Guns, Germs, and Good Intentions - American Indian Reservations ISOTed to 1418

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 9: Language​

By the 21st​ Century, many Indigenous languages were extinct or endangered, with some counting only a handful of usually elderly speakers. Many expected the translocation to effectively undo this, exposing the modern-day Native Americans with the speakers of their ancestral languages. In some cases, this was true, and those who spoke their ancestral tongues were able to provide interpretation for 15th​ Century tribes, allowing for early communication. In return, there was an increase of Indigenous language speakers, as many 21st​ Century tribes made an effort to learn their ancestral tongues. Many linguists were grateful for the access to a more complete and vivid version of the languages they were attempting to preserve.

However, there were significant exceptions to this. Seven-hundred years of history had seen significant movements of peoples and linguistic drift. In cases of linguistic drift, the dialects spoke by 15th​ Century and 21st​ Century tribes were identifiable as the same language but were not exactly mutually intelligible, and in cases where 21st​ Century tribes were brought into contact with tribes whose languages were no longer spoken, they often had to rely on related languages to establish communication. Luckily, some tribes of the time were bilingual as a matter of habit, and others at least had enough contact with speakers of other languages that eventually language barriers could be worked around, even if this did lead to some unwieldy games of telephone.

It should of course be mentioned that no Native American in the 21st​ Century spoke their Indigenous tongue as a first language. Rather, English was the first language of all Native Americans and was the one language held in common across the continent. No matter how many 21st​ Century Native Americans attempted to re-learn their ancestral tongue, they would always use English to communicate with each other.

Of course, many 15th​ Century Native Americans made attempts to learn English. Bilingualism, as mentioned, was a common practice among several tribes, and instead of having to learn multiple languages to communicate with multiple reservations, a prospective trader only had to learn English to communicate with all reservations – as well as any other member of a tribe who had learned English. Thus, English was effectively destined to be the lingua franca of North America. As much as later member states of the Federation of American Peoples would promote their own languages, even writing state documents and promoting literature primarily in their indigenous tongue, the first official language of the Federation was considered English.

Furthermore, English was the primary technical language across the entire continent. In agriculture, manufacturing, law, statecraft, economics, war, diplomacy, and a dozen other fields which the reservations revolutionized due to their advance knowledge, a grasp of the English language became a requirement, first to learn from the reservation experts and later to read and write the document which circulated. Even when translated, the number of terms and words which only had equivalents in English made learning modern skills and techniques an exercise much simpler if one had was familiar with the language.

As fledgling states and tribal confederations began to form, language policy became a tool for governments. In the Council of Three Fires, "Standardized" Ojibwe was formulated by linguists in Green Bay and was taught in state-run schools. East of the Mississippi, where reservations were smaller and fewer in number, English became a prestige language spoken by such upper classes that existed in those societies, or by the technical classes. In the Pacific Northwest, "Trade Salish", a creole, began to form as trade by sea and overland became more important to the region. Languages with closely-related dialects began to blend together as more contact occurred. Universally, the Latin script was used to transcribe Indigenous languages.

Of course, the lines between languages tend to blur. While English of course offered hundreds of loan-words to a wide swathe of Indigenous languages, exchanged happened the other way as well. Due to the huge variety of languages, regional variations to English became pronounced, especially given the reduction of continental travel and communication, with local accents beginning the drift towards new dialects. Whether it was the slang of Trade Salish making its way into Pacific Northwest English or the New Englander accent becoming commonplace among the chiefs of the Haudenosaunee, the linguistic landscape of North America was, even in the First Contact Period, promising to be radically different from what came before in either history.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 10: The First Contact Period in the Great Basin​

The Great Basin was surpassed by California in terms of die-off only because of its much lower population density. The Native American tribes of the region were not very numerous and were largely nomadic hunter-gatherers, as was necessary for the profoundly harsh wilderness. The reservations that found themselves translocated were likewise tiny in both size and population. The combination of the two would prove to be disastrous.

Disease quickly spread faster than the reservations could control. The local Arapahoe, Goshute, Washoe, Paiute, and Shoshone were decimated by Old World diseases, and their societies effectively collapsed. The survivors of these diseases fled, carrying the epidemics with them to the next tribe. Overlapping waves of disease compounded the problem. The reservation inhabitants did what they could, but by the time population leveled off, the area between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevadas was estimated to have only a few thousand inhabitants off of the reservations.

Of these reservations, most were abandoned outright. Located in profoundly bad locations, many reservation tribes picked up stakes and moved, taking what livestock they had with them. Many turned to a nomadic lifestyle, others settled down in areas with good water and grazing. The 15th Century tribes who they had assisted often followed them, adopting horses and animal husbandry. The nomadic lifestyle began to spread, which led to conflicts over grazing and watering grounds.

The largest and most stable reservation was the Ute and Ouray Reservation. Holding less then 20,000 inhabitants of whom only 1,500 were Ute, nearly every inhabitant of the reservation was Mormon. As in other places, religious fanaticism took hold, in this case a brand of Mormonism that held that "Lamanites", or Native Americans, were the chosen people. The reservation's emergency government sent medical and technological missions across the Great Basin, hoping to both help and convert the survivors of the plagues and make contact with the other reservations.

Over the next few decades, as other parts of the continent recovered and built themselves up, the Great Basin remained a backwater. Conflicts in other places led to migrants to the region – outlaws, white Americans seeking a redoubt of the white race, explorers, and bands of Native Americans looking for their own piece of land. The Shoshone-Arapahoe Nation, which had coalesced around the Wind River Reservation, waged a brief war in 1432 to bring part of the region under their control, ostensibly to protect local bands of Arapahoe and Shoshone.

The Great Basin was a lawless place, home to frequent back-and-forth raids by nomadic tribes, haunted by outlaws and other fugitives, and awash with adventurers and missionaries. The region would capture the imagination of the continent and inspire countless romanticized tales in later years, but none of the events of this time were so influential as the manhunt for the Dunstead Gang.

In 1435 a band of over a dozen wanted criminals stole some horses and fled the Commonwealth of Three Affiliated Tribes (made up of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations). The criminals were mostly white and Latino men, but there were some Native Americans among their numbers. After fleeing the Commonwealth, they crossed the Cheyenne Nation while evading authorities (mostly - three of their number were captured), then slipped past Shoshone-Arapahoe territory, escaping into the Great Basin. They were pursued by fourteen law enforcement officers, both men and women, from the Cheyenne Nation, the Shoshone-Arapaho Nation, and the Commonwealth of Three Affiliated Tribes.

The manhunt was later romanticized in print and film, but these are the facts: half of the lawmen died in skirmishes with nomads, wildlife, and the outlaws themselves, in an operation well outside their jurisdiction, and the manhunt resulted in only three of the outlaws being taken alive. The incident drew attention from as far away as the Pacific Northwest, and led the surrounding nations to realize that the Great Basin was a haven for more outlaws than just the Dunstead Gang and would continue to be a lawless region until order was established. The Ute Nation (in fact minority-Ute at this time) did not have the capacity to police the entire region, and while diplomatic relations with some of the nomadic tribes had been established previously, it was not enough to truly organize some sort of alliance that could bring stability to the region.

Coming fresh of the successful negotiation of the California Development Zone, many proposed a similar zone for the Great Basin. However, the Great Basin posed a unique challenge due to the likelihood of bloodshed, and many felt some sort of pacification of the region was necessary. None of the nations, however, trusted the other with jurisdiction over the territory.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 11: State Building​

Legally, a Native American tribe was recognized by the United States government as its own sovereign nation with the right to govern its own citizens within the borders of the United States. Tribal citizenship was restricted to those with sufficient ancestry as determined by the tribe – in some cases one had to have a certain proportion of Native ancestry, in other cases tribal citizenship was granted based on simple lineage.

Tribal governments had their own elected officials, courts, and law enforcement; however Indian Reservations were also administered by the US government and so fell under federal law. On some reservations, Native Americans made up a minority of the population, and after the translocation white Americans were brought into "coalition governments", which soon had to face the reality of their situations. There were multiple solutions to this – in the case of the majority-white Nez Perce reservation, the borders were redrawn to exclude the white-majority parts of the reservation but to include the 15th Century Nez Perce. The white Americans of the Nez Perce reservation formed their own "State of Idaho", with a population of about 16,000, which later signed the New Tacoma Agreement, a treaty of alliance and free trade which stretched across the entire Pacific Northwest. The Ute Nation continued to claim that title despite its white-majority population and a government which included only a few Ute – the name was, in essence, a fiction motivated by the Native American supremacist sect of Mormonism which had arisen there following the translocation.

Other white-majority reservations, such as those which contained the cities of New Tacoma or Green Bay, did not continue under ostensibly tribal governments at all but under emergency governments and later city councils.

Most actual tribes experienced continuity of government through the First Contact Period. When they did not collapse at all, the smaller reservations survived on small-town democracy and decisive leadership, while larger tribal governments established "emergency governments" which suspended elections until they established stability. These governments established sole jurisdiction over their territory, claiming authority over any existing federal officials.

Eventually, nearly all tribal governments would extend citizenship to their white residents, although a few "encouraged" most of their white residents to move elsewhere first. Others restricted the franchise in some way, such as barring those who were not registered members of the tribe from holding political office. In cases where white Americans could run for office, nations with legislative districts tended to put as many white Americans into a single district as possible.

