Editing Ottawa (section)

=== Early history ===
[[File:Champlain Sea 1.png|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Champlain Sea]]]]

The [[Ottawa Valley]] became habitable around 10,000 years ago, following the natural draining of the [[Champlain Sea]].<ref name="Miller2015">{{cite book |author=William J. Miller |title=Geology: The Science of the Earth's Crust (Illustrations) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XwWYBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT37 |year=2015 |publisher=P. F. Collier & Son Company |page=37 |id=GGKEY:Y3TD08H3RAT |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510005752/https://books.google.com/books?id=XwWYBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT37 |archive-date=10 May 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=15 April 2013 |title=The Champlain Sea: here yesterday, gone tomorrow |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/wat-on-earth/news/champlain-sea-here-yesterday-gone-tomorrow |access-date=13 July 2022 |website=Wat on Earth |language=en |archive-date=14 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714034215/https://uwaterloo.ca/wat-on-earth/news/champlain-sea-here-yesterday-gone-tomorrow |url-status=live}}</ref> Archaeological findings of arrowheads, tools and pottery indicate that Indigenous populations first settled in the area about 6,500 years ago.<ref name="Pilon">{{cite web |last1=Pilon |first1=Jean-Luc |title=Ancient History of the Lower Ottawa River Valley |url=http://www.ottawariver.org/pdf/04-ch2-2.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304112029/http://www.ottawariver.org/pdf/04-ch2-2.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=9 November 2015 |website=Ottawa River Heritage Designation Committee |publisher=Ontario Archaeology – Canadian Museum of Civilization}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Rideau Canal Attracts Settlers |url=https://elocalpost.com/ottawa/contents/rideau-canal-attracts-settlers-history |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714034214/https://elocalpost.com/ottawa/contents/rideau-canal-attracts-settlers-history |archive-date=14 July 2022 |access-date=2 May 2021 |website=eLocal Post Ottawa |date=13 October 2016 |author1=Carlo}}</ref> These findings suggest that these [[Algonquin people]] were engaged in foraging, hunting and fishing, but also trade and travel. Three major rivers meet within Ottawa, making it an important trade and travel area for thousands of years.<ref name="Pilon" /> The Algonquins are a broad Indigenous people who are closely related to the [[Odawa]] and [[Ojibwe]] peoples.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Ottawa |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ottawa-ont |date=11 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220714034213/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ottawa-ont |archive-date=14 July 2022 |author=John Taylor |access-date=26 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Algonquin |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/algonquin |date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817064719/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/algonquin |archive-date=17 August 2021 |author=Meredith Jean Black |access-date=26 August 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> This period ended with the arrival of settlers and [[European colonization of the Americas|colonization]] of North America by Europeans during and after the 15th century.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 April 2018 |title=Warfare In Pre-Columbian North America |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/popular-books/aboriginal-people-canadian-military/warfare-pre-columbian-north-america.html |access-date=13 July 2022 |website=National Defence - Government of Canada |archive-date=24 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324062210/https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/military-history/history-heritage/popular-books/aboriginal-people-canadian-military/warfare-pre-columbian-north-america.html |url-status=live}}</ref>