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One of the many aspects of Native
American culture that was to be shunned

even disregarded by European settlers
was their religious practice.

While spirituality varied from tribe to
tribe, the general points were similar.

Many held ceremonies, which ranged from
involving very few to several members of

a tribe.

And these ceremonies were an integral
part of their daily lives.

The ceremonies were, and still are, a
major part of Native American religion.

They may consist of a feast, dancing,
music, and other performances.

In many cases, these spiritual beliefs
had been based in the natural world,

many other religions, involving daily
ritual.

This inclusion of nature allowed for a
greater appreciation for all parts of

life and death.

Many tribes would speak of specific
animals in their legends to help explain

events, such as the creation of the
world.

These stories have also been used to
help others navigate in difficult phases

their lives.

These vital stories were spoken, not
written, and were passed down from

generation to generation.

Because Native American religion did not
have a written dogma, as in

Christianity, it has not always been
considered to be a true religion.

The complexity of these unwritten
beliefs was therefore unseen and

non -Natives to understand.

It was not a practice that could be
easily picked up and imitated, but

was a set of beliefs and traditions that
involved a great deal of time and

dedication and immersion in order to be
fully realized.

Many tribes had their own version of
clergymen called shamans and sometimes

medicine men.

Their roles in decisions and ceremonies
were highly valued and respected, as

these men were wise and very
experienced.

Many were also healers who used herbs
and other natural concoctions and

to help their people through a variety
of troubles and illnesses.

Native Americans believed that a
person's soul was immortal, and after

would continue to travel through the
spirit world.

For this, death was often celebrated and
ceremonies were held to help the soul

of the dead to begin their journey.

These ceremonies would involve the
giving of food and herbs and gifts to

deceased to ensure an easy journey and
to keep the spirit from roaming on

In some cases, special care was taken of
the dead.

As with the Hopi Indians, the body would
be specially washed with oils from the

yucca plant and then dressed in
traditional clothing.

Many tribes would hold a potlatch for
the grieving family, providing food and

support during a period following the
death of a tribe member.

This favor would be repaid later on to
uphold the continuity of community.

Alternately, some tribes did not
celebrate death.

With the Apache people, death was
considered the greatest enemy.

With so much effort being put into daily
survival, there was little time to

dedicate to death or even marriage
ceremonies.

Generally speaking, there were more
commonalities than not.

Rituals were often held to encourage
plentiful crops and good harvests.

Women were also a part of these rituals
as they were celebrated as the life

givers in their communities.

The complex belief of Native Americans
that there was no separation between the

natural and supernatural worlds with the
entirety of mankind and nature as part

to one unified working entity would be
cause for one of the greatest cultural

conflicts between Indians and Europeans.

While many Europeans were set on
converting the natives to Christianity,

French chose a very different approach.

Instead of trying to change the ways of
those who were already in North America,

Many of them made efforts to adopt
tribal traditions and ways of life.

Some of the French trappers even took
Indian women as their wives.

This proved especially advantageous when
it came to the interaction between the

peoples for the sake of the fur trade.

The fur trade initially began as a means
of establishing friendly relations with

peoples, when French explorers offered
goods, such as tools and metal knives to

the Indians, as gifts.

The Indians returned this kindness with
fox, marten, mink, otter, and beaver

pelts.

By the early 1600s, beaver had become
the most valuable of these furs, as it

exported to make felted hats, which had
become quite popular in European

fashion.

This industry held steady until the mid
-1800s, when

over -trapping and the clearing and
colonization of large areas caused fur

-bearing animals to become scarce.

At about this time, the popularity and
acquisition of silk had made a radical

increase.

By 1870, the switch was made from felt
to silk, thus ending much of the fur

trading activity overseas.

The first known fur trading center was
established in 1608 in what is now known

as Quebec by French explorer Samuel de
Champlain.

And the English settlers of the New
England and Virginian regions developed

their own fur trade industry by forming
an alliance with the Iroquois.

In 1670, the Hudson Bay Company was
established to help European businesses

handle the increased number of pelts
being exported from North America.

Even though English merchants founded
this company through the help of two

French traders, Competition for trading
rights in the region between the

Allegheny Mountains and the Mississippi
River became tense.