Some tribal governments established "autonomous territories" where white Americans were free to elect their own leadership but which still recognized the authority of tribal governments. The phrase "white reservation" was strictly avoided. These actions were not, to be sure, done out of animosity or spite. Overall, where white Americans formed a larger proportion of the population, the less Native Americans were willing to extend political power to them, simply due to the fear of losing their control over their own government. Native Americans had for centuries been barred by ways both overt and subtle from holding political power, and simply wanted insurance that their now truly sovereign governments could chart their own course.

The form these governments took began to vary wildly as the reservations recovered from the translocation and began to experiment. Many tribal governments drafted new constitutions, establishing direct democracies, parliaments, different forms of representation and voting systems, various types of redistricting, varying the powers of executives and legislatures...to list all the forms tribal governments took in the First Contact Period would be no easy task.

Of course, the incorporating 15th Century tribes into existing governments led to issues all its own. Some tribes had sophisticated systems of representative government, others only recognized the rule of "big men" acclaimed unofficially based on seniority and influence within the tribe. Most reservation tribes sought to incorporate their "ancestors", establishing their authority over 15th Century tribes' traditional territory and teaching them to participate in reservation governments. In some cases, this went well, in others 15th Century tribes struggled to acclimate to the new systems.

This is to say nothing of those who resisted what they viewed as a takeover by another tribe. There were a handful of "unification conflicts", mainly in the interior of the Pacific Northwest or in the desert Southwest, where reservation tribes essentially grew tired of their ancestors stubbornly resisting modernization and forced them to accept 21st Century leadership at gunpoint.

Some tribes also faced difficulty in incorporating 15th Century Native Americans into such things as tribal registries. Most reservations easily extended citizenship to 15th Century Native Americans who identified as the same tribe, but there were exceptions. Smaller tribes usually restricted registry, fearing that they would be outnumbered by new immigrants. Many of these tribes did not attempt to incorporate other bands but instead formed federations, allowing them to govern themselves while influencing those who shared the same tribal identity.

Some reservations adopted those outside their tribes in large numbers – notably the Seminole of Florida. Others abandoned the concept of tribal registries entirely. In a few cases the reservation tribes found themselves in the uncomfortable position of being a ruling class that oversaw larger populations of disenfranchised 15th Century tribes.

The 15th Century Native Americans were, to be sure, no fools. They had their share of cunning political operators and charismatic speakers, and some 15th Century leaders did quite well in the new systems. On the balance, however, those born in the 21st Century had hundreds of years of political development behind them, and in general could count on superior education to inform their decisions. In the First Contact Period, 15th Century Natives rarely had control over their own government.

There were exceptions, notably in the case of those parts of the continent where reservations were small enough that they assimilated into 15th Century political structures instead of the reverse. These confederations, while sophisticated and often with long histories, had weak central authority. With the influence of 21st Century political thought, however, things began to change. The high council of the Haudenosaunee began to issue binding orders to its member tribes, enforced by a militia drawn from the entire confederation. Volunteer workers built common roads and railways, and actual capitals began to spring up, with bureaucracies to oversee government programs, the first of their kind. There were growing pains, of course, many did resist the centralization of authority. Other times the concept of such things as standing armies and government ownership clashed with the cultures they were unleashed on.

These problems were overcome, usually by careful diplomacy that utilized the consensus-based traditions of the Haudenosaunee or Council of Three Fires, but other times there was bloodshed.

Sometimes 15th Century tribes without any 21st Century members were entirely free to form their own governments and truly rule themselves. The Haida of the Pacific Northwest formed what was essentially a House of Lords composed of local elites, while the Caddo civilization of the Midwest, influenced by the Osage Reservation, adopted a proportionally representative legislature and a president of their own, with universal suffrage.

Of course, as 15th Century Native Americans learned more 21st Century knowledge and became more familiar with modernized societies, other political changes bubbled under the surface. Educated members of tribes as diverse as the Powhatan, the Haida, the Iroquois, and the Ojibwe began to form new ideas about democracy, power, economics, and industry, and began to wonder who exactly was going to benefit from modernization.

All across the continent, the Pan-Indian movement was growing louder as travel and communication led to all of these diverse systems of government coming into contact with each other. Several multinational summits had already held by the dawn of the 1440s, regional treaties and agreements were forming, and a few multinational organizations had already formed. For those who called for a continental alliance of tribes, the debate yet to be had was what sort of entity it would be.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 12: The First Contact Period in the Southwest
​

The American Southwest was home to the largest and most populated reservations, which collectively represented the most densely-populated part of the continent. The arid climate made water rights a major issue, and it fell to tribal governments to control access to water sources and administrate the hydraulic infrastructure that distributed it.

The reservations themselves almost came to open conflict over access to water in the case of the Navajo and the Hopi. The largest, most populous, and wealthiest reservation in the region, the Navajo Nation was from the start a leading power in the region, while the smaller Hopi Nation existed as an enclave within the Navajo Nation's borders. Due to this, conflict not only over water but also land and travel threatened to bring the two into conflict, with the Hopi going so far as to briefly close their borders. However, eventually the Hopi realized they were surrounded and outmatched, and agreed to negotiations.

The Navajo Nation proposed a political union of the Southwest reservations for mutual sharing of resources and manpower. Some balked – the Apache wanted to retain their own independent nation, while the Pueblos of New Mexico banded together into the Pueblo League. However, the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, Zia, and some Ute formed the Union of Southwest Tribes. Its federal government was split into a bicameral legislature, with an upper house composed of two representatives from each tribal government, and a lower house whose members were allocated based on population. The Navajo, of course, formed a plurality in this lower house.

The Union of Southwest Tribes commanded a substantial resource base, including its own oil production. As a result, they were able to quickly come to the support of other, smaller reservations, such as the Hualapai, Havasupai, Maricopa, and Yavapai. These tribes had established contact with the 15th​ Century tribes who had farming communities along the Colorado, Gila, and Salt Rivers, and had done much to expand their agricultural base while providing some medical and technological aid, however the small size of the reservations coupled with the usual endemic issues – diabetes alone killed hundreds – meant their efforts were hindered until the Union of Southwest tribes was able to establish lines of communication and supply into the region. Over the next few years, as the region was pacified, these smaller reservations and the 15th​ Century tribes allied with them joined the Union, until it had established a base at the mouth of the Colorado River.

Interestingly, it was at the observatory on the Tohono O'odham Reservation that the first 21st​ Century scientists determined the year the reservations had found themselves cast back to – the discovery itself occurred in 1420. By radio this was communicated to the rest of the continent, where many had simply continued counting up from 2017 or had started new calendars at Year 0. Nearly all the major reservations had at least been able to establish that they were in the late Pre-Columbian period, with theories ranging from the latter half of the 14th​ Century to the year 1492 itself. With this revelation, most changed their calendars appropriately.

The Union of Southwest Tribes was believed to have reached its "natural borders" by 1435. However, the federal government desired to expand its influence. While the Tohono O'odham remained independent, the Apache Wars (a series of conflicts between rival bands of Apache as the reservations attempted to unify them) proved an opportunity to expand the Union's influence, and Union soldiers joined the war in support of the Apache Nation's government. The Union was no stranger to violence – they had fought several conflicts with 15th​ Century tribes who resisted their authority, under the auspices of "protecting the Union from destabilizing conflict" while pointing out the humanitarian aid and infrastructural improvements brought to the defeated tribes.

The Union also looked west, charting a path to the Pacific by building railroads, providing aid to the Confederated Tribes of the Salton Sea, and effectively undermining the economic position of the Republic of Los Angeles, a petrostate founded by refugees from the interior with aid from the Pacific Northwest. The Union's larger supply of oil drove down prices, and as trade with the much closer Southwest became more important than trade with the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles turned towards the Union, accepting immigration which promised to shift the balance of political power with enough time. While they remained outside the Union proper, the Tohono O'Odham, Apache, and Pueblo League were placed firmly in its sphere of influence due to economic ties and significant economic investment – paid for by loans from the Union, no less.

Unfortunately, government corruption would prove to be a major factor behind this determined push for more power. The Navajo Nation, like many other recognized tribes, designated tribal land as owned not by individuals but by the tribal government itself. In the case of the Navajo Nation, this meant that the tribal government directly owned the land where oil drilling took place and profited directly off of its sale. This led to large profits flowing into the coffers of the tribal government, which led to corruption as both bureaucrats and government officials skimmed off the top. This is not to say all the profits lined the pockets of corrupt officials – most of the profits went into improving roads, houses, schools, and farms, and since the Navajo Nation paid its taxes the rest of the Union was able to benefit as well, however most went to parts of the Union where the Navajo again served to profit directly – such as the relatively-densely populated agricultural areas along the major rivers, or the port city on the Gulf of California.

(Note that at this point the Union had yet to begin printing its own money and, as with most other reservations, issued a complex system of credit backed sometimes by gold and silver and sometimes simply by government fiat.)

However, there were significant profits to be had, and government corruption led to the Navajo using their significant influence within the Union to direct Union policy in ways that would serve Navajo interests.

The Union of Southwest tribes, and indeed the rest of the Southwest region, also had to deal with large populations of White Americans. Many travelers and tourists were stranded on reservations by the translocation. The Navajo Nation had the largest population of these in the country, and while many were recruited to be what was essentially forced labor, these labor corps did not last forever and most found themselves living in refugee camps and later slums. These slums were rife with crime, and as the Navajo Nation established itself it began to address the issue of white Americans. Those with useful skills had already been recruited through various programs, so the majority were encouraged to migrate elsewhere, with some being given land along the Salt, Gila, and Colorado rivers to farm, and others migrating to new urban areas such as those on the coast. This had the added bonus of dispersing the majority of the white population, preventing them from voting as single blocs (while unable to represent themselves in the upper house of the Union, white Americans were given the vote for the lower house). Other reservations had fewer problems, although the Pueblo League was notable in its attempts to assimilate both white Americans and Hispanics.

