Chief Obwandiyag Biography

Chief Obwandiyag, better known as Chief Pontiac was a man of great power and strength. He was a man that understood people and only wanted the best for Native American people. Chief Pontiac was an Ottawa war chief that was able to unite a dozen tribes stretching from Lake superior, all the way down to the Golf Of Mexico. Pontiac had visions at to how his people should live to support his cultures way of life. He fought for the land that was given to his people by their creator. His ultimate plan was to take back the land that was given to his people and fight along side his allies the French to eliminate the British from North America. His name will live on through what was known as Pontiacs Rebellion. The rebellion was a strategic plan to …show more content…
The Native People and the French had worked together to trade furs and materials to co-exist together. The Native people had benefitted from trade because they were able to use guns instead of bow and arrows; they had now acquired pots and pans making it easier to cook. As the Europeans had benefited from the fur trade and they were able to make hats and clothing from what was then considered valuable fur. Both the Native people and Europeans had been able to create a way to living together and had some form of peace at the beginning. However, some Native people were skeptical about trading with Europeans and changing their way of life. One man that was truly skeptical about changing their way of life was Neolin most commonly known as the spiritual leader of the Lenape. He had encouraged the Native People to stick to their old ways of life and to do things the way they had grown up. Neolin had wanted his people to stop trading with the Europeans and to live the life they had lived before the Europeans showed up. He said to a group of Natives, “Quit the use of fire arms, make your fire the old way by rubbing dry sticks together, fires made by flint and steel are impure. Live as we did before the coming of the whites”. As the spiritual leader gave this speech, Chief Pontiac had listened on in the crowd and the words that were being spoken had fueled him to start his rebellion. But, before Pontiacs Rebellion would occur, the French and Indian war broke out. This war had made many Native Americans choose to fight for either the French, or the British. Chief Pontiac had chosen to fight with the French due to the fact he felt they treated his people with more respect then the British. During the French and Indian war Chief Pontiac had fought in what is thought to be three different battles. His contributions in the war had lead him to learn many different