Elizabeth Bertrand

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

[2] During the War of 1812, Elizabeth played an active role in mobilizing Indigenous warriors to fight against the United States.

It was thanks to the leadership of prominent Anishinaabe individuals such as Elizabeth Mitchell and Jean-Baptiste Assiginack that American forces were consistently defeated in the region of the upper Great Lakes, despite important victories elsewhere.

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.

[1] 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.