It would be only one of several reasons
for the start of the French and Indian

War in 1754.

In addition to the Hudson Bay Company,
British merchants in Montreal attempted

to start another firm.

nor Wester's in 1783.

It was met with many complications
despite daring expeditions, and after

financially in 1821, it merged with the
Hudson Bay Company.

During the late 1700s, Alaska and Russia
established a relationship in the fur

trade, the Russian -American Company.

Because many Western natives had little
interest in the trapping side of fur

trading, white frontiersmen such as Kit
Carson, John Coulter, and Jedediah Smith

were hired to roam the wilds of the
Rocky Mountains in search of fur.

They became known as mountain men.

Annual trappers' gatherings, or
rendezvous, were held so trappers could

their furs.

and restocked their supplies for the
upcoming year.

Having a central location for such an
exchange saved the men the time and

it would take to go to multiple trading
posts.

It also curbed hostilities between
peoples, as it kept the traders from

interacting between tribes who
considered each other to be enemies.

This was not always foolproof, however,
and as with the case of Three Forks in

Montana, trapping parties were still
often attacked.

In April 1810, five such trappers were
killed, while the remaining party

barricaded themselves within the fort at
Three Forks.

After having grown tired of being stuck
there, George Juillard and two Delaware

Indians left the fort to travel up the
Gallatin River.

They were found and killed by members of
the Blackfeet tribe.

While these attacks weren't widely the
norm, it was the conflict between the

French and English empires and their
drawing of the natives into the quarrels

that caused the most friction.

The Indians were caught in the middle,
not wishing to damage alliances with the

French, because, unlike the English, The
trappers had no interest in settling on

Indian lands, but instead worked as
amicably and non -invasively as

Ultimately, there was some attraction
for the natives to keep good relations

with the British because of the promises
made to curb the trespassing of

colonists on native lands.

It was to the misfortune of the Indian
populations that Britain, prevailed over

France in 1763, resulting in not only
the continuation of colonist expansion,

but also an increase in settlement
population and the destruction of lands.

With the arrival of more and more
British settlers came an increase in the

attempt to convert Native Americans to
Christianity.

In some instances, the Indians welcomed
the missionaries.

As Native American spirituality was
generally inclusive, in that it would

other religious ideas in addition to,
but not as a replacement of their own,

many Christian beliefs were in fact
accepted.

It was to the great frustration of the
missionaries that the natives didn't

relinquish their former beliefs to
instead accept all elements of the

doctrine.

There was much puzzlement amongst both
Native Americans and white Christians

over the entire matter of each other's
religions.

One Seneca chief questioned, If there is
but one religion, why do you white

people differ so much about it?

In other cases, The mission of
converting Indians was not a welcome

it involved more than the conversion of
religious beliefs.

Many Puritans considered Indians to be
savages, godless and sinful heathens

that had to be transformed in every
possible way.

This transformation often involved the
complete abandonment of Native

traditions, including how they dressed
and, for the men, how they wore their

hair.

What were known as praying towns were
established, and Indians were broken of

their individuality and rebuilt
according to Christian ways and beliefs.

While some of these conversions were
done on a voluntary basis, many were

forced.

Even after a lot of natives made these
drastic social and religious changes,

colonists still regarded them.

as lesser individuals.

There is some debate as to whether the
English truly had good intentions

concerning the natives and the fate of
their immortal souls.

Some missionaries were said to have
nothing but the noblest of goals in

while many natives didn't feel that
their lives required any sort of

intervention or salvation.

In other cases, This conversion was more
of a civilizing tactic, not to better

the natives as people, but to make more
use of the territories that the

colonists wished to possess.

Thomas Jefferson saw the entire process
as a business venture, figuring that the

less the natives behaved like natives,
the more it would benefit everyone else,

namely the droves of arriving colonists.

First, to encourage them to abandon
hunting, to apply to the raising stock,

agriculture and domestic manufacture,
and thereby prove to themselves that

land and labor will maintain them in
this better than in their former mode of

living. The extensive forests necessary
in the hunting life will then become

useless.

and they will see advantage in
exchanging them for the means of

farms and of increasing their domestic
comforts. In leading them thus to

agriculture, to manufacturers and
civilization, in bringing together their

our settlements, and in preparing them
ultimately to participate in the

of our government, I trust and believe
we are acting for their greatest good.

