Editing French and Indian Wars (section)

==Indigenous allies==
===British allies===
The [[Iroquois|Iroquois League]] played an important strategic role in the struggle between Britain and France over northeastern America because of its location east and south of [[Lake Ontario]]. The League's aggressive military and commercial policy gave the five Iroquois nations control over large parts of the country, forcing many smaller Indigenous nations into submission. The Iroquois used the [[Covenant Chain]] to join with the colony of New York and other British colonies in a compact that generally benefitted the parties and ultimately was disastrous for France.<ref name="Leach"/>

===French allies===
{{main|Franco-Indian alliance}}
France recognized the independence of the Indigenous tribes while claiming sovereignty over their territory at the same time, as well as the right to plead the cause of their Indigenous allies in the face of other European powers. The French allies accepted this [[protectorate]] since it permitted self-government and a traditional lifestyle. The [[Mi'kmaq]] and the [[Abenaki]] accepted [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]] as it confirmed their alliance with the French against British colonists in Nova Scotia. Alongside the Mi'kmaq and the Abenaki, France's chief allies were the ''indiens domiciliés'' (resident Indians) who lived at the Catholic missions in New France. Many of these were Mohawk from their earlier territory in central New York, but there were also members of other tribes from New England. Fleeing attacks by New England colonists during and after King Philip's War motivated their displacement to French territory. At the end of the French and Indian wars, all resident Indigenous peoples were joined in the confederation of the [[Seven Nations of Canada]].<ref>[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-french-relations/ "Indigenous-French Relations." ''Canadian Encyclopedia.''] Retrieved 2017-02-12.</ref>

===Indigenous-White warfare===
A pattern of warfare emerged during the clashes between the European colonial powers and the American Indigenous peoples which characterized the four major French and Indigenous wars. The complex network of relations was fundamental between some Indigenous tribes and some colonies, the Indigenous tribes becoming the allies of the colonial powers. These alliances were a result of the economic ties that had been formed by the [[fur trade]] and by the Indigenous tribes' need for allies against their Indigenous rivals. The warfare included the widespread and escalating abuse of civilians on all sides, in which settlements were attacked, both Colonial and Indigenous, the residents killed or abducted, and houses and crops burned.<ref name="Leach"/>