By 1770, European colonists had seized Indian lands, exterminated many Indians with warfare and disease, and disrupted many of the traditional tribal relationships. Many Indian nations, in their attempts to escape extermination at the hands of the invading Europeans, had become displaced, seeking out new lands and new alliances. In a number of cases, Indians from different tribes which had been decimated by disease and warfare came together to form new, and often multilingual, Indian nations.
As Indian nations moved into new territories, they often displaced other Indians nations and created conflicts that often resulted in battles.
In the Great Plains, some of the displaced agricultural tribes, who had once lived in permanent villages, adopted the horse and evolved into buffalo-hunting nomads.
Eastern Tribes
The Delaware who were living in Ohio received permission from the Miami and the Piankashaw to settle in Indiana near the Ohio and White Rivers. They would establish six villages in this area.
In Ohio, the Shawnee convinced the Wabash to put aside their differences with the Cherokee and to seek an alliance with the southern Indian nations. The alliance envisioned by the Shawnee, however, failed to materialize.
In Rhode Island, the female Niantic sachem Ninigret inherited the leadership of the Narragansett. Her authority was formally recognized in a ceremony in which a cloth covered with blue and white wampum was placed on her head.
Southern Plains Tribes
The Kadohadacho Caddo retreated from Texas to Louisiana because of Osage raids and declining population.
On the Southern Plains, the Kiowa obtained two Taime medicine bundles, one male and one female, from an Arapaho man who had received them as a gift from the Crow. When the Arapaho man married a Kiowa woman the two bundles came into possession of the Kiowa people.
Northern Plains Tribes
In North Dakota, the Cheyenne now had earth lodge villages north of the Arikara villages on the Missouri River.
In North Dakota, the Ojibwa decided that the Cheyenne were favoring the Lakota, so they destroyed a Cheyenne village while the warriors were away on a hunt.
Great Lakes Area
In Minnesota, the Ojibwa drove the Santee Dakota out of their village on the Rum River in the Battle of Crow Wing.
Southeast
In Alabama, a Creek leader left the town of Ockchai, and with a small party of followers and established a new town on the Coosa River.
California
In California, the Costanoan were living in approximately 50 politically autonomous nations. Each of these nations had one or more permanent villages with an average population of about 200 (though this ranges from 50 to over 500).
Indians 101
Twice each week Indians 101 explores different American Indian topics. More from this series about 18th century Indians:
Indians 101: Some Indian Events of 1766
Indians 201: The Royal Proclamation of 1763
Indians 101: Cherokee Government and the English
Indians 201: The Yamasee War and the Indian Slave Trade
Indians 101: Indian Resistance to the California Missions
Indians 101: The Natchez and the French
Indians 101: Lacrosse at Fort Michilimackinac, 1763
Indians 201: Pontiac's War