Iroquois Confederacy
The Iroquois Confederacy was made up of the five Indian nations, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Oneida, that had formed a defensive alliance in the fifteenth century. They had been the most powerful Indian presence in Northeast since their victory in a war war against the Hurons. The Confederacy created a commercial relationship with the English and Dutch and continued to trade with the French as well. They avoided too close of a relationship with either group and maintained an uneasy balance of power in the Great Lakes region. They were the third major party in the French and Indian War and the British victory was disastrous for them. The tribes allied with the French earned the enmity of the English and the alliance with the British unraveled. The Iroquois Confederacy crumbled and became increasingly divided.