While this might have seemed in the best
interest of the Indians, and some

tribes welcomed services that the whites
could provide through treaties and the

payment of money and goods for land,
there were just as many who had no

intention of altering their customs or
lifestyles.

The missionaries, Dunbar and Alice,
faced their share of difficulties in

to spread their beliefs to the Pawnee
Indians.

With many of the Pawnees dying off from
smallpox and the increasing strength of

their enemies, the Lakotas, travel and
religious expansion became complicated.

Dunbar and Alice had also started
families and found that staying in one

where they could devote energies to
agriculture, was more conducive to their

needs.

Like the missionaries who had come
before them and had had similar

with other tribes, they had also become
aware of the fact that the Pawnees were

reluctant to give up their old ways.

Some of those hindrances involved the
constant attacks made by the Lakotas.

And even though some of the Pawnees had
expressed considerable interest in

converting to Christianity, there
remained not the slightest hint that any

them ever planned to go through with it.

The same could be said of their giving
up hunting to become farmers.

It wasn't until the Pawnees had been so
weakened by disease and intertribal

warfare that they finally began to
accept reservation life and many of

traditional customs began to fade.

While the reluctance to convert at times
was vast, in many cases it was not over

the non -acceptance of a new belief, so
much as it was the forceful manner in

which Christianity was introduced.

As with the Spanish law of the
requerimiento that stated that any

native would, without choice, be
converted, and the kidnapping of Indian

children by English colonists for that
same purpose, it was no wonder

that the Indians were not only
skeptical, but also resistant.

towards this change.

Not all efforts were unsuccessful,
however.

In the first two decades of the 19th
century, missionaries from multiple

Christian denominations were sent to the
southeastern territory of the United

States.

Their mission was to convert the
Cherokee Indians, and surprisingly, they

met with positive response.

In addition to new religious beliefs,
the Cherokees also accepted other

of white culture.

There was some opposition, of course,
with some tribal leaders encouraging the

complete rejection of white
civilization.

But to the missionaries, this mass
conversion of natives was revered as it

proof of successful integration of
Indians into white Christian society.

With the French trappers working as much
alongside of the Indians as they could

and the English settlers trying to
colonize as much American land as

the natives were once again caught in
the middle by simply being where they'd

always been.

In 1754, the fighting between the French
and English over the control of much of

North America began, with many of the
native tribes having allied.

with the French.

This war, which would end up lasting for
seven years, was part of a larger war

already going on in Europe.

In America, it started when Lieutenant
Colonel George Washington and his troops

marched to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to
push the French out of a new fort.

This mission failed, and French control
spread throughout the region.

Two years later, the war took a turn and
the British began to defeat the French.

In 1759, British General James Wolfe and
his army attacked the French in Quebec

and defeated them.

Both General Wolfe and his French rival,
General Montcalm, were killed in this

battle.

In 1763, the war ended, with the French
having lost.

The Treaty of Paris was signed.

on February 10th of that same year,
giving Britain control of Canada and all

French areas east of the Mississippi
River.

Spain gave Florida to the British in
exchange for the former French areas to

west of the Mississippi.

Britain also gained control of the
Philippines and the French Caribbean

Temporary control was obtained of
Spanish Cuba, but it was returned to

with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

Once again, the cost of war caused great
financial trouble for the American

colonies, as Great Britain imposed
higher taxes on the settlers to help

the debt.

Not only were the colonists against this
imposition set on them by their ruling

country, but as settlements grew and
became more independent from Britain,

greater became their resentment.

These factors would heavily influence
the start of the American Revolution and

the pursuit of independence from
England.

France's loss in the French and Indian
War caused great upset among the

Before the war, the Indians had been
more peaceful than not when it came to

dealing with the French.

and the disruption by these foreigners
on native land had been minimal.

After the war, however, the tribes of
the Ohio Valley were informed that they

were now required to pay royalties to
England's King George III.

