Pontiac's War: Forging New Links in the Anglo-Iroquois Covenant Chain, 1758-1766

Abstract

This essay examines the history of Pontiac's War from the perspective of the western Algonquians' entry into the Anglo-Iroquois Covenant Chain alliance system in 1758. Recognized formally as equal diplomatic partners to Great Britain and the Six Nations by Sir William Johnson in 1761, the Great Lakes and upper Ohio Valley peoples directed their military and diplomatic efforts over the next five years toward securing and extending that status. The 1766 Treaty of Oswego represented a political victory for the western Indians, as it established their territorial integrity and confirmed their status as independent allies in the Covenant Chain.