Daniel Van Aken Hist223 – Pontiac’s War American Indian History Tracy Derks December 26, 2013

The story of Pontiac’s War is one of great tragedy and of great change in the geographic area of the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes Region and present day Illinois. We will look at this topic from the point of few of the American Indian who inhabits the vast area of the frontier, and the British Policies that were conducted that helped ignite hostilities. Another item for consideration is did these policies and the way the British Army conducted the war possibly set into motion more conflicts that led to the American Revolution. In 1759 white men were discovered in what is now present day Michigan by a band of Ottawa, Huron and Potawatomi. As would be the norm to strangers in a land that did not belong to them the question was asked by the leader of the Ottawa’s Pontiac why they were there. After the trading of gifts the British Rangers explained that they were there only to remove the French. The French and Indian War and been raging across the globe for 5 years. The Ottawa had allied themselves with the French but explained to the British Rangers that upon French removal they would accept the policies of the British Crown, on the condition that if the Indians felt ignored by the British King then all routes into the lush interior of the Ohio Valley would be closed off to them. The treaty of Paris ended the French and Indian War which officially ended in 1760. The end of this conflict caused great alarm among the Indians, from there point of view the land was there’s. The French paid what one could call rent, guns and ammunition to the Indians for allowing forts and French troops to inhabit the land during the war. After the defeat of France, no longer could one nation be pitted against the other for the gain of the tribes. No longer could strategic economic tactics be employed for trade and competition which only benefited the Indians. Once British troops seized positions and forts that were French all along the frontier, settlers in vast numbers began pouring into Indian Territory. The British Commander of North America at the time was Baron Jeffery Amherst who ruled much differently than the French. Amherst immediately cut off all goods to the Indians for the occupation of the forts along with Indians setting foot on them, interracial marriages were frowned upon. The policy of the British was that the Indians were not looked at as equals and therefore had no rights and could be dealt with anyway the British saw fit. To the view point of the Indians this was a drastic shift from the policy of the French and found this to be a great insult. The French were looked at as tenants, renting the land by paying tribute, never were strong sanctions or rules placed over them. The final incident that led to war involved an Indian slave woman that had killed an English trader. Amherst quickly and very publicly had the woman put to death as a statement that all Indians fell under the jurisdiction and law of the crown. In 1762 the Delaware Prophet called Neolin had a vision in which the Master of Life spoke to him concerning all white men. He was told to wage war against the white man and drive them from the land that was not meant for them. Upon returning from his vision Neolin drew the meaning of his vision on a deer skin, which was sold to various other tribes. Soon hundreds of Indians began to follow the teachings of his writings, believing that he was Winabojo reincarnated, a prestigious teacher from the past. These teachings started a movement that caught the attention of the chief of the Ottawa people, Chief Pontiac. Pontiac interpreted this as a crusade against the tyranny of the British. From the viewpoint of the American Indian this was a just cause, a just war to preserve not just their people but for their very way of life. In 1763 Neolin asked the tribes of the Three Fires Confederacy to fight the British and remove them from their land. Allies and formers enemies answered Neolins call to wage war. Success came early for Pontiac and his allies seizing 9 British forts. Hostilities continued from many other tribes as far as Pennsylvania and Virginia.
In order to help defuse the Indian rebellion and limit the loss of life the British issued the Proclamation of 1763 which mandated that no settlers were to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains; this did little to quell the rebellion in which thousands of colonists had lost their lives. The British went so far as to purposely infect blankets with small pox that were given to the Indians during peace negotiations. As brutal as warfare on the frontier was the Indians could not withstand the sheer size, gap in technology and war time supply as the British. In 1764 Pontiac offered the British a Wampum belt as a piece offering which in turn by the British was cut to pieces a horrible insult. The British Commander Amherst was blamed for the expensive war and sent home in disgrace. The new Commander Thomas Gage employed a much different approach then from his predecessor. He lavished the Indians with gifts and used the same policy that the French had used while occupying the Forts along the frontier. Colonist and Indian alike were compensated in the event of murder. The Crown also mandated to ease tensions and forbid colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains, creating a boundary line that was impossible to enforce due to the vast area of the terrain. The colonists already feeling a less need for British occupation because of the elimination of the French disliked the new mandates and only made the relations between Colonist and Indian worse. One could say that a victory for Pontiac was won during the rebellion, the British changed policy and looked at the Indians as allies instead of enemies. To the view point of the Indian one see why hostilities were unavoidable, their way of life, their land and families were all threatened. Due to the treaties and the fact that the English were not removed from the land Neolin became less and less prominent as a teacher in the eyes of the Indians. If it was a victory then it was a short lived one, very small seeds of Revolution had been planted by the colonists due to the treaties and bargains that were made to the Indians. Soon the Colonists would wage their own rebellion and win, and with that victory a new wave of settlers looking to exploit the vast riches of the Ohio Valley would break all the treaties.
References
http://www.nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/906/pontiacs-war http://www.nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1120/neolin-the-delaware- prophet http://www.americanheritage.com/content/pontiac%E2%80%99s-war