By 1440, the Southwest was quickly becoming the wealthiest and most modernized region of the continent, with close ties to the Great Plains. It had been a part of the negotiations over California and the Great Basin, and had sent expeditions to gather intelligence on the status of Mesoamerica, even going so far as to draft plans to send humanitarian and technological missions there. However, it was dealing with endemic corruption and an unequal political system. At the same time, the Union of Southwest Tribes had become an undisputed leader, and looked to expand both its influence and its doctrine of cooperation and free exchange of goods and information to the rest of the reservation governments. The time proved to be fertile for such ideas, and while the Union was not the first to introduce the concept in fact, they would be one of the first to endorse the creation of a federation of all Native American governments.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 13: Culture Shock​

In the wake of the translocation, as Native Americans from the 15th and 21st Centuries came together to build a new society, the sheer gulf of 600 years of history stood between them. While the gap would be bridged, the difference in culture was expressed in some surprising ways.

To the Native Americans of the 15th Century, the reservations must have seemed unbelievably organized. Everything was accounted for down to the names and numbers of the streets and houses, every object was tracked down to the speck of grain, and everyone had to sign three forms just to live in a reservation settlement, let alone work there. Or at least, that was how it seemed. Still, to hunter-gatherers or even agriculturalists, the life of a modern city dweller was shockingly different, and many found it difficult to adjust. Despite this, the incentives to move to New Tacoma or Green Bay for work were enough to motivate them to make the adjustment, and many did so, slowly acclimating.

This was not without its conflicts. Law enforcement, even in small urban areas, were stretched thin trying to impress on new migrants the laws and regulations of city life, even if the law code had undergone some strange adjustments since the translocation. Crime among recent migrants was not incredibly common, but fights resulting from misunderstandings were well-known. Exposure to alcohol, for which 15th Century tribes had no tolerance to speak of, led to more than its fair share of incidents which had to be resolved by overworked law enforcement officers. The most forward-thinking governments did their best to establish programs to help new migrants to transition to city life.

However, even getting 15th Century subsistence farmers or hunter-gatherers to work a full day's shift was difficult. Many were not used to the work, and as fledgling industry took root in the Great Lakes, the Northeast, or the Pacific Northwest, most new factory workers were drawn from the ranks of those from the 21st Century. 15th Century workers were more suited to cottage industries or service work – which itself freed 21st Century workers up for higher-profile jobs. At the same time, the difficulties experienced by the new workforce led to the strengthening of unions and labor laws which reduced the number of hours in a work day, increased the number of breaks, improved working conditions, and so on. They argued, quite successfully, that mass production was not necessary, due to small populations and weak, largely agricultural economies and the low demand for consumer goods aside from highly useful metal tools. Furthermore, the desire for profits was somewhat dampened by the fact that most trade was based on barter or credit, as well as the fact that most industry was run by the state.

Because of all this, reservation governments were not particularly quick to encourage immigration to cities (though it happened anyways). 15th Century tribes were most useful as unskilled labor, while governments prioritized building up local economies by teaching agriculture and animal husbandry, or else inviting 15th Century workers into apprenticeship programs where they could learn skills useful in cottage industries at their own pace. None of the governments planned on adopting a policy of mass industrialization, rather they expected 15th Century societies to uplift themselves at their own pace.

Of course, even the transition from being a hunter-gatherer to farming and herding for a living formed its own leap, one which made itself known most radically in the Pacific Northwest, where agriculture had not been practiced prior to the translocation. The construction of larger and more permanent settlements led to its own pitfalls which were usually overcome with the help of the reservations.

Those from the 21st Century had to make their own adjustments. The loss of mass media and access to cheap, plentiful food and consumer goods represented a massive lifestyle change for many, and resulted in a sort of self-sufficient mindset. Those born in the 21st Century tended to stockpile preserved food, reuse and recycle as much as possible, and tend to backyard vegetable gardens to supplement their diets. Neighbors cooperated and communities became closer-knit, a trend which was encouraged by the push for more local economies. Communities formed their own signature cuisine, art, and festivals to foster local pride. Those who had white-collar jobs found themselves with completely useless skills, and often had to get menial jobs as subsistence farmers or simply day labor.

These were difficulties that could be resolved by government programs and policies, however public officials were at a loss as to how to address more basic cultural practices.

Marriage, for example, was almost entirely a modern concept. Native Americans before European contact exhibited a variety of relationships, from open marriages, to polygamy and polygyny, to levirate marriage (where a man is obligated to marry his deceased brother's widow), however marriage itself was largely lacking in social or religious importance. Indeed, by the 21st Century marriage had largely become a legal institution, which many reservation governments were loathe to push on 15th Century tribes. Some disbanded marriage as a legal institution entirely, others maintained it, and while of course many people continued to marry for religious or social reasons, the institution itself was eroded somewhat, leading to more "open marriages" or other, similar arrangements.

The LGBT community faced some setbacks, the death of a large number of those diagnosed as positive for HIV-AIDS being the most tragic and high-profile example of this. In addition to the standard difficulties of the post-translocation period, LGBT people also had to contend with being the targets of hate crimes, and with the lack of resources such as hormone medication for transgender individuals, however thanks to consistent activism and a campaign for visibility LGBT rights were maintained by reservation governments and their successor states. Just as difficult was their exposure to 15th Century Native Americans, who had completely different concepts about gender and sexuality. While much had been made of "two-spirits" individuals in the 21st Century, to 15th Century tribes a two-spirit person was not necessarily a gender non-conforming identity, but a ceremonial, essentially performative role adopted by certain members of the community. Furthermore, "two-spirit" was a generalizing term used to describe a role which meant different things to different tribes. While 15th Century tribes had no particular animus towards the LGBT community, they also lacked cultural context for it, and LGBT groups began campaigns to educate other tribes about the needs of their community.

There was a wealth of other issues both social and political that needed resolving – some tribes lacked concepts of representative democracy, or of governments entirely, and the difference between public and private ownership of land would lead to political conflicts. Governments agonized over how to establish control over their jurisdictions without violating tribal sovereignty.

It was tempting for some 15th Century tribes to see their supposed descendants as another tribe entirely, one that may have, at best, shared a language, some religious traditions, and other customs, but was for the most part a different group of people. There were reactionaries, conservative members of 15th Century tribes who saw the translocation as a threat to their traditional ways of life, but these people ultimately fought losing battles as technology and knowledge filtered out whether reservations wanted it to or not. Notably, there were 21st Century activists who spoke out against the introduction European political structures, the modern industrial lifestyle, and "colonial" values on the Native Americans. These voices would not grow quieter with time. It should, at least, be noted that while few Native Americans from the 15th Century sought to fully assimilate into "modern" culture, many did choose to abandon more traditional ways of life in search of a better standard of living.

21st Century pop culture was practically alien to the people of the 15th Century. While literacy programs began to bear fruit quickly, most fiction was impenetrable to someone from a completely different culture, hundreds of years removed from the writer. There was, however, an explosion of new written works, ranging from serialized stories published in local papers to novels printed on home printers. Genres ranged from historical fiction (time travel became especially an especially captivating subject), to lurid dramas, to simple re-writings or re-tellings of famous modern works which were free game, the concept of intellectual property having been effectively lost with the transition. Some of these became popular with 15th Century readers, though those who were literate at this time were usually also well-educated.

Written works also quickly crossed over into radio dramas and stage plays. The latter were especially popular, as they were the easiest to perform and view. Performances of traditional folklore and legends, usually accompanied by traditional dress and music but with some modern twists, became hugely popular, and some theater groups were able to take their shows on tour.

Film experienced a brief but vibrant explosion as well. Every film was an indie production, shot and acted in garages, backyards, and in the wilderness, as filmmakers and actors experimented with a variety of styles and concepts, all using homemade cameras and edited on aging laptops. These films were screened at neighborhood venues. Motion pictures inevitably amazed and sometimes terrified 15th Century viewers when seen for the first time, but once the shock wore off, they found many films equally as incomprehensible even when subtitled. 15th Century tribes usually found modern films to be incoherent and completely foreign. Newer, independent films were more popular, especially when written with minimal dialogue and relying on strong visuals. Several indie films gained wide appeal, with copies being distributed across the Great Plains, Southwest, and Northwest regions.

Of course, this age was not to last forever, as high-tech cameras and editing equipment broke down, and fledgling industries took their first fumbling steps towards re-inventing photographic film technology.

The First Contact Period also saw the birth of the "New Western", a genre which retold the mythologized Old West with Native Americans cast as heroes and the US Cavalry or the railroad barons cast as the villains.

Humans are highly adaptable creatures. None of these issues would last forever, and in time the people of two vastly different centuries learned to live with each other, or in some cases simply alongside each other. For the most part, the two sides met halfway - those born in the 21st Century began to question the modern concept of an industrialize society, while the 15th Century tribes built new homes and roads, learning to form states.

Many histories came to view these conflicts or speed bumps or potholes on the road to progress, ones that were smoothed over eventually. However, for the people of the time, the First Contact Period was one of great upheaval, when adjustments to their very way of life were necessary. And so, we must spare a thought for the hunter-gatherers who moved to the city to get jobs stocking shelves or mopping floors in the big city, living more comfortably than they ever had; or for the former office worker, now learning to farm and work wood; for the aspiring filmmaker editing his creation on a laptop in his garage; for the gay, lesbian, and transgender Native Americans fighting to keep their rights in a time of uncertainty.

