The Odawa Smallpox Genocide

 

“Let those I serve express their thanks according

to their own upbringing and honor.”

-Ohiyesa

 

Smallpox was used in biological warfare against a segment of the population unprepared to fight off its lethal properties. In 1763, the British provided the Odawa Indians gifts consisting of three little insulated metal boxes. During the time the biological warfare occurred, the Odawa were on a peace mission returning British soldiers safely to the British settlement in Montreal. The British instructed them to not open the metal boxes until the Odawa returned from Montreal to their village near present day Harbor Springs, Michigan. Once the metal boxes were opened, the smallpox virus ran rampant amongst the Odawa people. Thousands lost their lives to the dreadful virus. The smallpox massacre was remembered in legends passed down for generations with the Odawa people. Pontiac’s rebellion, and the actions of few British officers were linked to the rationale behind the biological warfare inflicted against the unsuspecting Odawa people in 1763.   

           

            The Odawa Indians resided in various locations stemming from Canada, lower Michigan, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and as far as Oklahoma. Ancient birch bark scrolls indicated the Odawa resided in the eastern areas of North America. They lived in the Great Lakes area for centuries before the arrival of the French in the 17^th century.  In the past, colonists in Quebec referred to all Algonquian tribal people from the Great Lakes as Odawa even if they were from another tribe such as the Ojibwe tribe. However, like other tribes they had their own language, customs, traditions, and own history which made them a distinct population and tribal nation. The Odawa, also known as the Ottawa, had a close connection to the Ojibwe/Chippewa and Potawatomi. All three tribes, referred to as the Anishnaabek (the original people), were known as the Three Fires Confederacy. They fought wars together, inter-married, and shared villages.

The name Odawa was said to mean traders, buyers and sellers. They were considered prominent leaders concerning the fur trading business. Their abilities included their diplomatic skills with other tribal nations and white settlers. They were great fishermen, hunters and also relied upon their corn crops, prepared maple syrup and gathered wild berries to provide for their families. The Odawa products, sought after by other tribal nations and white settlers, consisted of woven mats, black ash baskets and birch bark goods (Cappel, 2007).

The area the Odawa  lived in was referred to as L’Arbre Croche, which included a series of villages stretching from present day Cross Village to Harbor Springs, Michigan. “Arbre,” meant tree and “croche,” meant crooked or hook like. They deformed trees to serve as council trees and marker trees. Most of the trees were large maples. The deformed trees were formerly used to guide Native Americans on the overland path from Chicago to the Straits of Mackinac. To deform a tree, the center trunk was removed at a human’s shoulder height which caused the surrounding branches to grow out in an inverted umbrella shape. Deformed trees of this nature can also be found in ancient sacred sites in New England (Hanka, N.D.).

The Odawa people were not completely exterminated or moved to another part of the country like many other tribes. Because many of the Odawa people were peace-loving and agrarian, they decided to assimilate with the white settlers. The common belief of the white settlers was if the inhabitants farmed the land they lived on, the land belonged to them. Otherwise, if the land was not being farmed, it was up for grabs. They worked as lumbermen, shop keepers, carpenters, and educators alongside the settlers and were part of the changing economic environment.

During the summer months, women were responsible for planting and cultivating corn, beans, peas, and other vegetables. When crops were plentiful, they traded the surplus. White merchants often depended on Indian corn to feed their voyageurs (canoeists) each year.  Agriculture was considered to be the responsibility of the women of the village along with the production of bulrush mats, and tanned hides for the wigwams. The hides were attached to a frame of saplings bent to form a dome shape. The women also made fishing nets, sweet grass baskets, and other containers. While the women worked the fields and watched their children, the men hunted or fished. They were also on alert to protect their village. The Odawa relied on agriculture, hunting, fishing and berry gathering to provide for the community.

