Indians of North America

The origins of the custom of scalping enemies are unclear-it may 
have been introduced by Spanish conquerors in the 1500s, or it may 
have begun as an ancient Indian tradition. The practice increased 
dramatically among Indians and Europeans in the 1700s, largely as a 
result of the Indian scalp bounties set by local authorities as a way to 
encourage settlers to help fight hostile Indian tribes. The Indians 
retained scalps as war trophies and offerings to spirits, or wore scalp 
locks on their belts as warning to their attackers. Shown here are two 
Indians from the Southeast displaying their trophies.

In the midst of Pontiac's Rebellion, on December 14, 1763, a mob 
from Paxton, Pennsylvania, raided a tribe of peaceful Conestoga 
Indians, setting fire to their village and killing six. The mob's purpose 
was to seek revenge against all Indians, whether or not they were 
allied with Pontiac. Fourteen survivors fled to Lancaster, where they 
were placed in protective custody. On December 27, the Paxton Mob 
stormed the jail and massacred the rest. Benjamin Franklin 
condemned the act an, fearing genocide, brought several hundred 
Moravian Indians to safety in Philadelphia. The Paxton Mob 
descended on the city, only to be turned back by thousands of 
Philadelphians who were waiting for them at the courthouse (shown 
here). The mob returned to Paxton; in spite of the outrage they 
caused, charges were never brought against them.

Pontiac was born around 1720 in what is now northern Ohio. At the 

age of thirty-five, he became chief of the Ottawas, and an influential 
Indian leader in the Woodlands region. Under Pontiac's leadership, 
the Algonquian-speaking tribes of the Northwest-the Ottawa, 
Chippewa, Potawatomi, and Miami-formed a league similar to the 
Iroquois Confederacy. He is shown addressing the council in this 
nineteenth-century painting. Pontiac had been friendly with the 
French, but allowed British troops to enter his territory after their 
victory in the French and Indian War. Conflicts flared up with British 
settlers, however,  and Pontiac organized the series of attacks known 
as Pontiac's Rebellion or Pontiac's Conspiracy. He made peace with 
the British in1766. Three years later he died, probably murdered by 
an Indian in the pay of the British.

The French and Indian War of 1754-63 was the culmination of 
French efforts to drive British fur traders out of the Ohio Valley. In 
1755, Major General Edward Braddock, the British commander-in-
chief in North America, planned to seize Fort Duquesne in 
Pennsylvania from the French. His party  was ambushed by French, 
Canadian, and Indian forces. Braddock, accustomed only to the 
European style of fighting and ill-equipped to do battle in the 
wilderness, could not effectively command his troops. He was killed 
in the struggle. By the war's end, however, the British emerged 
victorious and gained control of all territories previously owned by 
the French outside Louisiana.

 Joseph Brant, born in 1742, was a Mohawk chief who helped gain

Indian support for the British in the French and Indian War between 
1754 and 1763. From 1763 to 1776, Brant and his tribe assisted the 
British in the American Revolution by attacking the American 
settlers. After the Revolution, unable to negotiate a land settlement 
with the American government, Brant obtained a land grant in 
Canada and he and his followers settled in the area now known as 
Brantford, Ontario, which was named after him. The last years of his 
life were spent seeing to the welfare of his people and translating the 
Bible into the Mohawk language. He died in 1807.

 Near the end of the French and Indian War, Chief Pontiac led attacks

on the weakly defended forts located in the eastern portion of the 
colonies. Fort Pitt, however, held strong under the leadership of 
Colonel Henry Bouquet. Bouquet had ensured that his troops were 
ready for wilderness warfare, thereby avoiding the disastrous 
mistake made in 1755 by Edward Braddock. On August 5, 1763, 
Bouquet turned back the Shawnee and Delaware Indians and the 
next day concluded victory at the famous battle of Bushy Run. The 
following year, Bouquet succeeded in obtaining the return of 
hostages taken by the Ohio Indians, and is shown above negotiating 
the terms of their release. 

During the Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the Iroquois League, 
along with some other Indian groups, sided with the British against 
the Americans. In the summer of 1777, British General John 
Burgoyne marched south down the Hudson from Canada to Albany. 
Along the way, some Indian warriors who had joined the marched 
began killing American settlers indiscriminately. One of the victims 
was Jane McCrea, whose murder is shown here in this Currier and 
Ives print, dated 1846. News of this attack traveled swiftly among 
the colonists, inciting many young men to enlist with American 
forces in the Continental Army to fight against Burgoyne.

The Cherokees generally sided with  the British in the French and 
Indian War. In 1760, however, a dispute erupted between some 
Virginia frontiersmen and a Cherokee tribe over a group of wild 
horses. The Englishmen killed twelve Cherokees and collected 
bounties on their scalps. News of the incident incited Cherokee chief 
Oconostota to make raids on British settlements. The British 
retaliated with a "scorched earth" policy, decimating villages and 
crops in the Carolina Territory until the Cherokees surrendered 
in1761. The Cherokees found British rule authoritarian and 
financially stringent, and to alleviate tensions, Kinf George III invited 
a delegation of chiefs to come to London in 1762. There, they were 
showered with gifts and ornaments, such as the silver gorgets (neck 
pieces) engraved with the king's imprint, shown in this group 
portrait.

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