Millions of lives had been upended by the translocation, and every last person who lived through it had their own story to tell, with triumphs, failures, and struggles that can never be recalled through a mere history book. But humans, as mentioned, are adaptable, and for those millions across the continent, in one way or another, life went on.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 14: The First Contact Period in the Great Plains​

Outside of the Southwest, the Great Plains featured the heaviest concentration of both populous and geographically large reservations. Before European colonization, the Great Plains were home to herds of buffalo, or American bison, numbering tens of millions strong. As a sacred animal to many Plains tribes, this was seen as a literal godsend, and contributed to the explosion of Ghost Dance practitioners.

However, in the 15th​ Century, the Great Plains were not inhabited by the ancestors of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Comanche, Shoshone, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Crow, or even the Osage. All of those tribes entered the region beginning in the 17th​ Century from the Great Lakes region, following wars that resulted there as the result of European colonization. Rather, the Plains at this time were divided into two peoples: in the north were communities of settled agriculturalists related to the modern Mandan and Arikara people, while in the south were likewise agricultural tribes related to the Caddo civilization, an urbanized society influenced by the Mississippians further east. This had a major influence on the politics and inter-tribal relations of the Great Plains.

The reservations of the northern Great Plains were numerous, powerful, and seized with an almost religious fervor. Many had envisioned a new era where they could return to their traditional way of life, relying on the horse and the buffalo. Indeed, many bands eagerly moved off the reservation and into new hunting grounds – reservations were typically on sub-par land and, despite access to mineral and natural gas deposits, were not ideal places for grazing and agriculture. The Dakota and Lakota reservations planned the formation of a unified "Great Sioux Nation" which encompassed all existing Sioux reservations.

These plans were stifled by the existence of the "proto-Mandan" – though they called themselves Numakaki, as Mandan was derived from an exonym, and in any case the language of the modern Mandan people had been heavily influenced by years of interacting with Siouan-speaking peoples. In a few cases, the reservations found themselves as enclaves, with Numakaki territory between them and other reservations. The Numakaki lived in permanent settlements along major waterways and controlled the trans-continental trade routes of the time, and even utilized the Plains Indian Sign Language which would survive into historical times. Most Numakaki lived within the proposed borders of the Great Sioux Nation or bordering the Three Affiliated Tribes – the modern confederation of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations.

The 15th​ Century Arikara people lived further to the south and were more related to the Pawnee people, and so fell under the Osage Nation's sphere of influence.

Of course, the First Contact Period brought significant changes to these 15th​ Century tribes. Disease, despite the best efforts of the reservations, still took its toll, and some settlements were abandoned as their populations plummeted. At the same time, surviving settlements were revitalized, gaining modern utilities, while Numakaki agriculture was revolutionized by modern crops and techniques.

Many Numakaki identified with the modern Mandan, and when the Commonwealth of Three Affiliated Tribes reorganized itself, neighboring Numakaki tribes petitioned to be admitted into the Commonwealth as a branch of the Mandan Nation. Over the next few decades, many other Numakaki would immigrate to the Commonwealth.

The existence of the Numakaki was a roadblock for the formation of the Great Sioux Nation. While the various Dakota and Lakota tribes had begun political and economic integration, their claimed borders included numerous bands of Numakaki. During this time, the Great Plains Community, a forum of tribes from the northern Great Plains, first began to meet, at first to share technology and information, and later to establish borders. The Great Sioux Nation insisted on its claims being recognized. The Great Plains Community insisted on the Numakaki being allowed to participate in the governance of the Great Sioux Nation in the event that it claimed sovereignty over their traditional territory – and, privately, said it might intervene militarily if the Numakaki's own sovereignty was violated.

There had been some degree of integration between the Sioux and Numakaki, unofficially. Some Sioux (and white Americans) had moved into Numakaki settlements to act as teachers, doctors, or advisers, while Numakaki had migrated to Sioux settlements seeking work and education. There were many cases of Sioux bands adopting Numakaki. In addition, the two tribes adhered to different lifestyles – aside from some mining and oil production, the economy of the Great Plains tribes was mainly based on herding and hunting, and a few took up semi-nomadic lifestyles entirely, spending the winters in permanent settlements while following the herds and rains the rest of the year. Meanwhile, the Numakaki resided in permanent settlements and practiced agriculture. Through extensive negotiations, the Sioux and Numakaki established access to land and water and passage, as well as allowing the Numakaki to elect their own leaders and participate in the Great Sioux Nation legislature.

The Osage Nation of modern Oklahoma was more secure in its position. Possessing its own oil wells and even a hydroelectric plant, and having sufficient farmland to feed itself, the Osage were able to keep the lights on and the roads open, requiring only a two-month emergency curfew (though oil was rationed for some time afterwards). Because of this early self-sufficiency, the Osage Nation was able to devote more resources beyond its own borders almost from the beginning.

In addition to the Osage nation, a handful of very small reservations – the Kickapoo, Iowa, Potawatomi, Sac, and Fox – were located in the modern state of Kansas to the north. While small, these reservations were able to establish self-sufficiency and provided a source of skilled labor to the tribes near them.

The nearby tribes were the Wichita to the west, the Pawnee to the north, and the Caddo civilization to the south. All these tribes were related, although the Caddo people were more influenced by the Mississippi River Valley Civilization to the east, and so were more urbanized. All three tribes practiced agriculture, built permanent settlements, and practiced ritual cannibalism and human sacrifice.

The 21st​ Century tribes found this deeply against their values, however this did not prevent them from coming to the tribes' aid as epidemics swept across the southern plains. Teams of Osage doctors, advisers, teachers, and technicians moved from settlement to settlement, introducing themselves and offering aid in fending off the disease. While they worked, they helped to teach the neighboring tribes. Eventually, the Osage's reputation began to precede them, and settlements greeted them with either hostility or open arms.

Many Osage doctors also spoke with their charges about the danger of disease spreading through the consumption of human flesh.

As roads snaked their way between Wichita, Pawnee, and Caddo settlements, they were followed by more technicians, including immigrants from the Osage Nation or the reservations of Kansas. The cities of the Caddo civilization in particular began to develop a middle class of 21st​ Century engineers, teachers, and advisers. These immigrants usually brought schools, cottage industries, urban renewal programs, infrastructure projects, and were at least initially incentivized by the ruling class of priest-kings who sought modernization. These helped to revitalize cities that had been badly hit by epidemics, and coupled with new agricultural techniques the cities of the Caddo civilization began to grow again – and with it, social stratification.

Despite the help the reservations had given and the initial open door policy of the priest-kings, these immigrants in time were persecuted by the Caddoan elites – and, perhaps, their fears were not unfounded, as immigrants tended to agitate for democracy, win converts to their foreign religious traditions (including Ghost Dance, which had as much success in the southern plains as anywhere else), and challenge the social structure by amassing their own wealth. In only two decades, the 21st​ Century Native Americans were beginning to bring down the social structure of the Caddo people.

As the Osage Nation uplifted their neighbors, they also used their location in the center of the continent to contact the other regions and bind them together. In order to build railroads and highways through Wichita territory to connect the Great Plains with the Apache Nation and the Pueblo League, the Osage Nation recruited local chiefs who had been cooperative and formed them into a democratic government, the Wichita Nation. The Pawnee Nation was the subject of a similar program, and its territory included the reservations of modern-day Kansas, many of whose inhabitants had immigrated to Pawnee settlements and had become community leaders there as well. These two nations were quietly pressured into abandoning or at least discouraging human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism.

The social changes in the Caddo civilization came to a head in the Caddo Revolution (1432-1435). In response to increased pressure from the Caddo priest-kings, 21st​ Century immigrants allied with the lower classes and with reformers and pro-reservation elites in acts of resistance, even attempting to cause regime changes in some cities. Several Caddo cities fell into open civil war, and the Osage Nation mobilized to protect citizens of the Osage Nation. The Caddo Revolution also saw the involvement of the Great Plains Community, with units of volunteer cavalry, primarily from the Great Sioux Nation, helping with reconnaissance and policing highways.

The Caddo Revolution ended with the old ruling class of priest-kings being overthrown and replaced with fanatically pro-reservation and pro-modernization governments, almost always democratic and dominated by Caddoans (though they had significant backing from immigrant communities, and several cities elected 21st​ Century mayors). These new governments even organized themselves into the Caddo Nation, modelling themselves closely off of the Osage Nation. The Caddo Nation outlawed human sacrifice, and though the traditional Caddo religion continued to be practiced, many incorporated the Ghost Dance tradition. The Caddo Nation also aided the Osage Nation in sending humanitarian expeditions and technological missions across the Mississippi River to the city-states there.

The Osage, Pawnee, Wichita, and Caddo Nations formed a close-knit, highly modernized community that connected the northern Great Plains with the Southwest, and was highly influential in the chaotic situation east of the Mississippi River. They also served as a natural location for ambassadors from the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes, or the Northeast to travel for diplomatic summits. The first summit of all recognized tribal governments, the Continental Congress of 1440, was where diplomats from the Osage Nation first formally proposed the idea of a Federation of American Peoples.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 15: Attitudes Towards the Translocation​

The historical consensus is that the Translocation of 1418 was an objectively verifiable event. There is simply too much evidence; the physical existence of the reservations, the genetic and genealogical records of both Native and White Americans stretching back from far before the translocation, the wealth of written and digital records from the reservations' original history, the advanced knowledge of the geography and history of the North America and the world beyond decades before European contact, and of course the advanced technology which could only have been developed over hundreds of years. If indeed it was a hoax, as some conspiracy theorists claim, it was by far the most successful and dedicated hoax in history.

