During the first half of the 17th Century Dutch have established alliances with Iroquois. They even supported them with providing the weapons, while Iroquois participated in some conflicts on the side of Dutch. Still, in the second half of that Century Dutch Republic was unable to spread its influence furthermore.
During colonisation of America French, Spanish and dutch viewed the natives differently and forged different relationships with them.The dutch did not emphasised on the religious conversion of native Americans but focused on the trade with the native Americans present in New York and New Jersey region. and formed a fur trade alliance with Iroquois Confederacy which was the powerful Native American empire in 17th century. The population of confederacy was drastically reduced due to smallpox and other diseases brought by Europeans. Despite the fall in population the confederation was strong and formed alliance with the Dutch. In return they got Dutch weapons, it helped them to defeat the Hurons.
