Ottawa Tribes

To get started in American Indian Research

Ancestral Homeland: Georgia Bay, Lake Huron, Ontario, Lake Superior, Lake Michigan

Various spellings: Ottawa, Ottowa, Ottoway, Odawa, Tawas



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

They were part of the Great Huron Trade.

There are four federally recognized tribes of Ottawa. Depending on which tribe your ancestor is descended from, you may need to contact all four tribal headquarters to research your family history as they all maintain separate records.

Tribal Headquarters
Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa Chippewa Indians 2605 N West Bay Shore Dr Peshawbestown MI 49682-9275 1-866- 534-7750 1-231- 534-7750

Little River Band of the Ottawa 375 River Street Manistee, MI 49660 Phone: 1-231-723-8288 Toll Free: 1-888-723-8288 Fax: 1-231-723-8020 Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians 7500 Odawa Circle Harbor Springs, MI 49740 Phone: 1-231-242-1400 Toll Free: 1-866-652-5822  Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma 13 S. 69 A Miami, OK 74354 Phone:1-918-540-1536 Fax: 1-918-542-3214 Email: [mailto:adawetribe@sbcglobal.net adawetribe@sbcglobal.net]


 * Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians government offices at Peshawbestown, Michigan
 * Little River Band of the Ottawa at Manistee, Michigan
 * Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians at Harbor Springs, Michigan
 * Ottawa Tribe of Oklahomaat Miami, Oklahoma

Population: 1984: 2,000 Total enrollment.

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. Other groups of Ottawa were re-recognized in 1994.

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

Andrew J. Blackbird. History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan. Ypsilanti, MI 1887. or FHL film 1011853 Item; or Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan

Cash, Joseph H. and Gerald W. Wolff. The Ottawa People. Indian Tribal Series, Phoenix, 1976. WorldCat 2716074. Out of print.

Theodore Karamanski. Blackbird's Song East Lansing, MI, Michigan State University Press, 2012. see: Blackbird's song on amazon.com

Thomas Guthrie Marquis. The War Chief of the Ottawas: A Chronicle of the Pontiac War. Toronto, Glasgow, Brook, 1920 (Chronicles of Canada: Vol 15)

Brief Timeline

 * 1600: In the Great Lakes area - Lake Huron
 * 1660: Defeated by the Iroquois who disrupted 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
 * 1837: Census (M1831)
 * 1837-47: Tribe under the jurisdiction of the Council Bluff Agency
 * 1837-51: Tribe under the jurisdiction of the Osage River Agency
 * 1851-63: Tribe under the jurisdiction of the Sac and Fox Agency
 * 1831-1867: The tribe lived in Kansas
 * 1863-73: Tribe under the jurisdiction of the Ottawa Agency
 * 1867-1870: Removed to Indian Territory - Oklahoma; some live in Ontario - Manitoulin Island and Cockburn Island
 * 1867-80: Tribe under the jurisdiction of the Neosho Agency
 * 1871-80: Tribe under the jurisdiction of the Quapaw Agency
 * 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
 * 1979: Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma reestablished as a federally recognized government when the Ottawa Council and the U.S. Congress ratified the Constitution.
 * 1980: Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians re-recognized by the federal government
 * 1994: Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and Little Tranverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians are both re-recognized by the federal government

Reservations
From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America, the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America , and other sources. There are no current federally-recognized reservations in Illinois.

Agencies
Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Illinois has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs..., Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians , and others.

The following agencies had jurisdiction over the Ottawa Indians

While the tribe was located in the East:


 * Green Bay, Ohio, Chicago, Mackinac,Sault Ste. Marie agencies,and the Subagency of Saginaw

When located in Iowa


 * Council Bluff Agency

When located in Kansas


 * Osage River, Sac and Fox. Ottawa agencies

When located in Indian Territory


 * Neosho, and Quapaw Agencies

Superintendencies
Michigan, St. Louis, and Centralsuperintendencies

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital 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 rollof 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." It is used as a primary source to establish the membership of the Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and that of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa. A searchable online version of the "Durant Roll" is available here:www.mainlymichigan.com/nativedata/DurantRoll/Default.aspx


 * Additions to the Durant Roll

Census Records
1836 census - 6th article of 1836 Treaty of of men, women and children Item 4 or FHL Book: Q 970.1 Al #4

Land and Property
Tribally owned land: 40.28 acres.

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,


 * Births and deaths 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
 * Find A Grave:Ottawa Indian Cemetery, Ottawa Indian Cemetery, Miami, Ottawa, Oklahoma

Religious Records

 * Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians had an association with Catholic ministries, orders, churches, schools, etc. in its history. The tribe's online Our Land and Culture Book suggests Catholic religous records from their geographical location can be helpful in family history research.

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
 * Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Anishinaabemdaa -- History of the Anishinaabek People, Ancestors of the Ottawa Indians with a Chronology of important events and Federal Indian policy that seems to follow the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
 * Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians -- History of Little Traverse Bay Bands
 * Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Our Land and Culture Book - Online PDF Book of History of this Group of Odawa Indians including a bibliography with sources
 * 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 Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians government offices at Peshawbestown, Michigan
 * Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians government offices at Harbor Springs, Michigan
 * Little River Band at Manistee, Michigan
 * Ottawa Tribe of Oklahomaat Miami, Oklahoma