There were conspiracy theorists, of course. Later white supremacists, both Europeans and even White Americans, would claim that the Federation was the result of white explorers from Europe, who traveled to America in the distant past and developed an advanced society with their "superior European intellect".

Paradoxically, these theories were echoed by Native American supremacists, who claimed that the more advanced Native Americans had developed at a far quicker pace than backwards Europeans. This group notably did not include the Lamanites, the Native American supremacist incarnation of Mormonism which took hold after the translocation – their own doctrine heavily relied on the existence of the translocation and indeed parallel universes.

Others adopted a sort of half denial, claiming that the reservations had indeed come from the future, but that the "Native Americans" of that future were in fact white, the original Native Americans having been exterminated or diluted by Europeans. Others, more sinisterly, claimed that the reservations were using technology "stolen" from superior white civilizations. At any rate, these theories were fringe, only arose once the translocation had passed out of living memory, and of course were couched in virulent bigotry.

However, even among those scientists and historians who accept the translocation as fact, there are deep divisions over its cause. Whatever mechanism was used to surgically remove the reservations from their home universe and instantly transport them hundreds of years in the past to the exact same locations in 1418 was done with enough economy of energy that the only noticeable effect was a few rattled glasses. Scientists would stubbornly continue to repeat the maxim that any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic, but for the majority of the general populace the translocation was a divine act.

Even most scientists had to admit that the translocation was so precise that it was most likely done by some form of intelligence. Of course, the identity of this cosmic actor was highly disputed. Theories were as varied as there were belief systems, ranging from divine intervention, to the more rational belief in an advanced race of interdimensional beings – sometimes referred to using the tongue-in-cheek term "Alien Space Bats". Others suggested an extremely power artificial intelligence. Only a few holdouts, usually those of a pseudoscientific bent, would continue to claim that the translocation had been a cosmic accident.

Of course, the explanation of an intelligence created the implication of intent. Generations of historians, religious leaders, philosophers, and scientists would debate the motivation, or indeed the lack of motivation, behind the translocation.

The most common theory, including among most of the general populace, was that the translocation had been specifically designed to benefit the Native American people, to give them the tools and knowledge they needed to defend themselves from European colonization and chart their own course through history. Many, even among the secular, took heart in the idea that there was a powerful intelligence who wanted them to succeed. This belief helped to inform the actions of millions of people, both from the 21st and 15th Centuries. Even those not closely invested in the fate of Native Americans at least believed that the translocation had been a chance to undo some of the great wrongs of history, such as the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, or the worst excesses of the Industrial Revolution.

There were a few holdouts who believed that the translocation was simply a cosmic experiment, that the intelligence behind it had simply decided to make it happen in order to observe the results, but this idea did not gain much traction.

The reactions of 15th Century Native Americans were more complex. The First Contact Period was a time of fear, chaos, and upheaval, the deaths of thousands and the mass movement of people. For many it meant a fundamental change in their way of life. Many viewed the reservations with hostility or suspicion, viewing them as the harbingers of these disruptions.

However, the more contact 15th Century tribes had with the reservations, the more the reservations began to speak of the history they came from. In it, they said, men had come from across the sea, bringing disease, war, and famine. They had killed millions, driven them from their lands, and made the survivors to live in poverty. For many, this knowledge enough was enough to shake their worldview – the knowledge that the world was so much bigger than it was, that all their works would eventually be lost to time, and that the future bore only hardship. However, the reservations spoke confidently about their ability to prevent these events from happening again, displaying their mastery over disease, of technology that they claimed surpassed even what the Europeans had used to subjugate them, and of knowledge that made life safer and easier for the people of the 15th Century.

A few 15th Century tribes continued to be skeptical, believing the reservations were just especially advanced and powerful tribes from an unexplored part of the continent, but these beliefs were usually expelled with enough contact, and rarely persisted after the first generation except in relative backwaters.

Those from the 15th Century who supported the efforts of the reservations did so because they feared the future and wanted to prevent these terrible events from occurring. To say the reservations encouraged these fears in order to gain support is, while uncharitable, also not entirely untrue. Many Native Americans in the days after the translocation were equally afraid of the future and wished to avert it, and were quick to share this framing of history.

There was one other mystery related to the translocation, that being the fate of the history which the reservations left behind. The idea that their original history had been erased from existence was terrifying, but entirely possible. A more appealing theory, and therefore a more common one, was that the translocation had created a parallel universe, and that the two now existed side-by-side. This of course opened the door to the existence of many parallel universes, which fueled endless speculative art.

Most people believed that the land the reservations replaced up in 1418 had been sent to their original history's year of 2018 in exchange, and there were a number of different theories as to the fate of "the other history". A few people speculated that if the entity that had caused the translocation was so powerful, there was no reason they could not copy the reservations and all the people on them with equal precision, although the popularity of this theory was hamstrung by the metaphysical mechanics speculated to be behind it and the troubling implications regarding the soul and personal identity.

Many 15th Century cultures went through various attempts to come to terms with the concept of time travel, parallel universes, and the attempt to change the future. The idea that time was a path with many forks, each creating its own universe, became a common theme in art, philosophy, and even religious beliefs. 15th Century tribes accepted that the reservations had come from a different branch of history, and thus had more experience, but were not completely sure of the path ahead – the concept of a "Maybe Future" likewise became a common concept, of a future that was not assured but possible.

In some ways, these ideas were curiously similar to the concept of general relativity, in that they posited that the reservations had not so much as moved backwards in times but sideways.

Several philosophical schools of thought would arise based around these ideas, as well as around the idea that an individual could exist in multiple parallel universes. These debates became especially important to those born in the 15th Century, before the translocation, who produced several classic and popular works of poetry and song that came to be seen as forerunners of the school of Cosmic Existentialism.

As reservation governments began to open public schools and educate the next generation, many made the decision to include study of "the other history" as part of the standard curriculum. Some of these studies were cursory and focused on Native Americans, others were broader, and usually offered as electives. Universities offered entire courses that studied the other history. Due to these studies, the nature of the translocation and the knowledge of the original history became common knowledge, if understood only shallowly. Most courses, except at the University level, glossed over the philosophical and metaphysical theories regarding the translocation in favor of the basic facts about the reservations' original history. Two generations after its creation, every citizen of the Federation grew up learning these basic facts:

1) An event called the translocation brought the reservations into this world from another one.
2) The world the reservations came from was six hundred years more advanced.
3) That other world was one where Europeans had conquered the Native Americans with their superior technology.
4) The technology the reservations possessed was now superior to that of the Europeans.
5) In that other history, Europeans had arrived in 1492.

Of course, the translocation had more effects than just the appearance of the reservations, but it would be many generations until this fact was discovered.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 16: The First Contact Period in the Southeast​

The Mississippi River Valley Civilization was a culture in decline. Once defined by its heavily populated and complex urban areas, by the 15th Century the Mississippi watershed had a much lower population, with its people concentrated in more numerous but less populated urban centers. On the peripheries of the Mississippi River Cultural Complex, the traditional rule of the priest-kings was already being eroded by the warrior-aristocracy – along the Ohio River, in the Appalachians, along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, and in the Mississippi River Delta, priest-king systems had already been replaced by complex chiefdoms. Local groups in these areas were already developing into the tribal confederations which would give rise, in our history, to familiar groups such as the Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw, among others.

However, the rule of the priest-kings was still strong along the Mississippi River itself. Though the great urban center of Cahokia had been abandoned within the last century, there were still large and densely populated urban centers here by 1418. The priest-kings commanded control of powerful overland trade routes across the Great Plains, benefiting from the copper trade with the Southwest – while metalworking was known to the Mississippians, the only available metals were ornamental copper and gold.

However, far from finishing off the Mississippians, the translocation saved them in their final century.

The translocation brought remarkably few reservations to a geographically large area, and nearly all of them were small in population and fragmented. These were the Eastern Cherokee in the Appalachians, the tiny Catawba reservation nearby, the Choctaw in the north-central hills of the modern state of Mississippi, and two tiny reservations in the Mississippi Delta – the Chitimaca and the Tunica-Biloxi. The only other cluster of reservations were the Seminole, of which there eight reservations, all in southern Florida. However, the Seminole were a relatively new tribe, having only been formed after European colonization from a number of other tribes.

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the Seminole were perhaps the best equipped in the region. Together the reservations had plenty of farms and ranches, schools, health clinics, a museum, an airport, and some equipment from an oil production company. Two of the reservations had significant numbers of tourists who served as additional skilled and unskilled labor.

The Seminole worked quickly to establish contact with each other and reach out the nearby tribes, extending health care, education, and technological aid. The Seminole adopted the unique practice of not only teaching neighboring tribes agriculture, but of teaching them to construct artificial lakes and ponds. This both helped to balance out the wetlands drained for agriculture, but gave tribes increased access to fish and waterfowl to augment their food supply. Irrigation projects and the construction of artificial wetlands also helped to centralize power under chiefs who could organize the necessary labor. In any case, most of the swampy country saw only indirect exposure to modern diseases and technologies, and Seminole explorers struggled to penetrate the interior.

In the meantime, they focused on building a port on the Atlantic. The effort required extensive labor, and the Seminole naval program progressed slowly at first, until contact with the Passamaquoddy in 1427.

