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{{Infobox military conflict
 |conflict   = American Indian Wars
 | image = Cavalry and Indians.JPG
 | image_size = 400
 |caption    = An 1899 chromolithograph of US cavalry pursuing American Indians (artist unknown)
 |date       = 1540–1924 (intermittent)<!-- See Tiguex War (1540–41) and the Renegade period (1879–1924) articles -->
 |place      = United States, Canada
 |result     = <!-- Please see Talk page before editing -->
* Sovereignty of various combatants extended or lost
* Many treaties, truces, and armistices made and broken by combatants
* Indian reservations established in the United States and Canada
 |combatant1 = American Indians (1540–1924)
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[[First Nations]] (1540–1924)
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[[Inuit]] (1542–1924) <!-- first contact ~1000; first Basque whaling station and (minor) conflicts in 1542 -->
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[[Aleut]] (1743–1924) <!-- Russian fur trading and conflicts since 1743-->
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[[Yup'ik people|Yupik]] (1784–1924) <!-- Russian arrival on Kodiak Island with an instant war -->
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{{flagicon image|State of Muskogee (Florida, 1799-1803).svg}} [[State of Muskogee]] (1799–1803)
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{{flagicon image|Metis Blue.svg}} [[Métis in Canada|Métis]] (1799–1924)<br>[[Provisional Government of Saskatchewan]] (1885)
|combatant2 = {{flagicon|Spanish Empire|1785}} Spanish Empire (1540–1821)
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{{flag|Kingdom of France}} (1540–1763)
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{{flagdeco|England}} Kingdom of England (1607–1707)<br />{{flagdeco|Scotland}} Kingdom of Scotland (1621–1707)<br />{{flagdeco|Kingdom of Great Britain}}{{flagdeco|United Kingdom}} British Empire (1707–1907)
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{{flagdeco|Dutch Republic}} Dutch Empire (1614–1664)
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{{flagdeco|Sweden}} Swedish Empire (1638–1655)
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{{flagicon image|Hudson's Bay Company Flag (1682-1707).svg}} {{flagicon image|Hudson's Bay Company Flag (1707-1801).svg}} {{flagicon image|Hudson's Bay Company Flag.svg}} [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (1670–1924)
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{{flagdeco|Russia}} Russian Empire (1741–1867) <!--1741, first landing on the Aleuts; not necessarily aware yet...-->
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{{flag|United States of America|1912}} (1776–1924)
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{{flagicon image|Flag of the Vermont Republic.svg}} [[Vermont Republic]] (1777–1791)
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{{flagicon image|Flag of the North West Company Pre-1801.svg}} {{flagicon image|Flag of the North West Company Post-1801.svg}} [[North West Company]] (1779–1821)
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{{flagicon image|West Florida Flag.svg}} [[Republic of West Florida]] (1810)
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{{flagicon image|East Florida Patriot Flag.svg}} [[Republic of East Florida]] (1812)
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{{flagicon|Denmark}} Danish Empire (1814–1924)
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{{flag|Mexico|1823}} (1821–1867)
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[[Republic of Indian Stream]] (1832–1835)
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{{flagdeco|Texas}} [[Republic of Texas]] (1836–1846)
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{{flagicon image|1stBearFlag.svg}} [[California Republic]] (1846)
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{{flagicon|Confederate States of America|The Confederacy}} Confederate States of America (1861–1865)
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{{flag|Canada|1921|name=Dominion of Canada}} (1867–1924)
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{{flag|Newfoundland|name=Dominion of Newfoundland}} (1907–1924)
}}
{{Indigenous Peoples of Canada}}

The '''American Indian Wars''' (also known as the '''Indian Wars''' or the '''First Nations Wars'''; {{lang-fr|Guerres des Premières Nations}}) is the name for the various battles that were fought by [[Europe]]an, American, and Canadian governments and colonists against various American Indian and First Nation tribes. These conflicts happened in [[North America]] from the time of the earliest colonial settlements in the 17th century until the 1920s. The various Indian Wars resulted from a wide variety of factors, including cultural differences, land disputes, and crimes committed by both sides. The European powers and their colonies also enlisted Indian tribes to help them do war against each other's colonial settlements.

After the [[American Revolution]], many conflicts were local to specific [[U.S. state|states]] or regions. The conflicts were usually about disputes over land use; some had cycles of violent actions. The British [[Royal Proclamation of 1763]], included in the [[Constitution of Canada]], banned white settlers from taking the lands of native peoples in Canada without signing a [[treaty]] with them. It is still law in Canada today, and 11 [[Numbered Treaties]], limited the number of conflicts.

As white settlers went west across America after 1780, the size, length of time, and intensity of conflicts increased between settlers and various Indians. The biggest came in the [[War of 1812]], which resulted in the defeat of major Indian [[coalition]]s in the [[Midwest]] and the South. Conflict with settlers happened less, and treaties became more common. The [[Indian Removal Act]] of 1830 allowed the US government to remove natives from east of the Mississippi River to the west. The west was what the government believed to be empty American [[frontier]]. (Many tribes had a lot of territory in this area, however.) The federal US policy of removal was eventually changed in the West. It was changed to relocating Indian tribes to specially designated and federally protected [[Indian reservation|reservations]].

==Other websites==
{{Commons category|Native American wars}}
* [http://www.indianwars.org/ ''Indian Wars National Association'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060326004847/http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-6725 ''Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas''] by [[John Henry Brown]], published 1880, hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100204083704/http://www.forloveofliberty.net/wars/indian-wars ''The Indian Wars and African American Soldiers''], US Army
* [http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libraryscience/31/ Increase Mather, ''A Brief History of the War with the Indians in New-England'', (1676) Online Edition]
* [http://www.history.com/topics/american-indian-wars www.history.com; American-Indian Wars]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130111135510/http://www.warof1812rph.com/] Highlighting Native Nations in the War of 1812

[[Category:Wars involving North America]]
[[Category:History of Native Americans]]