What Did the Revolution Mean for Native Americans?
Civil war, lost lands, and enduring legacies in the revolutionary era
Indian (Seneca, Mohawk, or Oneida?) Family (1807) by Anne-Marguérite-Joséphine-Henriette Rouillé de Marigny, Baroness Hyde de Neuville The New York Historical
The American Revolution was a watershed event for the approximately 250,000 Native Americans living in British North America, bringing immense losses and long-lasting, devastating effects to tribal lands, culture, and identity.
Map of British Colonies in the year 1765 (1765) U.S. National Archives
For the more than 80 tribes living east of the Mississippi River, the stakes of the conflict were incredibly high. While many Native nations initially attempted to remain neutral, viewing the war as a "family affair" between the colonists and the British, the pressures of the war forced complex alliances.
Painting of Oneida fighting with the Americans Fort Stanwix National Monument
Whether tribes ultimately sided with the American rebels, the British Redcoats, neither, or both, their primary motivation remained the same: to preserve their sovereignty and protect their lands.
Fractured nations and civil war
The intense pressures of the Revolution divided powerful confederacies and split individual tribes, sometimes pitting Native Americans against each other.
The Six Nations of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)
This powerful league in upstate New York initially maintained its unity through neutrality . However, the war eventually fractured the confederacy.
The Cayuga, Mohawk, Onondaga, and Seneca allied with the British, while many Oneida and Tuscarora supported the Americans. Effectively turning the Revolution into a civil war among the Six Nations.
The Cherokee
The war caused a deep schism along generational lines within the Cherokee Nation. Young warriors, seeing a chance to win back lost territory and preserve their sovereignty, allied with the British and attacked unlawful American settlements, which in turn triggered violent colonial retaliation.
Conversely, older chiefs who remembered the devastating consequences of the earlier Seven Years' War unsuccessfully attempted to use diplomacy to maintain peace.
The Stockbridge -Munsee Community
This mixed community of Mohican, Housatonic, and Wappinger people in Massachusetts fought alongside the colonists as minutemen and Continental soldiers . Following a devastating 1778 British ambush that killed 40 of their men, the community struggled to survive.
Stockbridge veterans and widows were subsequently denied the bounty lands promised to other Continental soldiers, found themselves increasingly marginalized by colonists, and had to petition the Continental Congress just to try and protect their remaining land.
The Delaware (Lenape)
Seeking to protect their lands, Delaware leaders signed the very first U.S.-Indian treaty in 1778. However, the United States failed to fulfill its promises of protection. While a detachment of Delaware soldiers did serve in the Continental Army, many others defected to the British.
Faced with ongoing frontier violence and starvation, many peaceful Delaware were eventually forced to flee their homelands and seek safety further west.
Oneida Chief, His Sister, and a Missionary (1861/1869) by George Catlin National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Vital contributions and enduring legacies
Despite the broader tragedies of the era, the American war effort relied heavily on the aid of Native allies, most notably the Oneida Nation. In addition to serving as warriors and scouts in battles like Oriskany, the Oneidas provided life-saving generosity off the battles.
The winter of 1777–78 at Valley Forge was a death trap. As starvation and disease ravaged the Continental Army, the Oneida Nation chose a different path. Led by Chief Skenandoah, they trekked 100 miles through the snow to deliver hundreds of bushels of white corn.
When the starving soldiers tried to eat the dried corn raw, Oneida woman Polly Cooper intervened. She knew the grain would expand and kill the weakened men. Taking command of the camp kitchens, she taught the troops how to hull and cook the corn into life-saving soup.
Cooper refused payment for her labor, viewing the aid as an act of alliance, not a business transaction. She remained with the army throughout the summer, cooking for the troops and nursing the sick, ensuring the Continental Army was strong enough to face the British.
Before departing, Cooper was gifted a black silk shawl by Martha Washington. While the U.S. later broke treaties with the Oneida, the family kept the shawl. It remains a sacred heirloom and a physical link to the woman who walked through the snow to save a nation.
Oneida and Americans at arms Fort Stanwix National Monument
The American Revolution was a watershed for Native nations and a fight for survival that cost them dearly. From the Oneida’s life-saving aid to the heartbreak of broken treaties, remembering the founding requires us to honor these vital, often overlooked, indigenous legacies.
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