Situated between the Montréal and Lachine British-Army headquarters and the Patriote-friendly Châteauguay River Valley, the Kahnawake Iroquois rapidly found a place in this context of civil war and revolutionary crisis.
Existing works have discussed to some extent the involvement of the Iroquois on three different occasions during which they intervened by cooperating with the British: Kahnawake oral history accounts that a local unnamed woman searching the bushes for her lost cow saw the Patriotes and alerted the community.
Although the subsequent events are more complex, including a trap set up by the Mohawks to lure the Patriotes into the village, the oral account does seem to have some documentary evidence to support it.
In the case of the Rebellions, a perceived external threat to Native land, life, and identity effectively united the entire Kahnawake community.
Based on recent research, it can therefore be concluded that the decision of the Kahnawake Iroquois to intervene in the Rebellions may have been prompted by a powerful desire to protect common interests as well as a strong community will to defend and express a collective identity.