Fighting for Homeland

During the struggle between Britain and France for alliances in North America, both powers negotiated with American Indian tribes to gain support or secure neutrality. In Canada, Algonquian tribes, including the Ottawa, Huron, Abenaki, and Minimac, allied with the French, while the Iroquois tribes, including the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora, were enemies of the Algonquian and allied with the British or remained neutral. American Indians adapted European trade goods into warfare, acquiring steel blades and firearms while still using traditional weapons such as bows, arrows, spears, tomahawks, and knives when advantageous. Their tactics differed from those of European armies because warriors could not afford heavy losses and instead relied on surprise attacks that minimized casualties and spread terror, a style of fighting that British rangers and Canadian milice also learned as La Petite Guerre. Sir William Johnson cultivated friendship and cooperation with American Indians, and his influence with the Iroquois was critical to British victory in North America. From 1754 to 1760, American Indians played important roles in major actions, including the attack on Fort Necessity, the defeat of Braddock's army near Fort Duquesne, fighting near Lake George that brought the death of Mohawk chief King Hendrick, expeditions against Fort Bull, Oswego, and Fort William Henry, the withdrawal of Iroquois warriors during the siege of Fort Niagara, and the lack of resistance to the British advance on Montreal.

Niagara University, New York · United States