Why did the native Americans split their support between the British and french?

Answer 1

The split was particularly evident in the six nations of the Iroquois Confederation. Those tribes closest geographically to English settlements generally adhered to the British, while those more distant preferred the French. Most of the tribes had quickly become dependent upon trade goods from the Europeans. They felt they needed these goods, especially firearms and gunpowder, lead and bullet molds. They also liked metal knives and hatchets. So a relationship with one or the other of the European colonizers was seen as necessary. The French usually offered trade goods at better prices. Those tribes far enough away from areas controlled by the British to have no immediate fear of British retribution easily chose to help the French. The whole approach of the two colonizers was different. The French were only interested in trade and religious conversion - they did not have the insatiable hunger for land of the British. Generally only men came to the French settlements, and they took Indian wives. The British brought their entire families and always wanted more land, from which they then excluded the Indians, refusing them the right to hunt on lands which were now "British". Tribes which were already close neighbors to the British hoped to demonstrate their loyalty and preserve their lands and independence by assisting the British. The British cause was immeasurably helped by the efforts of Sir William Johnson, an honorary Mohawk and resident of the Mohawk Valley, His Majesty's Indian Agent for North America, who exerted considerable influence among the Iroquois. Even Sir William could not bring the more distant tribes of the Iroquois Confederation over to the British side. This split between the Iroquois tribes eventually caused the downfall of the Confederation