Elizabeth Bertrand, known as Elizabeth Mitchell after her marriage to the British army surgeon David Mitchell, was a prominent

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawato ...

fur trader and political leader around the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; french: Détroit de Mackinac) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connect ...

in the early nineteenth century. In her native

Anishinaabe language Ojibwe , also known as Ojibwa , Ojibway, Otchipwe,R. R. Bishop Baraga, 1878''A Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Otchipwe Language''/ref> Ojibwemowin, or Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of North America of the Algonquian la ...

she was known as Omagigiwikway.

Family background

Map of Mackinac Island - Annals of Fort Mackinac - 1889 - Busenbark edition

Elizabeth Bertrand was born sometime after the middle of the eighteenth century. Her mother was an

Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

woman and her father was a French

fur trader The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

. Growing up in the Anishinaabe culture of her mother, it was reported that Elizabeth spoke a mixture of the

and

Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known as the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. They h ...

dialects. In 1776, Elizabeth married the British army surgeon David Mitchell. Through their collaboration in the fur trade, the couple soon became one of the wealthiest families on the upper

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five la ...

. From 1781 until 1811, the Mitchells lived in a grand house on

Michilimackinac Michilimackinac ( ) is derived from an Ottawa Ojibwe name for present-day Mackinac Island and the region around the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.. Early settlers of North America applied the term to the entire region ...

where they had numerous children. Elizabeth Mitchell and her family were described as "prominent, interesting, aristocratic, and wealthy" by the writer Elizabeth Therèse Baird, who was born on Mackainc in 1810.

War of 1812

During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

, Elizabeth played an active role mobilizing Indigenous warriors to fight against the United States. Her efforts were especially important in repelling the American attack on Mackinac in 1814. It was thanks to the leadership of prominent Anishinaabe individuals such as Elizabeth Mitchell and

Jean-Baptiste Assiginack Jean-Baptiste Assiginack (1768 - 3 November 1866) was an Odawa The Odawa (also Ottawa or Odaawaa ), said to mean "traders", are an Indigenous American ethnic group who primarily inhabit land in the Eastern Woodlands region, commonly known ...

that American forces were consistently defeated in the region of the upper Great Lakes, despite important victories elsewhere. In recognition of her influence among the Anishinaabe communities around the Straits of Mackinac, the British government granted her an allowance of 50 pounds per year for a period of two years following the end of the war.

Later life

The period following the War of 1812 was difficult for the Mitchell family. After Mackinac was returned to the Americans as per the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

, David Mitchell withdrew with the British garrison to nearby

Drummond Island Drummond may refer to: Places Antarctica * Drummond Peak, King Edward VII Land * Drummond Glacier, Graham Land Canada * Drummond (electoral district), a Quebec federal riding * Drummond (provincial electoral district), Quebec * Drummon ...

in July 1815, where he was employed as a surgeon in the

British Indian Department The Indian Department was established in 1755 to oversee relations between the British Empire and the First Nations of North America. The imperial government ceded control of the Indian Department to the Province of Canada in 1860, thus setting ...

. Elizabeth however stayed on Mackinac Island to look after their interests there. The American government resented the role Elizabeth had played in the war, and for a number of years U.S. officials attempted to bar her involvement in the fur trade. Elizabeth complained of her treatment to the British government, although little came from her complaints. Nonetheless, the Mitchells continued to be prosperous and influential on both sides of the international border despite the changing circumstance following the end of the War of 1812. Elizabeth Bertrand died on February 28, 1827, while visiting her family at Drummond Island.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bertrand, Elizabeth British Indian Department Native American leaders Native American people of the Indian Wars People of the War of 1812 Fur traders Anishinaabe people 18th-century Native American women 19th-century Native American women