Alliances  First Nations’ leaders faced a lot of pressure to decide who to side with: the French or the British?  The French had better relationships established with the French before the war through the fur trade.  The First Nations’ leaders saw the French as less of a threat to taking their hunting land.

Alliances  Montcalm came out to meet different First Nations’ leaders and negotiate alliances through wampum.

Alliances  The First Nations’ leaders didn’t trust the British.  The British were known as ‘land eaters’ (they cut down trees and put in fields for farming).  The Thirteen Colonies wanted to push west to get more farm land.

The WarThe War  In the end, most First Nations supported the French; Haudenosaunee sided with the English.  At the time of the battle, the French had around 1,800 First Nation allies around Quebec from several different nations.  The First Nations’ style of fighting was very different from European battle strategies; the First Nations warriors relied on surprise attacks and fired at-will.

The WarThe War  In the actual battle, the French First Nations allies hid in the bushes and attacked the British soldiers from the sides of the field (guerilla warfare).  The First Nations didn’t stop fighting against the British after the battle on the Plains of Abraham because they were not involved in the treaty-making process. Neutrality had to be negotiated before the English could declare a victory.

After the WarAfter the War  The French and the British signed the Treaty of Paris after Montreal was captured by the British, but the First Nations were not part of the process.  The First Nations people were afraid that they would lose their land to the British, who just took and didn’t negotiate.  France negotiated guarantees that Britain would not retaliate against French allies, mostly the Catholic people of New France. But what about the First Nations’ allies?

Pontiac

Pontiac  Leader of the Odawa who led a war against the British after the 7 Years War.  Convinced several First Nations to band together to drive the British out of Ohio River Valley.  Successful in capturing 7 of 10 English forts.  French did not support them, even though they supported the French in their war against the British.  Worked with Minweweh (the silver-tongued), another Anishinabe leader.

Outcome  Their warfare led to the Royal Proclamation of 1763 (a statement of law and policy).  The Royal Proclamation established a “proclamation line” separating the Thirteen Colonies from “Indian Territory”. No settlement could occur until First Nations peoples came to an agreement with Britain.