They comprise what is called the Three Fires Council. Although these three tribes have similar cultures and share the same territory, there are still some differences. The Ottawa people were seasonal wanderers of the land and sailors of the Great Lakes gathering wild rice, netting fish, trapping both large and small game, and hunting large game such as moose, deer, and caribou.
Ottawa people continue to be great traders and craftsmen.
One hallmark of Ottawa life is the birch bark canoe. When the French came, the Ottawa people adapted well to the fur-trading economy and managed to avoid major military entanglements with the European colonial powers competing with each other for North American land and resource dominance. They did, however, fight with the Iroquois throughout the early 1600's. At the point of European contact, the Potawatomi tribe inhabited the southwest corner of what is now Michigan in the areas of Kalamazoo and the St. Joseph River and adjacent parts of Indiana. They moved there deliberately from more northern regions to take advantage of the milder southern climate.