Sometimes spelled Odawa, the Ottawa are an Algonquin-speaking tribe who originally lived on the East Coast but migrated to what is now Michigan, Ohio, and southern Canada.

Migrating from the East Coast even before the arrival of European-Americans, they moved inland along the Saint Lawrence River, settled on what is now Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. By tradition, the Ottawa, the Ojibwa, and the Potawatomi were once one people, known as the Anishinaabe peoples, dividing into three allied groups after arriving in Michigan.

Even after the separation, the Ottawa, the Ojibwa, and the Potawatomi were part of a long-term alliance known as the Council of Three Fires, who fought the nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, who also came from the East, as well as the Dakota people.

The Ottawa dialect is one of several divergent dialects of the Ojibwa language group. The general language group is known as Nishnabemwin, while the Ottawa language is called Daawaamwin, although it is estimated that only about five hundred people in Ontario and Michigan speak the language today, while the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma has only three fluent speakers of the native language.

Because of the large trade network the Ottawa were involved in, some of the other American Indian tribes became known to Europeans by the names that the Ottawa used for them rather than by the names they used for themselves. For example, Europeans came to know the Ho-Chunk as the Winnebago, and the Dakota as the Sioux. Canadian fur traders often referred to any Algonquin speakers as Ottawa.

Like the Ojibwa, the Ottawa identified as Anishinaabe, which translated as "people."

The Ottawa traded beaver, fox, raccoon, and other pelts to the French for knives, hatchets, kettles, traps, needles, fish hooks, cloth, blankets, and jewelry. Later, they traded for firearms and alcohol. The Ottawas' proficient use of canoes gave them a trade advantage over tribes that did not use canoes, such as the Crees.

Warfare with other tribes often erupted over the fur trade. In the mid-17th century, they allied with other Algonquian tribes against the Mohawk and their Iroquois allies in what became known as the Beaver Wars. The introduction of firearms disrupted the traditional balance of power, and some tribes, such as the Erie, were exterminated as tribes. Epidemics stemming from European diseases took far more lives, however.

In the mid-18th century Seven Years War, the Ottawa allied with the French against the British. An extension of this same war was known as the French and Indian War south of the border, in which the Ottawa made frequent raids against European-American colonists. After the French were defeated, in 1763, the Ottawa Chief Pontiac led a rebellion against the British, but he was not successful in preventing British colonization of the region.

During the American Revolution, the Ottawa allied with the British. Following the British defeat, the Council of Three Fires, along with Shawnee, Lenape, and Mingo, carried out a series of battles and campaigns against the United States in what was known as the Northwest Indian War. In 1792, President Washington sent Major Alexander Truman, his servant William Lynch, and William Smalley, a guide and interpreter, on a peace mission to the tribes. Truman and Lynch were killed.

In a series of treaties signed between 1795 and 1817, the Ottawa were forced to cede much of their land to the U.S. government. Following the Indian Removal Act of 1830, the Ottawa were required to cede their reserves in 1831, and portions of the tribe were removed to what was then Indian Territory in Kansas.

Today, the Ottawa are much smaller than they once were. Approximately 10,000 people identify as Ottawa in the United States, the majority in Michigan, while another several thousand reside in Ontario, Canada.

Recognized Ottawa governments In the United States include the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (Michigan), the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians (Michigan), the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians (Michigan), and the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma. In Canada, there are the M'Chigeeng First Nation, Sheshegwaning First Nation, Wiikwemkoong First Nation, Zhiibaahaasing First Nation (all in Ontario), and the Walpole Island First Nation on the unceded territory of Walpole Island between Ontario and Michigan.

In Ontario, there are several other recognized mixed First Nation governments with significant Ottawa populations, as well as a couple in Michigan.

Tribal governments, Ottawa reserves, histories, organizations, publications, and other online resources focused on the Ottawa people are appropriate topics for this portion of our web guide.

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