Famous Chiefs

Native Name
Pontiac

White Name
Pontiac

Nation
Ottawa

Chief Pontiac was born around 1720 and became chief of the Ottawas around 1755. He was a follower of the Delaware prophet, Neolin, who encouraged all Native people to forsake all things English. He thought that the Natives suffered because their acceptance of English ways offended the Creator.

Pontiac believed that the Native people needed to remain militarily strong to rid the Ohio country of settlers. The Treaty of Paris, signed at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, ceded all French land in North America to the English. In 1762, Pontiac gathered all of the local tribes to drive out the British. This was called "Pontiac's Conspiracy." His plan to attack Fort Detroit was betrayed. Later he attacked the fort and won the Battle of Bloody Run, but reinforcements came and Pontiac retreated. The tribes captured eight of the 12 British forts on the frontier between the settlers and the Native people.

By 1764 the French no longer supported the Natives and sided with the British. Pontiac agreed to a peace treaty in 1766. The British promised him no harm as long as he agreed never to fight the British again. Pontiac was murdered by a Peora Indian while visiting Kahokia, Illinois in 1769. Pontiac's dream of a united Indian nation was carried on by other Native American leaders after his death.

Resources

Chief Pontiac http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/p/pontiac.shtml

Pontiac Ohio History Central http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/ohc/history/h_indian/people/pontiac.shtml

Chief Pontiac's Siege of Detroit http://www.detnews.com/history/pontiac/pontiac.htm