Pontiac had spoken at a council on…
May 1763 CE
Using the teachings of Neolin to inspire his listeners, Pontiac has persuaded a number of Ottawas, Ojibwas, Potawatomis, and Hurons to join him in an attempt to seize Fort Detroit.
On May 1, Pontiac visits the fort with fifty Ottawas in order to assess the strength of the garrison.
According to a French chronicler, in a second council Pontiac proclaimed:
It is important for us, my brothers, that we exterminate from our lands this nation which seeks only to destroy us. You see as well as I that we can no longer supply our needs, as we have done from our brothers, the French.... Therefore, my brothers, we must all swear their destruction and wait no longer. Nothing prevents us; they are few in numbers, and we can accomplish it.
Hoping to take the stronghold by surprise, on May 7 Pontiac enters Fort Detroit with about three hundred men carrying concealed weapons.
The British have learned of Pontiac's plan, however, and are armed and ready.
His tactic foiled, Pontiac withdraws after a brief council and, two days later, lays siege to the fort.
Pontiac and his allies kill all of the British soldiers and settlers they can find outside of the fort, including women and children.
One of the soldiers is ritually cannibalized, as is the custom in some Great Lakes Native cultures.
The violence is directed at the British; French colonists are generally left alone.
Eventually more than nine hundred soldiers from a half-dozen tribes join the siege.
Meanwhile, on May 28 a British supply column from Fort Niagara led by Lieutenant Abraham Cuyler is ambushed and defeated at Point Pelee.
People
Groups
Iroquois (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power, Five Nations, or Six Nations)
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Wyandot, or Wendat, or Huron people (Amerind tribe)
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Miami (Amerind tribe)
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Lenape or Lenni-Lenape (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans)
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Ojibwa, or Ojibwe, aka or Chippewa (Amerind tribe)
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Odawa, or Ottawa, people (Amerind tribe)
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Seneca (Amerind tribe)
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Mascouten (Amerind tribe)
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Kickapoo people (Amerind tribe)
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Potawatomi (Amerind tribe)
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Wea (Amerind tribe)
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Piankeshaw (Amerind tribe)
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Shawnees, or Shawanos (Amerind tribe)
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Ohio Country
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Illinois Country
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Britain, Kingdom of Great
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Mingo (Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma)
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