Ottawa / Odawa

Modern Ottawa was once called Odawa meaning traders. It was a trading post set up by the Outaouais (a native tribe in the area). When the city of Ottawa was first established it went by a different name – Bytown. Historian Robert Haig called it "brawling, rioting, lusting, wenching Bytown," the "most feared community in North America." Immigration inspired by the construction of the Rideau Canal led to a quarrelsome population with different religious, ethnic and political backgrounds. Bytown had such a notorious history for criminal activity, once it was in the running for becoming the capital of Canada it was thought its name would bring an association of its rough past, so a name change was in order. It was decided that Outaouais would be a suitable replacement. However, it is said that Queen Victoria couldn’t pronounce it so the name became Ottawa.

The History of Canada’s Capital:

www.teskey.com/ottawa/

Ottawa is the current capital of Canada, hosting Parliament, the Prime Minister and the Ottawa Senators hockey club. Now it is a stately city with British-styled architecture. Long ago, in the 1600s, nothing existed here but a series of beaver meadows, dank swamps and impassable stretches of wilderness.

The first inhabitants of the Ottawa area were the Algonquin Indians who called the Ottawa River the "Kichesippi" - the Great River - and called themselves the Kichesippirini (People of the Great River).

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