Pontiac (chief)

April 27, 1763: Pontiac calls for battle against the British

Pontiac , actually Obwandiyag (pronounced: bwon-diac ; * between 1712 and 1720; † April 20, 1769 ) was a (war) chief of the Ottawa tribe in the Great Lakes area in what is now the United States . He was best known for his role as the leader of the Pontiac uprising (1763–1766) against British colonial rule.

Life

He was born between 1712 and 1720 in what is now Detroit, near the Maumee River. His father was an Ottawa, his mother an Anishinabe . From 1755 he was chief of the Ottawa and a leader of a loose alliance between the Ottawa, Potawatomi and Anishinabe. In the French and Indian War he was an ally of the French and possibly fought on their side in 1755 in the Battle of the Monongahela against the British under General Edward Braddock , in which the vulnerability of the European-trained line troops against the guerrilla tactics of the Indians was clearly visible. Like many other Indians, he must have developed an increasing aversion to the British, who penetrated the Indian settlement areas and restricted trade. A peace agreement made by Pontiac with the British Major Robert Rogers (1760) did not change this.

Pontiac was without a doubt one of the most important figures of the North American Indians. He was far-sighted enough to recognize the deadly threat to the way of life and culture of the Indians from the expansion of the British colonies to the west, and energetic enough to take up the struggle against their military superiority. With the extensive unification of the notoriously divided tribes - which he achieved with the help of the doctrine that war between the tribes did not correspond to the will of Manitus - he achieved an astonishing achievement, and in battle he proved to be an excellent leader, who also disciplined and well armed British troops.

Pontiac led the Pontiac uprising , named after him , which lasted from 1763 to 1766. It was an unsuccessful revolt by Indian tribes against British rule in North America . Nevertheless, it is doubtful whether the uprising would have had a realistic chance of success without French support.

In April 1769 Pontiac was from a Peoria warrior near Cahokia ( Illinois murdered) in retaliation for a more distant abuse of a Peoria-chief. However, rumors of British involvement in the attack also spread. Pontiac was buried near St. Louis ( Missouri ).

The car brand Pontiac was named after Pontiac , as were the cities of Pontiac in Illinois and Pontiac in Michigan .

literature

Francis Parkman: The Pontiac Conspiracy and the Post-American Indian War. Mainz 2015.

Web links

Commons : Pontiac - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions , Vol. 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 . P. 195.

personal data
SURNAME	Pontiac
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Obwandiyag
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Indian chief from the Ottawa tribe
DATE OF BIRTH	between 1712 and 1720
DATE OF DEATH	April 20, 1769
Place of death	Cahokia , Illinois

[1] Christian F. Feest : Animated Worlds - The religions of the Indians of North America. In: Small Library of Religions , Vol. 9, Herder, Freiburg / Basel / Vienna 1998, ISBN 3-451-23849-7 . P. 195.