In the early 18th century, the Ohio Valley was settled by a multi-cultural group of Indians called the Mingo. They lacked a central government and, like all other Indians within the region at that time, were subject to the control of the Iroquois Confederacy (comprising the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora people) headquartered in Upstate New York. The Mingo originally lived closer to the Atlantic Coast, but European settlement had pushed them into western Virginia and eastern Ohio. During the French and Indian War, the Mingo sided with the French. After the conclusion of the war in a French defeat, settlement of the region by American colonists led to increased tensions with between them and the Mingo.