditional ally had lost the war and the French had to hand over established trading forts to the English located around the Great Lakes and west of the Appalachian Mountains. The French had disbanded their armies and only a few British soldiers remained to man forts for Great Britain. The events were stipulated in the Treaty...
View Full Essay
