Waawiiyaataanong

Waawiiyaataanong lies on the Detroit River, the strait linking Lake St Clair and Lake Erie. The waterway connects the upper Great Lakes to the lower lakes and the St Lawrence. Its French name, Détroit, means “strait”; the settlement beside it became a centre of trade among Indigenous peoples and Europeans.

In 1701 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and Alphonse de Tonty founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit. France lost the post to Britain after the Seven Years' War, and it remained under British control for years after American independence. The British departed in 1796, but war returned in 1812 when American commander William Hull surrendered Detroit to British forces. Control of the strait remained a major concern to the powers contesting the Great Lakes.