This was but a drop in the bucket
compared to other issues the Indians

already facing at the hands of the
English.

With the consistent and constant
invasion of colonists in America, the

were just as consistently being pushed
farther off their land in order to make

room for white settlements.

This was a great contrast to what the
Indians had experienced with the French,

who had come in fewer numbers and never
really set down permanent roots.

The French were also willing to adapt to
many of the tribe's traditions and made

very little impression or change on
those already living in the lands.

The English had also proven to trade
unfairly with the Indians, whereas the

French had made the effort for equal
exchange.

After the English defeated the French,
the Indians were forced to trade with

English. who were untrustworthy in
business dealings.

The Indians had become dependent on
European firearms and ammunition and

manufactured goods, and as the English
wanted to control what sort and amount

weaponry the Indians had, these
relations became strained very quickly.

British arrogance was another cause for
discord between peoples.

Whereas the French were tolerant of
Indian culture, the English were quick

express their aversion to it.

Their general unwillingness to cooperate
with the natives was bad enough.

But when Governor General Sir Geoffrey
Amherst declared that he would no longer

participate in presenting annual gifts
to the tribes, as had become tradition

the French,

It stirred hostility even more.

Not only that, but it cut off the native
access to blankets, guns, and much

-needed tools.

As expected, this rapidly growing unrest
also stirred the concerns of a native

visionary known as the Delaware prophet,
Neolin.

Neolin was strongly in favor of
rejecting contact with the British and

returning. to traditional Indian ways.

Tribes were better able to unite against
the British and, with Neolin's

preaching of native common destiny, they
were able to close the gaps between

their own tribal differences.

According to Neolin, whites were indeed
the source of Indian problems, though

many of the deeper issues amongst the
natives lay in the loss of their

and cultural ways.

These views were supported by Ottawa
chieftain Pontiac, who had been a great

supporter of the French during the
recent war.

In addition to Neyland's teachings,
Pontiac added an anti -European theme,

specifically aimed at the British.

He, along with Seneca, Shawnee, Muncie,
Wyandotte, and Delaware

tribe warriors, attacked British forts
in Ohio, and western Pennsylvania.

By June 1763, they had taken control of
14 British forts, and by

autumn, they had killed or captured more
than 600 people.

Fort Sandusky would fall into the hands
of the Ottawa's shortly thereafter.

Following these losses, the British
government issued the Proclamation of

to keep colonists east.

of the Appalachian Mountains in an
effort to avoid further conflict with

natives. But it was little abided by,
and tensions only increased between the

Indians and the colonists.

By 1764, Pontiac's influence amongst the
tribes made a drastic decline,

and it became more and more difficult to
find others who were willing to join in

his cause.

In 1766, he formally surrendered to the
British.

Though Pontiac's rebellion had ended in
late 1764, he received a pardon by way

of Sir William Johnson.

It was only a few years after that that
Pontiac was killed, not by the British,

but by a fellow Indian.

With the increase of war on American
soil and the hike in taxes created by

Britain to pay for these wars, The
colonists were getting fed up with

dependency.

The Boston Tea Party of 1773 was one of
many retaliations made by

white Americans against the crown.

During this outburst, men dressed as
Mohawk Indians climbed aboard ships

containing crates of heavily taxed
English tea and dumped them overboard

the Boston Harbor.

One of the top members of the Sons of
Liberty, Benjamin Eves, organized the

meeting place for fellow members above
his printing shop.

His son was a mere boy at the time, but
later wrote of what he had witnessed.

I recollect perfectly well that in the
afternoon preceding the evening of the

destruction of T, a number of gentlemen
met in the parlor of my father's house.

I was not admitted at their presence. My
station was in another room to make

punch for them.

They remained in the house till dark, I
suppose to disguise themselves like

Indians, when they left and proceeded to
the loft where the vessels lay.

Another schoolboy by the name of
Benjamin Russell witnessed his father

neighbor painting one another's faces
with soot and red ochre the night of the

tea party.

One theory as to why colonist men took
such time to prepare and dress in this

way is that by this time, The Mohawk
image was becoming increasingly popular

amongst the settlers as a symbol of
liberty against British oppression.

