Tessouat

Tessouat (Anishinaabe: Tesswehas) (c. ??? – 1636/1654) was an Algonquin chief from the Kitchesipirini nation ("Kitche"=Great, "sipi"=river, "rini"=people: the people from the great river, the Ottawa River). His nation lived in an area extending from Lac des Deux-Montagnes to Pembroke, Ontario.

Tessouat lived in L'Isle-aux-Allumettes, in a neck of the Ottawa River. He was described by the French settlers as having a strong character. He was also blind in one eye (in French, borgne) and was dubbed "le Borgne de l'isle". His position was highly strategic, as the Ottawa River was the safest way to go from the St. Lawrence River to Hudson Bay and to Huronia, near Georgian Bay. Tessouat took advantage of his position to impose some sort of customs duties on the French fur traders navigating on the Ottawa River, as well as to impose some of his authority. For example, in 1633, he refused to let the Jesuits go to Huronia, fearing he would lose authority in the region. To maintain the economic supremacy of the Kitchisipirini, he made great efforts to keep his French, Wendat (Huron), and Odawa allies from trading with each other directly, preferring that they trade through Algonquin middlemen.

At that time, the Algonquins, Wendats, and several other Great Lakes First Nations were at war with the Iroquois Confederacy. Yet, Tessouat initiated peace talks with the Mohawk nation and, in 1634, they agreed to a peace treaty. The alleged motive behind this political move was to gain access to the Dutch settlers in what is now known the New York State, perhaps in order to be in a better negotiating position with the French traders. Peace with the Mohawks only lasted two years and Tessouat died a few months after bloody fights against the Mohawks.

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