The Seminole understood themselves to be the closest reservations to Columbus' original landing site, and took it upon themselves to establish what they saw as the first line of defense against European invasion. To this end, they declared the entire Florida Peninsula their protectorate, and sent the first reservation expedition outside the North American mainland – to the Bahamas.

The Bahamas at the time were home to the Lucayan, a tribe of Taino people. The Seminole brought modern medicine and improved agricultural and shipbuilding techniques, and organized the Lucayan chiefs into a confederation of tribes. The Seminole recognized the Taino Confederation as a sovereign nation and gave them continue aid in exchange for hosting a naval base at modern-day San Salvador Island, believed to be the site of Columbus' first landfall.

However, this had unexpected effects. With improved shipbuilding the Taino sailed not only around the Caribbean to other Taino tribes, but also to the mainland, including the Maya and the northern coast of South America, bringing modern disease and technology long before the reservation tribes could even explore those places.

In the meantime, the Seminole turned to securing the Atlantic Coast. They established a second naval base on Bermuda, and signed the Treaty of Bermuda with the Passamaquoddy, establishing a triangle of ocean with the Passamaquoddy reservation, the San Salvador Naval Base, and Bermuda as its three points. The two nations agreed to jointly defend this "Bermuda Triangle" from foreign invasion – this treaty was later used by the Federation to establish its territorial waters.

In the interior, the reservations were at a severe disadvantage. Their small populations and locations in the midst of a fairly populated part of the continent called to mind similarities to the situation of the Northeast reservations, however unlike the Northeast the Cherokee, Catawba, and Chickasaw were not located near large, pre-existing organized societies, merely city-states organized into loose leagues based on tribal lineage. They did their best to share modern health care and technology with those nearest to them, drawing them into alliances. In addition, the Ohio River Valley and the large city-states along the Mississippi River received modern diseases and technology completely indirectly from any contact with reservations.

As contact was made with both the Seminole and with other parts of the continent, from the Great Plains to the Northeast, the reservation tribes and their various allies began an attempt to unite a broad arc of territory from the Mississippi River to Chesapeake Bay under the United Confederacies of the Southeast, or UCS. This effort was partially successful – while the UCS began as a loose federation, the country's territorial claims included a vast back-country where reservation (or reservation-allied) authority had not yet penetrated, and local tribes and cities, devastated by unchecked epidemics, were adopting modern agriculture and technology through trade.

Under the guidance of the Chitimaca and the Tunica-Biloxi, and later with technological aid from the Osage and Seminole, who wanted to establish a strong, the tribes of the Mississippi River Delta formed their own confederation, named the Quigaltam League after the predominant city in the region. As in the rest of the Southeast, the Quigaltam League was characterized by urban areas slowly modernizing under the influence of a middle class of immigrants from other reservations.

The Council of Three Fires and the Haudenosaunee both wished to establish a foothold on the Ohio River, and so supported local city-states, sending medical and technological aid. These efforts resulted in the rise of two rival leagues, and a third league of neutral cities. While in the First Contact Period the two greater powers merely payed token attention to the Ohio River Valley, their allies in the region fought multiple skirmishes.

The majority of the Southeast, including the middle reaches of the Mississippi where the priest-kings still ruled, was untouched by modern statebuilding projects. Instead, the area was a chaotic region of unchecked epidemics, the movements of peoples, warlordism by ambitious chiefs or cities, and social upheaval. By the later 1430s, many of the priest-king ruled cities had fallen and had been replaced by warrior-aristocrats or even reservation-influenced democracies. Foreign tribes entered the region from the Great Lakes or the Northeast, expelled by the warfare and upheaval there.

Due to the small size of the reservations, and the existence of multiple urban areas (which, if small for the time, still had larger populations than any small town on the reservations), many reservation tribes found it easier to help modernize them by migrating to them directly. By 1440, more 21st Century tribes lived off of reservations than on them. Most cities of the Southeast, whether part of the UCS, the Quigaltam League, along the Ohio, or along the Mississippi itself, soon amassed immigrant populations that, due to the small size of the cities in this time, soon made up a significant percentage of the population in some places. As in the Caddo Nation, they formed a middle class of professionals; craftsmen, advisers, teachers, and doctors. Some of them were given minor positions of power by chiefs, others amassed considerable wealth. A few exploited power vacuums to take control of their cities, though this was a rare occurrence in the Quigaltam League and the UCS.

While the Quigaltam League and the UCS saw the bulk of these immigrants, the vast backcountry saw its own immigration. The Southeast seemed to attract a certain type of scoundrel referred to as "adventurers". Sometimes missionaries, sometimes doctors, sometimes wandering technical-advisers-for-hire, sometimes mercenaries, sometimes even would-be kings, these adventurers came from other reservations or parts of the continent where modern knowledge had disseminated quickly. Some came to spread the word of their religion, others sought to charitably assist those afflicted by disease, some came for fun and profit. Most came voluntarily, but a few were criminals fleeing capture by reservation police, and others felt forced to leave by unrest at home – many were White Americans. They were often mythologized in songs and stories, and the adventurer formed a foundational part of the Mississippian identity. Some became very successful indeed, with a few even conquering their own fiefdoms far beyond the reach of the reservations.

By 1440, huge parts of the Southeast remained lawless, fraught with intertribal warfare, a situation not improved by profiteering adventurers. The Ohio League was moving towards war, the UCS was struggling to centralize, and under pressure from the north and west, the city-states of the Mississippi had formed into the Mississippi League, a fractious alliance of cities rules by priest-kings, hereditary autocracies, and even a few democracies. The Mississippi League was mainly formed as a way to gain collective bargaining power with the nations of the Great Plains and with the Council of Three Fires, in order to obtain modern technology and medical aid, as well as to regain trade routes, including the Caribbean trade routes controlled by the Quigaltam League. In practice, the Mississippi League also possessed an interior that it could barely control, and its member cities fought each other almost as much as they allied against internal enemies such as raiding tribes, warlords, or ambitious chiefs.

In short, the Southeast was seen as the chaotic backwater of the continent, whose powerful cities had survived the First Contact Period but now struggled to establish themselves as functioning polities, even with the help of the small reservation tribes who now made the region their home.

Then, the Continental Congress of 1440 debated the creation of the Federation of American Peoples.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Chapter 17: The Founding of the Federation
​

The Federation of American Peoples has been called, at various times, "the most ambitious project in human history", "a historical inevitability", "a Quixotic venture", "the greatest triumph of the Native American", "the noblest of political visions", "a useful fiction", "a well-intentioned mistake", and "an act of sheer hubris".

Certainly, it was an ambitious project. There were visionaries from the early days after the translocation, once the full situation was understood, who envisioned a single nation straddling the continent, uniting all tribes and nations under its banner. Memories of the old United States of America, whether good or bad, must have been fresh in the minds of many.

Some Native Americans, to say nothing of the majority of non-Natives, believed in the values of the USA, as witnessed by the influential American Patriot Movement, which openly called for a reunification of the United States. The American Patriot Movement was strongest on reservations where White Americans formed a majority. Most of these nations eventually adopted fictions of being continuations of tribal governments, though they did enshrine protections for their Native American citizens, both old and new.

This is where the historical narrative that the Federation was a "useful fiction" stems from. Some historians believe the Federation was, in fact, a continuation of the United States. However, we must acknowledge that of the founding states of the Federation, only one, the Osage Nation, was majority white at the time. Still, the founders of the Federation believed it to be a project for all people inhabiting the continent.

However, these was no guarantee that the Federation was destined to happen. While cooperation and friendship existed between most early states post-transition, there was also war, hostility, and distrust, and even in the First Contact Period many nations had shown themselves willing to look out for their own interests first. There have been compelling alternative outcomes suggested by historians – of a continent dominated by multiple regional alliances, some politically integrated and some not, sometimes friendly, often rivals, and occasionally hostile. Among the wealth of speculative fiction on such matters, usually written as political allegories, there are even more possibilities. Certainly, even the Federation did not manage to prevent wars or rivalries between its member states entirely.

Still, those regional alliances were certainly present in the First Contact Period, and would have remained even if the Federation had not been founded. The New Tacoma Agreement, the Great Plains Community, the Union of Southwest Tribes and its satellite states, the city leagues of the Southeast formed as a result of external pressure, and the large nation-states of the Great Lakes and Northeast – all of these were viable precursors to regional powers.

However, there were demands for a multinational organization that brought together all of these powers that went beyond the ideological. Commerce, access to modern technology, exposure to disease, and political stability had not been evenly distributed across the continent. Regions which lagged technologically desired favorable relations with more developed states, tribes and nations which relied on trade wanted assurances of a stable economy, and small powers wanted protection against large, expansionist ones.

The Continental Congress of 1440 took place in Pawhuska, the capital of the Osage Nation, which was by all accounts the most centrally-located nation on the continent. It lasted from August 9th​ to November 30th​ and contained delegations from over fifty recognized nations, with almost a hundred attendees total. It was the first of its kind, a truly continental gathering of diplomats, both men and women, from a huge variety of tribes and races – nearly all of them choosing to attend in traditional ceremonial attire.

The Continental Congress had many goals, from recognition of international borders, discussions of the so-called "Development Zones", and speeches and presentations on the history of reservations since the translocation, including committees designed to share information on health care, technological progress, and political developments. To give but one example of the level of information exchange at play between the delegates, the Annette Island Naval Academy would later claim that a chance conversation between a Passamaquoddy and an Annette Islander on their different shipbuilding programs propelled the Federation's naval capabilities forward by almost a decade.

