Nicholas Orontony (c. 1695–1750) was an 18th-century Wyandot leader who, in the years before the French and Indian War, tried to escape the domination of New France over Native people in the Detroit region by resettling in the Ohio country and forming an anti-French tribal coalition.
His efforts at trying to organize armed resistance to a European power, culminating in events in 1747 sometimes known as the "Conspiracy of Nicholas", made him a forerunner of more famous Native leaders in the region such as Pontiac, Blue Jacket, and Tecumseh.
There, they came under the influence of British traders and of an established mixed ethnic population, including Iroquois, settled on the Cuyahoga River, near present Cleveland, Ohio.
Increasing economic exploitation was bringing pressure and conflict to the region and the French sought to protect their assets against non-French traders, especially those from Pennsylvania.
The outbreak of King George's War in 1744 sparked open conflict and, in the spring of 1747 five French traders returning to Detroit were killed near Cuyahoga.