 

            From 1763 to 1766 Chief Pontiac of the Odawa tribe from the Detroit area became famous because of his role in Pontiac’s rebellion. The rebellion represented an American Indian struggle against the British military efforts concerning the Great Lakes region. In July of 1763 Pontiac successfully defeated the British at the Battle of Bloody Run. He was unable to capture the fort at Detroit. Other Indian groups joined Pontiac’s rebellion against the British and these groups captured eight forts in what were present-day Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. They were crafty warriors with one thing in mind, to defeat the British by tricking the soldiers into allowing them to enter the forts, then they would capture and/or kill the residents (Cappel, 2007).

            When the Detroit Fort was under siege other tribal groups attacked and took over Ft. Presque Isle, Ft. Le Boeuf, Ft. Venango, Ft. Miami, Ft. St. Joseph, Ft. Ouilatenon, Fort Sandusky and Ft. Michilimackinac. Ft. Bedford and Ft. Ligonier. Ft. Pitt and Ft. Niagara were assaulted but not taken. Pontiac led a multitude of American Indians from several tribes in the resistance effort to drive the British from American/Indian held lands. The attacks on British forts may have led to much of the animosity of the British towards the Indian people.  Sir Jeffery Amherst heard about the Indian attacks on the British forts (Cappel, 2007). Pontiac’s Rebellion came to an abrupt halt when Colonel Henry Bouquet led a large army unit from Fort Pitt to Ohio and forced the Indian warriors to make peace (Douglas, 1996).

            Amherst served as a British officer in the British Army. He was responsible for Britain’s successful war campaign at the New France territory during the French and Indian War in 1763 and he took over New France.  Because of this victory, Amherst was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Forces; shortly after this appointment he was also promoted to General. Amherst was known for being a racist and he passed on his beliefs to those under his command. He believed all Indian people were “savages,” undeserving of living.

            “The depiction of Indians as wild beasts was quite common among early American leaders, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. David E. Stannard writes: ‘As is so often the case, it was New England’s religious elite who made the point more graphically than anyone. Referring to some Indians who had given offense to the colonists, the Reverend Cotton Mather wrote: ‘Once you have but got the Track of those Ravenous howling Wolves, then pursue them vigorously; Turn not back till they are consumed…Beat them small as the Dust Before the Wind.’ Lest this be regarded as mere rhetoric, empty of literal intent, consider that another of New England’s most esteemed religious leaders, the Reverend Solomon Stoddard, as late as 1703 formally proposed to the Massachusetts Governor that the colonists be given the financial wherewithal to purchase and train large packs of dogs ‘to hunt Indians as they do bears’” (Stannard, 1992, pg. 241).

Amherst’s blindness, due to his hatred, led him to seek war against the Indian people as much as possible. Native Americans, concerned about warnings given them by the French that the British wanted to take all their land,  led them to fear Amherst. He gave Seneca land near Niagara to some of his officers for payment for their dedicated service. His actions proved the Britain’s attitude toward land rights and treaty rights between the Six Nations and the colony of New York were to be ignored (Utley and Washburn, 2001).

Amherst plotted to exterminate the Indian people at the same time the Odawa were returning British officers and soldiers to the British fort in Montreal. “With the surrender of New France to Great Britain, command of the English North American military forces fell to Lord Jeffrey Amherst. An arrogant aristocrat who despised all Indians, Amherst withheld gunpowder and lead from France’s former native allies, stating that England’s enemies ought to be punished, not rewarded. When informed the tribes depended on their muskets for taking game and would starve without ammunition, he remained unswayed, callously informing his aides that they should seed the complaining bands with smallpox so as to lend starvation a speedy hand” (Robertson, 2001, pg. 119).

He gave orders to supply smallpox infected blankets to American Indians at Ft. Pitt. He expressed his readiness to use any possible method to wipe out the Indian race completely. A letter from Colonel Henry Bouquet to General Amherst dated July 13, 1763 suggested the distribution of blankets to exterminate the Indians. In another letter dated July 16, 1763 from Amherst to Bouquet, Amherst gave approval of supplying contaminated blankets and every other method to exterminate the Indian people (Cappel, 2007).

