Ottawa Tribes

Ancestral Homeland: Georgia Bay, Lake Huron, ontario, later Lake Superior, Lake Michigan

Various spellings: Ottawa, Ottowa, Ottoway

History
The Chippewa, Potawatomi and the Ottawa formed the Council of Three Fires.

They were part of the Great Huron Trade.

The tribe is federally recognized as the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma.

Brief Timeline

 * 1600: In the Great Lakes area - Lake Huron
 * 1660: defeated by the Iroquois who disrupped trade
 * 1689-1763: French and Indian Wars (French and Algonquian tribes against English and Iroquois)
 * 1763: Treaty of Paris
 * 1763: Pontiac's Rebellion; tried to drive the British from the Great Lakes. About 2,000 settlers died during the rebellion. Many British forts surrendered; Fort Detroit and Fort Pitt did not.  Fort Pitt under Lord Jeffery Amherst's suggestion, sent out smallpox-infected blankets starting an epidemic among the Indians
 * 1831: Land cessions
 * 1831-1867: The tribe lived in Kansas
 * 1867-1870: removed to Indian Territory - Oklahoma; some live in Ontario - Manitoulin Island and Cockburn Island


 * 1959: Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma terminated, Tribal membership 630, Tribal land (Acres) 0 (*1956 is the year given in the history of the Ottawa of Oklahoma's web site which coincides with a roll of blood members of the tribe that is now used for proof to join currently)
 * 1978: Ottawa Tribe restored
 * 1979: Ottawa Tribe reestablished as a federally recognized government when the Ottawa Council and the U.S. Congress ratified the Constitution. Present day members of the Ottawa of Oklahoma tribe must present proof of blood relatives on the 1956 roll and an original birth certificate.

Brief History

The history of the Ottawa Indians places them, at the first contact with Europeans, in what was to become Ontario, Canada in the 1600s. They are usually associated with Manitoulin Island and the shores of Georgian Bay in Lake Huron, in what is now the Province of Ontario.

Many of the Ottawa migrated south and west and settled in what became Michigan in the 1700s and by the early 1800s the Three Fires Confederacy (which include the Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi) occupied much of that area. In 1836, the Ottawa ceded nearly two-thirds of their land to the United States and in 1837, Michigan was created from that cession.

In 1855, the Ottawa signed another treaty with the U.S. government at which time reserves were created in Leelanau and Antrim Counties. The Bureau of Indian Affairs considered the tribe "terminated" with the signing of that treaty and they were not considered an official tribe from 1855 to 1980. After several petitions for recognition over nearly 50 years, the Bureau of Indian Affairs again officially recognized the tribe in 1980.

Another group of Ottawa Indians lived in northwestern Ohio and participated in the War of 1812 under the leadership of Pontiac, who was a well-known chief of the tribe. They were a party to the Treaty of Greenville, signed on August 3, 1795 in Indiana. Some members of this part of the Ottawa Nation were removed to Kansas and later to Oklahoma.

Additional References to the History of the Tribe
Ohio History Central article on the Ottawa Indians

Tribal Headquarters
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa &amp; Chippewa Indians 2605 N West Bay Shore Dr Peshawbestown MI 49682-9275 (866) 534-7750 (231) 534-7750

Little River Band of the Ottawa 375 River Street Manistee, MI 49660 Phone: 231-723-8288 Toll Free: 1-888-723-8288 Fax: 231-723-8020

Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma 13 S. 69 A Miami, OK 74354 Phone: 918-540-1536 Fax: 918-542-3214 Email: [mailto:adawetribe@sbcglobal.net adawetribe@sbcglobal.net]

Records
Some early records of members of the Ottawa Tribe are included in the records of the Mackinac Agency now in the Great Lakes Regional Archives of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Chicago.

Since the tribe was not officially recognized for over 100 years, some documents pertaining to those with Ottawa blood are a part of the county records where they resided.

The following records of the Ottawa have been transcribed and are available online:


 * 1836 census of Mixed-Blood Ottawas and Chippewas of Michigan


 * 1853 annuity paid to heads of families and individuals of the Ottawa Tribe at the Michigan Agency


 * 1908 census roll of persons and their descendants who were on the roll of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians in 1870 and who were living on March 4, 1907, as enumerated by Horace B. Durant. It is also called the Durant Roll.


 * Additions to the Durant Roll

Correspondence and Census

Treaties


 * 1785 January 21, at Fort McIntosh, with the Wyandot, Etc.,
 * 1789 January 9, at Fort Harmar, with the Wyandot, Etc.,
 * 1795 August 3, at Greenville with the Wyandot, Etc.,
 * 1805 July 4, at Fort Industry with the Wyandot, Etc.,
 * 1807 November 17, at Detroit with the Ottawa, Etc.,
 * 1808 November 25, at Brownstown, with the Chippewa, Etc.,  
 * 1814 July 22, at Greenville
 * 1815 September 8, at Spring Wells, with the Wyandot, Etc.,


 * 1816 August 24, at St. Louis, with the Ottawa, Etc.,
 * 1817 September 29, on the Miami, with the Wyan
 * 1818 September 17, at St. Mary's with the Wyandot, Etc.,
 * 1820 July 6, at L'Arbre Croche and Michilimackinac, with the Ottawa and Chippewa,
 * 1821 August 29, at Chicago, with the Ottawa
 * 1825 August 19, at Prairie du Chien, with the Sioux
 * 1828 August 25, at Green Bay with the Sioux
 * 1829 July 29, at Prairie du Chien, with the Chippewa
 * 1831 August 30, with the Ottawa
 * 1833 February 18, at Maumee
 * 1833 September 26, at Chicago with Chippewa
 * 1836 March 28, at Washington, with the Ottawa
 * 1846 June 5 and 17, at Council Bluffs, with the Potawatomi Nation
 * 1855 July 31, at Detroit, with the Chippewa
 * 1862 June 24, at Washington, Ottawa of Blanchard's Fork and Roche De Boeuf
 * 1867 February 23, with Seneca, Mixed Seneca and Shawnee, Quapaw, Etc.,

Vital Records


 * Quapaw Agency, M595, birth and death 1924-1932, FHL Film: 581408

Cemetery Records


 * Housman, Gerald L. Ottawa Indian Cemetery, Ottawa County, Oklahoma, 1870-1995. Tulsa, OK : Cock-A-Hoop Pub. ; Bartlesville, OK : Distributed by G.L. Housman, ©1996. WorldCat 36008661

Important Web Sites
History of the Tribe


 * Grand Traverse Band -- History of the Ottawa Tribe
 * Handbook of American Indians by Frederick Webb Hodge -- History of the Ottawa Tribe
 * Native American Nations -- History and links to Ottawa History
 * Ohio History Central -- History of the Ottawa Indians in Ohio's online encyclopedia of history
 * Eighteen page History of the Ottawa Tribe
 * Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma Official Website including history (tribal library phone #918-542-6162)
 * Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma Wikipedia
 * Constitution and By-Laws of the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma

Tribe and Band Government Web Sites

 * Grand River Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians government offices at Peshawbestown, Michigan
 * Little River Band at Manistee, Michigan
 * Ottawa Tribe of Oklahomaat Miami, Oklahoma