Indian peoples experienced, interpreted, and defined the American Revolution in a variety of ways. Freedom, in Indian country, often meant siding with the British against revolutionaries whose independence was sure to imperil Indian lands and cultures. Many Mohawks, tied to the Johnson dynasty by marriage and to the crown by perceived common interest, joined other Loyalists in moving to Canada rather than return to life as dependents in the new republic. Chickamauga, Mingo, and many Shawnee warriors tried in the Revolution to regain some of the independence they had lost, by turning back the tide of settlement. On the other hand, Stockbridge and many other New England Indians spoke as if the cause of American liberty was their own and sacrificed as much as any of their patriot neighbors in the struggle. White Eyes of the Delawares saw in the Revolution and an American alliance the opportunity to assert his people's independence from Iroquois claims of hegemony. Dragging Canoe and younger Cherokees saw it as a chance to declare their independence from the policies and authority of an older generation of chiefs. Chickasaws pursued a variety of diplomatic options in an effort to prevent their independence slipping away in a world of shifting geopolitical power. Seminoles increased their independence from the parent Creek confederacy. The Iroquois, past masters at surviving by diplomacy, saw their confederacy torn apart in the Revolution. Abenakis, formerly the “shock troops” of New France, developed effective tactics to keep this conflict at arm's length. Some communities were destroyed in the Revolution; others grew out of it.

With the Revolution won, however, Americans reduced the diverse experiences of Indian peoples to a single role. In a sense, the Revolution became the United States' creation story. The myths spun around that story proved lethal for the peoples whose creation stories in America reached back thousands of years. As Kenneth Morrison has pointed out, “For many Americans, the story of who they are winds back to the Revolution.”