It had already spread throughout the
Atlantic colonies during other protests

prior to the Boston Tea Party, making
its debut against British taxation in

form of the Indian as a symbol of
oppressed America.

This was not the first use of the Mohawk
disguise during colonist rebellion.

The first documented instance of this
was during the burning of British ship

Gaspé in June 1772 in order to stop its
mission of pursuing smugglers off the

New England coast.

Following this, patriotic groups signed
and distributed anti -British

proclamations as the Mohawks, and the
Boston Sons of Liberty used native

such as Mohawk River Indians, for units
of their organization.

During the boycott of English tea, a
substitute called Indian tea made from

locally grown roots was highly promoted.

While this was a significant enough
proclamation on its own, the use of the

image of Indians during pre -American
Revolution times would continue,

eventually leading to its use by Paul
Revere as a symbol of America in

and multiple engravings of sharp
political statements.

We desire you will hear and receive what
we have now told you, and that you will

open a good ear and listen to what we
are now going to say.

This is a family quarrel between us and
old England.

You Indians are not concerned in it. We
don't wish you to take up the hatchet

against the King's troops.

We desire you remain at home and not
join on either side, but keep the

buried deep.

These were words spoken by the Second
Continental Congress during the speech

the Six Nations on July 13, 1775.

When the revolutionary crisis broke out,
staying neutral was hardly an option

for the Indians, and as with many other
European conflicts on American soil, the

natives were caught in the middle.

Because the Indians depended on the
white men for trade and supplies, it was

inevitable that they would have to
choose between supporting the loyalist

or that of the American patriots.

Those who did fight alongside the
British did so as allies to the crown,

King George III.

in the hopes that their loyalty would
protect their homelands from further

invasion of American colonists.

The British government had already
provided Indian lands with some

the Royal Proclamation of 1763, though
it was hardly a fail -safe against

trespassing.

The Indians were well aware that the
revolution was as much a fight over

land as it was for liberty.

Some Indians, as with the Cherokees,
chose to go to war early by attacking

frontier settlements against the advice
of their older chiefs.

Their efforts were unsuccessful.

On the other hand, New England Indians,
who supported their colonial neighbors,

volunteered as minutemen in Washington's
army at the siege of Boston.

The war divided the Iroquois Confederacy
with the Mohawks, led by Joseph Brandt,

adhering to their long -standing
allegiance to Britain.

They were joined by the Onondagas, the
Cayugas, and Senecas.

The Oneidas and Tuscaroras sided with
the colonists, holding their loyalty to

Presbytery missionary Samuel Kirkland.

The split between the Iroquois turned
into a civil war.

which was compounded when General John
Sullivan led his American army through

their lands in 1779, leaving 40 towns
and their crops destroyed.

In Ohio, at the Treaty of Fort Pitt in
1778, neutral Indians and Americans

pledged perpetual peace and friendship.

But upon the death of Chief White Eyes
of the Delawares, and Chief Cornstalk of

the Shawnees, as well as those of the
peaceful Moravian Delawares, the Ohio

Indians joined forces with the British.

Their success in resisting American
expansion would continue for over a

after the Revolution.

However, in 1783, under the Peace of
Paris, Britain handed all territory

east of the Mississippi south of the
Great Lakes, and north of Florida over

the new United States, enabling the
Americans to proceed westward with

expansion.

This would include the taking of lands
belonging to the Stockbridges and

Oneidas, who had been allies to the
Americans.

While the Indians fought in the
Revolution for their liberties and in an

to maintain possession of their lands,
and not at all, For the British Empire,

most Americans viewed their
participation in the war as support of

tyranny. While the Indians fought in the
Revolution for their liberties and in

an effort to maintain possession of
their lands, and not at all for the

Empire, most Americans viewed the
Indians' participation in the war as

of royal tyranny, which upheld American
beliefs that the Indians were enemies to

the white men.

When the British met with some of the
Iroquois nations in Oswego, New York, in

1777, it was to formally ask the natives
to go to war against the colonists.

While some Iroquois council members
viewed the impending revolution as a

between the Europeans and wished to stay
neutral, Mohawk chief Joseph Brandt was

in favor of war.

