Pontiac (c. 1720-1769)

American Indian, chief of the Ottawa from 1755. Allied with the French forces during the French and Indian War (the North American branch of the Seven Years' War), Pontiac was hunted by the British after the French withdrawal. He led the ‘Conspiracy of Pontiac’ 1763-64 in an attempt to resist British persecution. He achieved remarkable success against overwhelming odds, but eventually signed a peace treaty in 1766.

Pontiac was born near Detroit. He was murdered by a Peoria Indian in Illinois at the instigation of a British trader.