Date of Award

12-2024

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

History

First Advisor

José António Brandão, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Sally Hadden, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Michael S. Nassaney, Ph.D.

Keywords

Odawa, warfare

Access Setting

Masters Thesis-Open Access

Abstract

This research employs the ethnohistorical method to explore how the Odawa people perceived and carried out warfare from 1615 to 1700. While historians have examined the Odawa, these Native peoples have frequently not been the central focus in the secondary literature. Many primary sources also offer a vague answer as to how the Odawa conceived and carried out warfare. This study aims to clarify historiographical inconsistencies by quantitatively analyzing a database, constructed by the author, of specific primary references to known hostilities between the Odawa, other Native groups, and Europeans. The analysis includes specific variables germane to hostilities such as date, location, combatants, motivation, and outcome. These results are examined through the lenses of historical context and what is known about Odawa culture during the time period. Results indicate that in the first half of the century, Odawa warfare was conducted as part of a hunter-warrior culture that valued violence for its ability to enrich its members and to ensure survival and not for the sake of violence itself. Further, results indicate that around the mid-point of the century the Odawa became more aggressive in war to preserve their lives and culture as a result of increased attacks by their enemies and soured relationships with the French who they believed were their allies.

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