Brandt was loyal to the British crown.

but he was also influential amongst his
own people.

Scholars have been divided on portraying
Brandt as a violent and fierce killer,

as was his role in many battles during
the Revolutionary War.

But by contrast, he was also a Freemason
and upheld strong beliefs of

brotherhood and goodwill, and even saved
the life of an enemy when Brandt

mistook him for a fellow Mason.

Brandt was born on the banks of the Ohio
River in 1742 and became a favorite to

Sir William Johnson while still in his
youth and attended Moore's Charity

for Indians at Lebanon, Connecticut.

He learned to write and speak English
and studied Western history and

before going off to serve under Sir
William during the French and Indian

Around the year 1768, Brandt married the
daughter of an Oneida chief, and

shortly after her death from
tuberculosis, he married her sister, who

die months later of the same disease.

In August 1775, the Iroquois League,
also known as the Six Nations,

held a council fire near Albany, New
York, to discuss the encroaching

revolution.

The majority of members agreed that the
conflict was between Britain and the

colonists, but Brandt's concerns rested
in his fears that the colonists would

continue to take Indian lands.

Four of the six tribal nations would
side with England, with the other two

to the colonists.

The following year, Brandt became the
principal war chief of the six nations

received a captain's commission.

in the British Army.

Shortly thereafter, he made his first
voyage to England, where he was well

received as an Indian king.

He also earned Masonic degrees.

In April 1776, with his Masonic apron
presented to him by King George III.

Upon returning to America, Brant
recounted the strength and support of

British to his young Iroquois braves.

promising each of them that they would
have the opportunity to feast on a

Bostonian and to drink his blood.

This was met with much enthusiasm by
those also loyal to the crown.

General John Burgoyne, Deputy of the
British Forces in Canada, supported the

of Indians in the Revolutionary War and
wrote of it in his poetry.

I will let loose the dogs of hell, ten
thousand Indians who shall yell,

and foam, and tear, and grin, and roar,
and drench their

moccasins in gore.

To these I'll give full scope and play,
from Ticonderoga to Florida.

Brandt did, in fact, participate in many
battles during the Revolution.

and having survived through the end of
the war, Brandt married for a third time

in 1782.

At this time, he discouraged further
Indian warfare, though he kept his

commission in the British Army.

In 1785, he returned to England to
collect compensation for Mohawk losses

the war.

He returned to Canada in 1786, and in
1792 went to Philadelphia.

to meet with President Washington after
the United States government sought his

assistance in arranging peace with the
Ohio Indians.

Brandt gave his assurances that he would
comply, but instead he encouraged

rebellion amongst the Ohio Valley
Indians against further land cessions

white Americans.

Following this, he led a rather
aristocratic lifestyle in Canada.

with a large house, slaves, and other
luxuries.

He would spend the rest of his life in
comfort, seeing to the educations of his

children, maintaining friendly relations
with the English, and supporting

agriculture and the arts amongst his
people.

For all of his efforts during the
Revolutionary War, Joseph Brandt reaped

the rewards owed to him.

Though he would go on to treat those who
visited him with respect, he remained

somewhat disconnected from the more
humble ways of his Native American

viewing them, perhaps vainly, as below
him, thanks to his time and

closeness with British lords.

Upon his deathbed, Brandt uttered to his
adopted nephew, Have pity on

the poor Indians.

If you can get any influence with the
great, endeavor to do them all the good

you can.

The end of the Revolutionary War and the
approach of the 19th century introduced

less and less regard, respect, and
protection over Native American lives.

Colonial expansion was on the rise, with
an increase of Indian lands being

claimed on behalf of white American
settlements.

When the 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the
American Revolution and promised to pay

soldiers from the war with land, this
did not include any mention of the

who had also been involved.

With the newly created Declaration of
Independence, citing democratic and

rights principles, under close scrutiny,
American officials were placed in the

complex situation

of having to deal with just what to do
with the Native Americans.

Because the United States government
desired further expansion and possession

Indian territory, it found itself making
use of diplomatic measures with which

to obtain its goals.