However, the most long-lasting outcome of the Continental Congress came when the Osage Nation proposed the idea of a multinational union encompassing the entire North American continent. The architect of this pitch was Frank Wilson, an Osage teacher, writer, and later statesman.
The Seminole like to claim that they were the first state of the Federation, and there is certainly a seed of truth to that - their delegate was the first to approve of Frank Wilson's proposal. The Seminole had always been conscious of their position as the "first line of defense" for the Native Americans, and afterwards they were among the staunchest Federation loyalists.

After the Seminole, the Union of Southwest tribes and their satellite states were the first group of delegates to collectively approve of the idea. Their representatives wanted access to markets to fuel their growing industrial economy, and they already had close ties with the Osage Nation and its own sphere of influence – the Pawnee, Wichita, and Caddo, who of course supported the motion as well, the Caddo quite enthusiastically. They were followed by a scattering of others, including the Quigaltam League, the UCS, and the Republic of Los Angeles.

These "Day One Delegates" were the only ones to approve of Wilson's motion on the same day it was introduced – the other delegations adjourned to discuss the matter in separate meetings.

The delegation from the Pacific Northwest would have probably been among the Day One Delegates if there had not been so many of them. The delegation returned the next day led by Trina Wapsheli, a Yakama lawyer and politician who had been one of the framers of the New Tacoma Agreement, which she presented as a model for the Federation.

The Great Plains Community was more skeptical. While they certainly were willing to cooperate with each other, and were open to being friendly with other tribes, as a collection of lightly-populated states who still sat on rich deposits of coal and oil, they were deeply skeptical of both a central government and foreign business interests as represented by a free trade area. However, they also saw an opportunity to secure their sovereignty by enshrining it in the Federation itself.

The Great Plains delegates were ultimately united by Anna Littlebear, a Northern Cheyenne activist and politician, who convinced them that they had more to gain by being part of the Federation than outside it, especially given the core of the Federation would be to their south and, if the Pacific Northwest joined, to their west as well. Littlebear believed the Federation represented a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect between Native Americans, and wanted to see those values enshrined in its founding document.

The Great Lakes and Northeast delegations took longer to agree. The Haudenosaunee delegates (and several others) actually reported home about the debate via radio – nearly all major nations by 1440 possessed at least one radio for official communications. These Northeastern nations called emergency sessions of their highest councils to discuss the matter, and messages were sent back and forth for almost a week. At first the Haudenosaunee seemed unlikely to join, however nearly all of their neighbors seemed keen on doing so. The Haudenosaunee had been expansionist, conquering and assimilating multiple other tribes, and now had territory stretching from Chesapeake Bay to the St Lawrence River. While the various Northeastern nations had cooperated to contain the Abenaki, none of them were under the assumption that they would be safe from Haudenosaunee aggression – unless, of course, there were proper assurances. However, the Federation would do them no good if it was on the other side of the continent.

The Council of Three Fires soon determined that a multinational organization would be in their best interest. Despite initial promises of friendship and cooperation between the new, reservation-run government of the Council of Three Fires and the Haudenosaunee, the two nations soon became "gentle competitors" for influence among 15th​ Century tribes stuck between them, for control of trade routes across the Great Lakes, and for expansion. The Council of Three Fires had given supplies and aid to the Huron and Algonquin as a balance against the Haudenosaunee on their northern border, and during the course of negotiations even convinced the two nations to join the Federation. In the late 1430s, they even fought proxy wars using their allies in the Ohio River Valley as both nations sought to stake their influence on the upper Ohio River.

The Council of Three Fires, and soon after the Passamaquoddy, Pequot, Lenape, and Powhatan, joined the Federation hoping for security against the Haudenosaunee without necessitating war. Given this situation, the Haudenosaunee felt the pressure rising, and understood that a check on their ambitions so soon would probably be one which they would not be able to recover from. After a week of deliberations by the Haudenosaunee tribal council, their delegates announced they were willing to begin negotiations.

The two dominant nations of the Northeast contributed their own voices to the Federation's planning: Tyler LaPlaunt, an Ojibwe community organizer, activist, and diplomat, had been a Council of Three Fires delegate to the Continental Congress. The Iroquois dispatched Aliquippa, a formidable Seneca Clan Mother and an expert on Haudenosaunee procedure.

The final nation to join was the fractious, squabbling Mississippi League. Their constituent city-states had to be convinced, bribed, and bullied into agreeing to negotiations.

In a strange way, the structure of the Federation was determined before its actual responsibilities were. The Northeast and Great Lakes delegations insisted on establishing the nature of the Federation's government, and if it was to be democratic, then on selecting the representatives before ratifying any founding documents. Several types of representation were proposed, but most were discarded. The initial suggestion of representation for each tribe was rejected – some tribes had populations in the mere hundreds, while the Navajo had a population in the hundreds of thousands. Proportional representation was likewise considered, but was rejected by several of the more established nations – the Haudenosaunee, the Council of Three Fires, the Union of Southwest Tribes, even the Great Plains Community. Already a divide was being drawn over whether the Federation was to be a multinational organization, or a united government. On the balance, the more powerful and numerous nations leaned towards the former, so plans for a single nation encompassing all tribes were scaled back.

There were five framers of the Federation Charter – Trina Wapsheli, Anna Littlebear, Frank Wilson, Tyler LaPlaunt, and Aliquippa. Many other tribes made contributions, and of course the text of the document was argued over and debated and revised many times, so that ultimately every member of the 1st​ Parliament of the Federation had a hand in shaping the document.

The role of the Federation is expressed quite clearly in the Preamble of its founding document, the Federal Charter:

"We, the American Peoples, in order to ensure the peaceful cooperation between all tribes and nations; establish between them justice and domestic tranquility; provide for their common defense; promote their health and welfare; ensure their freedom of travel, commerce, and expression; and safeguard their natural and cultural heritage for posterity; do ordain and establish this Charter of the Federation of American Peoples."

The Federation, then, was envisioned as a continental free trade area with a single currency and open borders, with the Federation government existing to enforce environmental regulations, regulate controlled substances, operate an international court, and manage both internal diplomatic relations while representing its members states to foreign powers.

The Federation's ruling body would consist of a Parliament, composed of one Member of Parliament from each member state – this was suggested by Aliquippa, a modification of the Haudenosaunee system and a compromise between those who wanted a representative central government and those who wanted a looser system of sovereign states. MPs would be appointed or elected, in a manner as decided by the member state, and MPs would elect a Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister's main role was to act as the chief parliamentarian, bringing issues to votes and otherwise acting as head of state. However, he also had the authority to appoint the heads of the Federation's executive branch. The executive was divided into seven Bureaus, and each was headed by a Secretary.

The Bureau of State handled foreign affairs, including diplomacy with foreign nations, but the Secretary of State also served as the joint commander of the Federation's Armed Forces. While the Federation had no standing army, the Secretary of State had the authority to call up volunteers from the members states and was automatically the highest-ranking officer in the Federation.

- The Bureau of Health operated hospitals, disease prevention programs, research into medical science, and reacted to health emergencies.
- The Bureau of the Interior enforced environmental regulations and conducted environmental studies.
- The Bureau of Commerce regulated both external and internal commerce and regulated controlled substances.
- The Bureau of Finance managed the Federation Treasury and the Federation Central Bank, managed currency, and drafted the Federation's budget. The Secretary of Finance also collected taxes.
- The Bureau of Science funded scientific research and development, as well as funding and operating modernization and infrastructure projects.
- The Bureau of Justice ran the International Courts as well as operating a Federation Police Service which enforced Federation laws.

This being decided, the 1st​ Parliament of the Federation met before its Charter had even been ratified and began the hard task of laying out the powers, responsibilities, and restrictions of the Federation and its various agencies. Frank Wilson was elected the first Prime Minister of the Federation, who appointed judges to the Federation courts and Secretaries to their various agencies.

Meanwhile, by the time the Federation was officially founded, its members states had been busy. The tribes of the Pacific Northwest coast, minus the Tlingit and Haida, had formed the nation which they named Confederated Tribes of Cascadia, while the tribes of the interior likewise united into the Confederated Tribes of the Columbia. Both were much stronger unions than the Federation itself. Meanwhile, the squabbling city-states of the Ohio River had pulled off a political coup and united for mutual protection and clout against their larger neighbors. The Ohio League was the last state to join the Federation.

In 1442, the Charter of the Federation of American Peoples was ratified by representatives from thirty-six members states.

A flag was chosen – four vertical stripes in black, gold, white, and red. The currency of the Federation was called the pound, as it was backed by gold and silver – this policy, some noted, was championed by the Union of Southwest Tribes, who had access to many of the region's gold and silver mines.

A capital site was hotly disputed, before Parliament agreed on a centrally-located site, an abandoned mound city across the Mississippi River from the old site of Cahokia. A name for this capital was likewise disputed – the chief problem in selection symbols of the Federation would always be the complete lack of any iconography that was common to all Native American tribes. Eventually someone had the common-sense idea of asking a nearby tribe the name of the site, who stated that the city had been named something equivalent to "the City on the West Bank of the River". The name of Westbank soon saw regular use, and the mound where the Federation's capitol building was raised was christened, quite knowingly, as Capitol Hill.

The Federation finally stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the tropical islands of the Taino to chilly Haida Gwaii. Of course, much of this territory was without central government, under weak government control, only recognized government authority on paper, or had been completely depopulated by disease and migration. Still, at the time of its founding, the Federation had within those borders 5 million people, with 1 million of them born in the 21st​ Century.

