American Indian Wars

The American Indian Wars (also known as the Indian Wars or the First Nations Wars; French: Guerres des Premières Nations) is the name for the various battles that were fought by European, American, and Canadian governments and colonists against various American Indian and First Nation tribes. These conflicts happened in North America from the time of the earliest colonial settlements in the 17th century until the 1920s. The various Indian Wars resulted from a wide variety of factors, including cultural differences, land disputes, and crimes committed by both sides. The European powers and their colonies also enlisted Indian tribes to help them do war against each other's colonial settlements.

American Indian Wars
An 1899 chromolithograph of US cavalry pursuing American Indians (artist unknown)
Date 1540–1924 (intermittent) Location United States, Canada Result Sovereignty of various combatants extended or lost Many treaties, truces, and armistices made and broken by combatants Indian reservations established in the United States and Canada
Belligerents
American Indians (1540–1924) First Nations (1540–1924) Inuit (1542–1924) Aleut (1743–1924) Yupik (1784–1924) State of Muskogee (1799–1803) Métis (1799–1924) Provisional Government of Saskatchewan (1885)	Spanish Empire (1540–1821) Kingdom of France (1540–1763) Kingdom of England (1607–1707) Kingdom of Scotland (1621–1707) British Empire (1707–1907) Dutch Empire (1614–1664) Swedish Empire (1638–1655) Hudson's Bay Company (1670–1924) Russian Empire (1741–1867) United States of America (1776–1924) Vermont Republic (1777–1791) North West Company (1779–1821) Republic of West Florida (1810) Republic of East Florida (1812) Danish Empire (1814–1924) Mexico (1821–1867) Republic of Indian Stream (1832–1835) Republic of Texas (1836–1846) California Republic (1846) Confederate States of America (1861–1865) Dominion of Canada (1867–1924) Dominion of Newfoundland (1907–1924)

Aboriginal peoples in Canada
First Nations Inuit Métis
History Paleo-Indians Pre-colonization Genetics Residential schools Indian hospitals Conflicts First Nation Inuit
Politics Crown and Aboriginals Treaty rights Health Policy Numbered Treaties Royal Commission Self-government Indian Act British Columbia Treaty Process Idle No More Lateral violence Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Politics Organizations Case law Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Culture Aboriginal cultures Aboriginal personalities Country food Music
Demographics Indian reserves AB FN Métis Atlantic CA BC MB ON QC SK Territories Pacific Coast
Linguistics Aboriginal languages Inuit languages Aboriginal English Dialects Aboriginal syllabics Inuit grammar
Religions Traditional beliefs Inuit mythology

After the American Revolution, many conflicts were local to specific states or regions. The conflicts were usually about disputes over land use; some had cycles of violent actions. The British Royal Proclamation of 1763, included in the Constitution of Canada, banned white settlers from taking the lands of native peoples in Canada without signing a treaty with them. It is still law in Canada today, and 11 Numbered Treaties, limited the number of conflicts.

As white settlers went west across America after 1780, the size, length of time, and intensity of conflicts increased between settlers and various Indians. The biggest came in the War of 1812, which resulted in the defeat of major Indian coalitions in the Midwest and the South. Conflict with settlers happened less, and treaties became more common. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 allowed the US government to remove natives from east of the Mississippi River to the west. The west was what the government believed to be empty American frontier. (Many tribes had a lot of territory in this area, however.) The federal US policy of removal was eventually changed in the West. It was changed to relocating Indian tribes to specially designated and federally protected reservations.

American Indian Wars Media

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  Siege of Fort Detroit during Pontiac's Rebellion in 1763

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  The abduction of Jemima Boone by Shawnee in 1776

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  The Ohio Country with battles and massacres between 1775 and 1794

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  Attack of the Seminoles on the blockhouse in December 1835

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  The Dade Massacre was the US Army's worst defeat at the hands of Seminoles

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  Marines searching for the Seminoles among the mangroves

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  Battles, army posts, and the general location of tribes in the American West

Other websites

• Indian Wars National Association
• Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas by John Henry Brown, published 1880, hosted by the Portal to Texas History.
• The Indian Wars and African American Soldiers, US Army
• Increase Mather, A Brief History of the War with the Indians in New-England, (1676) Online Edition
• www.history.com; American-Indian Wars
• [1] Highlighting Native Nations in the War of 1812