Ottawa Indians
A tribe of the Algonquian family. First mentioned in
Champlain's narrative, 1615. The explorer met a party of these Indians
on French River. They were called the Cheveux Releves, because of
their peculiar method of dressing the hair. They occupied Manitoulin
Island from about 1615 to 1650; were attacked and dispersed by the
Iroquois the latter year, and settled West of Green Bay. They were keen
fur traders, and throughout the greater part of the seventeenth century
continued to bring down quantities of furs from the west to Montreal by
way of the Ottawa River. Fought under Pontiac in 1763; made peace with
Sir William Johnson at Niagara in 1764. A few thousand are now scattered
on reservations in Ontario. =Index=: (Count Frontenac era) Keen for trade and cheap goods,
259; entertained at Quebec, 310. (Sir Frederick Haldimand era) Sioux offer to attack, 148.