The Fight for the Ohio Country Indians in Ohio country had to survive for many years by defending their land and way of life. The United States’ government felt that the lands in the Northwest Territories were theirs by conquest and from the Treaty of Paris, while the Indians in the region had no intention of ceding their land for a war that they saw very little of. Land sales were not possible to the tribes in the region because they already lacked much land and had no other options for settlement. This refusal to leave soon sparked conflict and the region was forced to be carved out by bloodshed.
The Ohio Indians saw a very different view in the trading, treaties, and other dealings with the United States after Revolution than what the U.S. government did. While the U.S. saw the Indian tribes as defeated people from some tribes especially the Iroquois allaying themselves with the British, the Native Americans in Ohio country never considered themselves subjects to either Britain or America. According to the Treaty of Paris, the Northwest Territory was ceded to the U.S. by Britain. Although Britain did have claims to this area, tribes who migrated there after wars with the Iroquois and various other reasons inhabited the region. When settlers began to flood the Northwest Territory tribes began to retaliate and fought back (Scott). While at first the majority of conflict was just between the settlers and the Native Americans, soon the government was forced to get involved. After the U.S. tried to get the Indians in the territory to sell their land, the Native Americans sent a message to the U.S. government. In that message they explained that money would never be fully accepted in exchange from land (Calloway 260). According to those chiefs money was only need for substance for women and children because Native Americans can no longer live in their traditional ways (Calloway 260). They also completely refused to meet with the government until they agreed to set the boundary between them and the states at the Ohio River. If the U.S. refused and settlers continued to come onto their lands the chiefs explained that they would view them as invading people and as an act of war (Calloway 261). The U.S. could not see this as a possibility and a treaty not met until much bloodshed. The confederate tribes, a joining of several tribes in the Ohio region, viewed land sales as a nearly impossible option. While the U.S. would offer money to the Native Americans, the Indians felt it had no use as money was not viewed in the same way that the Americans viewed it. The whites who did enter their lands were viewed as poor by the Indians and even suggested to the government to give them the money that they offered the Indians, as the settlers clearly needed it more (Calloway 261). This confirms the belief that land to the Native Americans was viewed as communal property. Selling their land was impossible in both their beliefs and that fact that the Natives in the region had nowhere else to go. The land that they settled on was not the homeland for the majority of the tribes and being forced to another region could not happen. Many Indians chose conflict after the U.S. refused to stop settlers in the Ohio country. After losing many battles the Treaty of Greeneville forced the Indians to formally cede lands (Treaty of Greeneville). While many did follow that order, others did not and continued to resist (Treaty of Greeneville). This would fuel later rebellions such as those spawned by Tecumseh.