Invasion was an option, but so soon, on
the tail of one expensive war, the

Americans were against the idea of
creating further debt.

and inciting the condemnation of Europe
for going against their own declaration.

The only way to accomplish their
objectives was for the U .S. to create

with the Indians.

The 1784 Treaty of Fort Stanwyck allowed
Oneida and Tuscarora tribes to stay

on their protected lands for having
fought on the side of the colonists

the war.

The other piece to this treaty was the
right of conquest, which stated that

tribes who had fought with the British
now had to forfeit their land.

Many of the tribes had no choice but to
concede to this forfeiture, having

already suffered crippling destruction
from the war.

Similar treaties, such as the 1785
Treaty of Fort McIntosh, forced Indian

to provide the United States with
hostages as collateral, until all

native captivity were granted relief.

In other cases, treaties were created to
declare certain areas, such as Fort

Finney, as reserves, wherein no non
-Indians were permitted to live.

In 1787, the government created the
Northwest Ordinance, which stated that

land outside of the original 13 states
could be used for Western expansion.

No Indian land could be seized through
warfare unless sanctioned by Congress.

The utmost good faith shall always be
observed toward the Indians.

Their lands and property shall never be
taken from them without their consent.

And in their property, rights, and
liberty they shall never be invaded or

disturbed unless in just and lawful wars
authorized by Congress.

But laws founded in justice and humanity
shall from time to time be made for

preventing wrongs being done to them and
for preserving peace and friendship

with them.

While this may have sounded in favor of
Indians maintaining possession of their

land without American interference, in
1789 the U .S. government used a new

constitution to place Indian affairs
under control of the War Department.

This meant...

that the Indians could be viewed as
enemies to the government and therefore

fought for control of their land.

This will remain in place for nearly 30
years.

Tales of war and native savagery did
little to dissuade Europeans from

their homes to come to North America in
the pursuit of various freedoms and the

promise of fresh beginnings in a new
land.

As the east coast of the United States
became more and more densely populated,

these newly arriving settlers continued
to push expansion farther into the west,

and in many cases with very little
regard to the natives who were already

The government continued to implement
treaties that placed Indian tribes on

reserved land and otherwise cleared
territory for newcomers.

With commerce already strictly
controlled by Congress, the Indians were

the increasing threat of losing much
-needed supplies, which were once

through trade with the settlers.

As these changes were enforced and
colonial expansion thrived, Native

faced a dim reality with an even darker
future.

Throughout the many conflicts between
peoples, the wars and the seizing of

lands over time, the Indians still held
on to many of their traditions.

Native American spirituality continued
to be a part of daily life, even with

constant arrival of Christian
missionaries looking to save these

peoples from what was considered a
savage and uncivilized existence.

Though some Indians rejected these new
teachings and beliefs, others expressed

courteous welcome for the settlers and
their religion, adopting some aspects of

it while still maintaining their own.

In the case of French trappers, the
Indians were primarily welcoming, as the

trappers did what they could to adapt to
Indian ways, interacting with as little

disruption to native cultures as
possible.

This respectful approach helped to forge
strong relations between the Indians

and the French and would offer a
greater, though unsuccessful, alliance

French and Indian War.

The loss in this war would force the
Indians into unbalanced trade with the

English, fueling yet more battle and
bloodshed with the result of Chief

Pontiac's rebellion.

Though the colonists continued to fight
with the natives, the image of the

Mohawk Indian became a well -known and
widely used symbol for rebellion and

liberty amongst American patriots,
including during one of history's most

infamous moments, the Boston Tea Party.

Ironically, respected leader of the
Mohawk Indians, Chief Joseph Brandt, was

ally to the British crown.

He would serve during many battles,
making his rounds amongst England's

and return to Canada to live the rest of
his life in peaceful luxury and losing

touch with the ways of his people.

After the end of the American
Revolution, and with the country now in

of the patriots, the Indians would see
more expansion of the white people, more

taking of their lands, and more
disregard.

for their existence.

With Congress implementing one treaty
after another as a means to continuously

take lands from the natives, and rarely
with proper or fair compensation,

it would promote the rapid, increasing
growth of one nation while steadily

dissolving many lives for which no
justice can ever be granted.