The Ecorse River is a small river in southern Michigan. Because of its small size, it is often identified as Ecorse Creek. It flows through the Downriver section of Metro Detroit, and is a tributary of the Detroit River. The early French settlers named it the Rivière aux Écorces, meaning the "bark river". The river was given this name because of a custom, of the local Native American tribe, of wrapping its dead in birch or elm bark, and burying them at the mouth of the river. City of Wyandotte The river has two branches, which meet at Council Point Park in the city of Lincoln Park, where Chief Pontiac once held a council in 1763 before attacking Fort Detroit.