American Indian Involvement

Americans tried to keep the American Indians neutral. They offered

payments to tribes willing to remain at peace. Still, most Native American
groups sided with Britain. Some were already angry at the Americans for
taking their land. They feared that an American victory would mean losing
even more land to the settlers who wanted to move west or south.
The war hurt many American Indian groups. Sometimes tribes split into
warring factions when they could not agree which side to join. For example,
after the American Revolution, the Iroquois Confederacy, which was made
up originally made up of six different tribes Mohawks, Senecas,
Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas, and Tuscaroras were forever split. This
was because the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras became American allies, and
the other four tribes were British allies. During the war, the tribes fought
and killed each other, and destroyed each others homes and fields. The
Iroquois Confederacy was never as strong again.
Even neutral American Indian tribes were affected. Thousands of Indians
were driven west by raids. Sometimes whole villages had to pick up and
move to avoid the fighting.