The Proclamation of 1763, issued by King George III, defined a boundary — the Appalachian Mountains — to separate the colonists from Indigenous nations.  Despite the proclamation, colonial incursions and settlement continued. William Petty Fitzmaurice, the Earl of Shelburne, aware of the colonists' disregard for the proclamation, expressed his concern — along with King George III's — to Sir William Johnson, the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in North America.  

As the war progressed, Indigenous nations began forming alliances. In 1776, Brigadier General Benedict Arnold, stationed in New York, wrote about the service of John (Jean) Vincent in the Continental Army and noted Vincent's time as a prisoner of General Sir Guy Carleton of the British. Vincent was part of the Huron (Wendat, Wyandot) Nations, which fought with the Continental Army.

In this letter, Christian Daniel Claus, deputy agent in the British Indian Department, mentioned Sakoyghyowoh, a young Cayuga chief who had sided with the British, and cited his service to the Crown for which he had not yet been rewarded. The Cayuga were part of the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse), which was a powerful confederacy. The Haudenosaunee split during the American Revolution, with the Cayuga, Mohawk, Seneca, and Onondaga siding with the British, and the Oneida and Tuscarora with the colonists. 

The American Revolution split native nations. Some of the most powerful tribal nations fought on either side of the conflict, having been promised that their homelands would be protected. The Oneida and Tuscarora in the Haudenosaunee confederacy fought with the colonists, putting them in a vulnerable position against other nations in the confederacy who had sided with the British. Major General Philip Schuyler of the Continental Army requested assistance for the Oneida and Tuscarora from attacks by the British and Native nations.  

Thayendanegea, also known by his English name Joseph Brant, was a Mohawk leader. In 1776, he traveled to England to express his concerns that the colonists were not adhering to treaty boundaries. The King assured him that these issues would be dealt with after the war. Brant saw the Crown's presence as protection against the colonists' continued taking of Native land. After the British defeat, Brant wrote to future President James Monroe, asking to meet with him to request that Aaron Hill, another Mohawk leader who was imprisoned at Fort Stanwix, be released and allowed to go home.