“In the spring of 1763, during the Indian uprising led by Ottawa Chief Pontiac, a party of Delewares ringed British owned Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), calling for its surrender. Captain Simeon Ecuyer, a Swiss mercenary and the fort’s senior officer, saved the garrison by giving the Delawares a gift – two blankets and a handkerchief. The Indians readily accepted the offering, but still demanded the Ecuyer vacate the stockade. They had no inkling that the blankets and kerchief were more deadly than a platoon of English sharpshooters. Ecuyer had ordered the presents deliberately infected with small pox spores at the post hospital. By mid-July, the Delewares were dying as though they had been raked by a grape cannonade. Fort Pitt remained firmly in English hands” (Robertson, 2001, pg. 119).

                       

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            On June 2nd, 1763, a group of Ojibwe men joined by members of the Sauk nation decided to invite the soldiers and settlers residing at the fort to watch a performance of a game called baaga’adowe, a game later referred to as lacrosse. The game was staged outside of the fort. Soldiers and Canadians intermingled with the Indian people. Many of the Native women were covered in blankets and they moved near the open gate to the fortress. 

They played diligently pretending their focus was on the game until one of the men threw a ball near the gate to the fort. As they ran towards the gate, they began yelling war howls. They grabbed hatchets from the Indian women which were hidden under the blankets the women were wearing. The attack was fierce. During the massacre many of the soldiers were scalped while they were still alive. (Scalping was also practiced by the British, it was not only an Indian warfare custom.) 

Lieutenant Lesley, Captain Etherington, eleven soldiers and three traders survived the attack. The three traders and an English soldier were taken by the Ojibwe in a canoe. While they were being transported to the Isles of Castor, approximately 100 Odawa warriors saved the four prisoners. It was rumored the Ojibwe planned on taking the prisoners to the Isles of Castor to kill them. The Odawas shook hands with the prisoners and took them in their own canoes back to Ft. Michilimackinac. The Odawa were well-armed and took over the fort. In spite of the takeover, they made peace and it was decided to join forces concerning the running of the fort with the Ojibwe. Ft. Michilimackinac, a busy hub for trade, had proven to be a successful venture (Amour, 1971). 

            On June 11, 1763 the Odawa people transported Lieutenant Lesley, Captain Etherington, and eleven soldiers by canoe to L’Arbre Croche. They were welcomed and invited to participate in the day-to-day activities at the Odawa settlement. The Odawa people residing at L’Arbre Croche wanted to be friends with the British and many did not support Pontiac’s efforts to destroy the British. They established a working relationship with the white settlers in the area based on peaceful cooperation, trading and commerce. The Odawa traded furs and venison for items that made their lives easier such as pots and pans. They worked alongside the white settlers in the lumber business. The British captives provided help with the building of the longhouses for the Odawa.

 

Canoes heavily packed with dried venison, apples, other produce, and weapons were lined up along the beach awaiting departure. The soldiers were eager to return to their people; but at the same time they were feeling some regret about leaving the hospitality of the Odawa people. It was the middle of July in 1763. Some of the same Odawa men who took over the fort from the Ojibwe were transporting the British soldiers back to Montreal (Cappel, 2007).

The Odawa men, British officers and soldiers boarded the canoes. The British officers and soldiers were required to row the canoes. They sat in the center of the canoes with the Odawa men in the back and front of the canoes. The rowing was easier since the waters were not choppy for most of the journey. The group of Odawa men and British made good time and arrived in Montreal on the second week in August. It took a little over three weeks to complete the journey. Stops were made along the way to sleep, fish and hunt. After holding council with the British leaders, they departed to return to L’Arbre Croche the third week in August in 1763 and arrived at L’Arbre Croche the third week in September. Amherst and other British officers gave them a metal box and told them not to open it until they arrived at their village (Cappel, 2007).

