SARANAC LAKE — George J. Bryjak’s book, “A Nation Born, A Homeland Lost: Native Americans And The Revolutionary War Era,” was awarded a Silver Medal in the history category by the Military Writers Society of America.

Bryjak’s reader-friendly work explores the four major wars Native Americans were involved in during the latter half of the 18th century: As France and England battled for control of North America in the French and Indian War, most of the Indians who fight side with the French.

Pontiac’s Rebellion — often called the first American Revolution — is a concerted effort by Native Americans to halt European expansion and safeguard their ancestral homelands.

From Pontiac’s Rebellion to the battles of Lexington and Concord, a shifting political landscape results in most of the Native Americans who fight in the Revolutionary War siding with the British.

The Treaty of Paris and birth of the United States results in Native Americans battling for their sovereignty once more in the Northwest Indian War.

Although many Native American nations were involved in these conflicts, Bryjak focuses on the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, the Lenape (Delaware), the Shawnee and the Cherokee.

One of the MWSA reviewers noted this “well-researched book includes maps, pictures and sources. Points of view in the book include the French, the British, the colonists or settlers, and the Native Americans. The extensive descriptions of the various tribes, including their territory, customs, beliefs and leaders, give the reader a Native American perspective that is missing from most other accounts of history in this time period.”

The appendix contains biographical sketches (900 to 1,400 words each) of 18 Native American men and women including: Joseph Brant and Molly Brant (Mohawk), Cornplanter (Seneca), Dragging Canoe (Cherokee), Pontiac (Ottawa), Polly Cooper (Oneida), Teedyuscung (Lenape) and Tecumseh (Shawnee).

“A Nation Born, A Homeland Lost” is available at The Village Mercantile in Saranac Lake and on Amazon.