WILLIAM JOHNSON

Johnson strongly urged white contact with the Indians in the Indian communities, He himself married an Indian Woman.

Unlike lost other Indian Nations, the Iroquois had years before formed a formal federation whereby each of the six tribes governed their own local affairs, but they spoke and acted as one in governing trade matters, security and foreign policy. This was the main reason that they dominated the other Indian nation. Colonial history is replete with the Iroquois leaders recommending such a confederation to the whites—advice that was finally taken.

Not all whites were allowed to usurp all Indian lands. There were many attempts to limit white settlement to avoid friction with the Indians although the overall tendency was for the whites to take over and dominate the land.

The Iroquois were generally recognized, even by the other tribes and nations, and the most advanced and most powerful of the Native Americans. Their example was critical in shaping the policies and behavior of all the Indians. At the time “Western” Indians referred to those in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and those West of the Eastern seaboard. West Coast and Plains Indians were not known generally known to the colonists and those nations had no knowledge of the Iroquois. Johnson himself married an Iroquois woman.

Unlike lost other Indian Nations, the Iroquois had years before formed a formal federation whereby each of the six tribes governed their own local affairs, but they spoke and acted as one in governing trade matters, security and foreign policy. This was the main reason that they dominated the other Indian nation. Colonial history is replete with the Iroquois leaders recommending such a confederation to the whites—advice that was finally taken.

Not all whites were allowed to usurp all Indian lands. There were many attempts to limit white settlement to avoid friction with the Indians although the overall tendency was for the whites to take over and dominate the land.

The Iroquois were generally recognized, even by the other tribes and nations, and the most advanced and most powerful of the Native Americans. Their example was critical in shaping the policies and behavior of all the Indians. At the time “Western” Indians referred to those in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and those West of the Eastern seaboard. West Coast and Plains Indians were not known generally known to the colonists and those nations had no knowledge of the Iroquois. Johnson himself married an Iroquois woman.

Johnson strongly urged white contact with the Indians in the Indian communities, He himself married an Indian Woman.