“…it was notable fact at this time the Ottawas were greatly reduced in numbers from what they were in former times, on account of the small-pox which they brought from Montreal during the French War with Great Britain. This smallpox… shut up in a tin box, with the strict injunction not to open the box on their way homeward, but only when they should reach their country; and that this box contained something that would do them great good, and their people! The foolish people believed really there was something in the box – supernatural, that would do them great good. Accordingly, after they reached home, they opened the box; but behold there was another box inside the second box, smaller yet. So, they kept on this way till they came to a very small box, which was not more than an inch long; and when they opened the last one, they found nothing but moldy particles in this last little box! They wondered very much what it was, and a great many closely inspected to try to find out what it meant. But alas, alas! Pretty soon burst out a terrible sickness among them” (Cappel, 2007, pg. 104-105).

Once smallpox finds a host in a community, it can spread rapidly. There are two types of the smallpox virus: variola major and variola minor. Variola major was the most severe and the most common form which had a death rate of 30%. The strain of variola minor has a death rate of 1%. Between 1940 and 1970 there was a widespread vaccination to prevent the disease.

            The smallpox virus can be spread from person to person by simply breathing in airborne respiratory droplets from a contaminated person or by touching the skin rash, sores and scabs of an infected person, being exposed to cadavers who died from it or by sharing blankets, clothing, and towels. Smallpox is a highly contagious disease. The best way to prevent the disease from spreading during the 1700s was by either burning or burying the deceased along with their clothing and blankets.

            The infection of the virus begins after an incubation period of approximately 12 to 14 days. During the incubation period, people do not experience any symptoms and they are not contagious at all. The first sign of the disease, referred to as the prodromal phase, lasts two to four days and the symptoms during this phase were: fever, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, aching body, and sore throat. People may be contagious during this stage. The prodromal stage may last up to 20 days or longer.

            During the prodromal stage, small red spots appear on a person’s tongue and in the mouth which turn into sores containing the virus. The rash spreads on a person’s face, arms, legs, and feet and the rest of the body within 24 hours. A rash turn into raised bumps and these bumps become fluid filled. A fever reoccurs and remains high until scabs form. Again, this was when the infected person was the most contagious especially when the mouth sores break open and fill the mouth and throat with the variola virus.       

            Which further complicates this virus were some of the other life threatening and extremely problematic symptoms such as bronchopneumonia, arthritis, serious eye problems, and osteomyelitis. The eye problems include corneal ulceration and blindness. Osteomyelitis, referred to as an infection in a bone, can reach a bone by traveling through the bloodstream or spreading from nearby tissue. Once considered an incurable condition, osteomyelitis can be successfully treated today. Most people required surgery to remove parts of the bone that had died which was followed by strong antibiotics, often delivered intravenously, typically for at least six weeks. The disease caused serious and problematic symptoms which often ended in death (Cappel, 2007). Native Americans lived in fear of smallpoxs’ debilitating and deadly symptoms.

 

            “Smallpox, which was introduced into the mainland of the Americas in the early part of the sixteenth century, not only decimated the native population for four centuries, but so demoralized the tribes through the terror it spread among them that it has been considered by many authorities to have been an important factor in their comparatively easy subjugation by the whites. Before the advent of the white man, tribal warfare and, at times, famine made the chief inroads on the native population, but during the period of exploration and settlement the diseases of the white man, new to the native, caused terrific havoc…” (Wanger and Stearn, 1945, pg. 13).

 

Thousands died from the smallpox epidemic at the L’Arbre Croche settlement in 1763 as a result of an act of genocide conducted by General Amherst and the men under his command. The medicine men and women did not know how to treat the foreign disease that had taken the lives of so many of their people. They asked some of the white settlers about what could be happening to them.  Father du Jaunay informed the Odawa people that he thought it was smallpox and they needed to protect themselves from spreading the disease any further. The Odawa Indians who had already contracted the disease were required to bury the people who died from the disease. The sick were sequestered in longhouses and kept away from the healthy people at the settlement. The Odawa people buried many of their dead family members and friends in shallow graves along the water front.