Good point. Canada just being generally a lot less populated by Europeans for whatever reasons than the USA (presumably in large part climate?) probably helped

Good point. Canada just being generally a lot less populated by Europeans for whatever reasons than the USA (presumably in large part climate?) probably helped too, creating a context with slightly better outcomes. But different legal regime under Great Britain -- and different position as colony of a European state vs independent "we're all we've got" -- does seem likely to be relevant, good call. I suppose the best case for native nations in the War of 1812 would be that both USA and Great Britain get weakened and distracted from further colonization for as long as possible.