 

[ScottishMongol]

Appendix 1: Member States of the Federation

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Tlingit Nation: Home to the very successful Annette Island Reservation, the Tlingit Nation was eventually formed into a representative democracy which was headed by a five-man executive elected by the various constituent tribes and a Chairmen elected by the entire nation. Aside from being the northernmost state of the Federation, the Tlingit Nation was also home to the Annette Island Naval Academy, the foremost institution of its kind on the west coast for decades.

Haida Gwaii: The Haida were united under a single chief through war and political maneuvering. He formed the other chiefs into a Parliament and named himself Haida Gwaii's first Prime Minister. Traditionally Haida chiefs ruled through inheritance claims, however due to the epidemics several lines had been wiped out and the claimants were of questionable birth, allowing a faction of lower-class, anti-elite Haida to enter Parliament. This political divide would go on to dominate Haida Gwaii's internal politics. Externally the Haida had a strong merchant marine allied closely with the Tlingit and Cascadia, and were among the Federation's boldest explorers.

Confederated Tribes of Cascadia: The Confederated Tribes of Cascadia were formed from almost a dozen smaller reservations and tribes who had been drawn into the alliance known as the New Tacoma Agreement. The City of New Tacoma had been the dominant power on the coast and was the capital of the Confederated Tribes of Cascadia. Cascadia operated as a bicameral representative democracy. The upper house was composed of one representative from every recognized tribe, while the lower house was composed of representatives assigned via proportional districts. New Tacoma would go on to be the business and finance capital of the entire western half of the Federation.

Confederated Tribes of the Columbia: The Confederated Tribes of the Columbia split from the coast due to economic differences. With an economy primarily based on herding and farming rather than fishing and trade, the Columbia basin nevertheless had an identical government to Cascadia. However, the states which the nation was divided into were themselves confederations of multiple tribes, most of them descended from those forced together onto reservations and their 15th Century ancestors who had been adopted into the nation. Thus, the upper house of the Columbian legislature had as many as six representatives per member state, instead of the one per member state more common in Cascadia. The Confederated Tribes of the Columbia was also home to the State of Idaho, which despite it's overwhelmingly white population was given a seat on Columbia's legislature.

California Development Zone: The California Development Zone was administrated by the Federation's Bureau of the Interior, who operated hospitals, introduced new technology at a sustainable rate, and policed the region to prevent intertribal warfare. The Yokut Nation, a loose alliance of multiple tribes, took up a considerable portion of the Central Valley region but did not seek Federation membership until after 1442.

Confederated Tribes of the Salton Sea: Founded by a collection of 15th Century tribes displaced by disease, refugees from the fragmented reservations of Southern California, and from tourists stranded on those same reservations. The various groups gathered around the Salton Sea and retained an agricultural tradition which, together with hunting and fishing, kept a few thousand people alive until the Union of Southwest Tribes arrived with aid. The Confederated Tribes of the Salton Sea was slowly developed with Union advice, and while some tribes returned to their traditional homelands, most of the inhabitants stayed in their new home. Highly multicultural and with substantial mixing of tribes and races, the state was governed by a Popular Assembly of one hundred delegates, elected in chaotic plurality at-large elections in which the 100 candidates with the most votes were seated.

Republic of Los Angeles: Initially founded as a petrostate with the aid of the Annette Islanders, this small state grew rapidly as it attracted refugees from nearby reservations and incorporated neighboring tribes who survived the epidemics. Initially tightly tied to Pacific Northwest, the extension of travel by the Union of Southwest Tribes via rail and later ocean travel soon caused the state to orient itself towards the Southwest. Los Angeles was a multicultural state which was led by an elected President but whose laws were approved by plebiscite. Through treaty, purchase of land, and alliance, the Republic of Los Angeles expanded across the Los Angeles Basin and into the San Fernando Valley.

Great Basin Development Zone: Formed from the chaotic badlands of the Great Basin, the Great Basin Development Zone was a chaotic region of squabbling nomadic tribes, Lamanite missionaries, and Federation lawmen who attempted to bring order and development to the region.

Ute Nation: Largely home to White Americans and a minority population of Ute Indians, nearly all of the Ute Nation's inhabitants were Mormons, who quickly adopted a Native American supremacist brand of that religion that claimed that the Native Americans (or "Lamanites") were God's chosen people, the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and were destined to rule the world now that history had been reset. The Lamanites were among the fiercest Federation loyalists, especially after the Federation's capital was placed in what is now the modern state of Missouri, where Mormon eschatology said the capital of God's kingdom would be founded.

Union of Southwest Tribes: The Union of Southwest Tribes was ruled by a federal government which was split into a bicameral legislature, with an upper house composed of two representatives from each tribal government, and a lower house whose members were allocated based on population. The Navajo formed a plurality in this lower house, while the substantial population of White Americans were often restricted into a handful of majority-white districts, limiting the number of seats they could hold in the lower house. Union politics were dominated by the Navajo and the industry which fell under Navajo Nation control, especially the fossil fuel and precious metal industries. The Union was also notable, however, for its emphasis on commerce and entertainment, and most travelers between West Coast and the Great Plains passed through the Union. The state was also known for its vibrant art and music scene.

Tohono O'Odham Nation: Like most reservations, the Tohono O'Odham Nation started with the translocated reservations and expanding by adopting 15th Century tribes into its political structure. In this case, the Tohono O'Odham functioned much as they always have, with a tribal council headed by a tribal chairman elected by the entire nation. The Tohono O'Odham Nation was most notable for being home to the Federation's first observatory, which had been brought over by the translocation, and this proved to be one of those strange quirks of history, as the Tohono O'Odham produced many of the early Federation's best astronomers and physicists.

Apache Nation: While most reservations had adopted related tribes through diplomacy or treaty, the Apache had largely done so through war, using horses and firearms to unite fractious tribes. The fierce nationalism which gripped the Apache Nation was reflected in its new capital, Geronimo City on the Rio Grande. The Apache Nation saw several civil wars between feuding tribes who had not been entirely pacified by the central government. Most power lay in the hands of the Apache Nation's President, although a Senate which represented individual tribes existed, which became famous for the brawls which often broke out on its floor.

Pueblo League: Composed of a number of Pueblos from both the 21st Century and the 15th Century, the Pueblo League was notably multicultural, including Native Americans, White Americans and Latin Americans in equal numbers. These groups often intermarried and formed a unified "Southwest" culture. The Pueblo League was led by a ceremonial President and an elected council of advisers from each pueblo, while most pueblos themselves operated as direct democracies.

Osage Nation: The most prosperous reservation in the Federation, the Federation's temporary capital until the construction of Westbank was complete, and the birthplace of the Federation's first Prime Minister, the Osage Nation considered itself the foremost member of the Federation. The Osage Nation operates as a unicameral presidential republic, where 1/5th of the seats in the legislature are reserved for registered members of the Osage Nation, though Native Americans frequently ran for and won elections for other seats. The first President of the Osage Nation was an Osage Indian, and by tradition their Member of Parliament to the Federation was always an Osage Indian.

The Caddo Nation, the Wichita Nation, and the Pawnee Nation: After the Caddoan Revolution in which pro-reservation governments came to power, displacing the previous rule by priest-kings, the Caddoans reorganized into a representative democracy closely modeled off of that of the Osage Nation. Similarly, the Wichita and Pawnee Nation fell strongly within the Osage sphere of influence and their chiefs were strongly encouraged to form federal republics. By 1442 all three nations were highly democratic and very pro-Federation.

Rio Grande Frontier Zone: Home initially to only a few scattered tribes and one tiny reservation, a broad swathe of land on both sides of the Rio Grande River was claimed by the Federation to secure both the mouth of the Rio Grande and the substantial oil reserves in the region. The Rio Grande Frontier Zone was administered by the Bureau of State.

Great Plains Common Trust Land: A stretch of tallgrass prairie which was almost 80,000 square miles, the Great Plains Common Trust Land had been almost completely depopulated by epidemics (though it had, admittedly, been very thinly populated before that). The Great Plains Common Trust Land was administered by the Bureau of the Interior and was intended to be a massive nature reserve.


Shoshone-Arapahoe Nation: As with many nations, the Shoshone-Arapahoe Nation was centered on the Shoshone-Arapahoe Nation which rapidly expanded into land traditionally held by those nations. Shoshone and Arapahoe tribes in the region were hunter-gatherers and were usually quite badly scattered by epidemics, allowing the Shoshone-Arapahoe to absorb them. The Shoshone-Arapahoe Nation was governed by a tribal council whose members were elected during yearly cattle trading festivals in which only registered tribal members can vote. The substantial White American population fell after the First Contact Period due to death, emigration, or intermarriage.

The Great Plains Nations: The nations of the Great Plains were more or less similar in government. All of them were ruled by tribal councils, whose at-large seats were filled following vacancies (term limits, resignation, or death), with a chairman presiding as the head of state. However, most actual governance was done through informal social circles, as the bulk of the economy was based on herding or even on hunting buffalo. The Great Plains nations were the Blackfoot Nation, the Crow Nation, the Cheyenne Nation, the Commonwealth of Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara), and the New Iron Confederacy (a highly mixed confederacy of Cree, Ojibwe, Assiniboine, and various other minor tribes). Nearly all of these nations were home to significant populations of White Americans, however most of these moved on, to the State of Idaho, to the southern Great Plains or the Southwest, or even as far as Green Bay or New Tacoma. Those who remain were rural, scattered, and frequently intermarried with Native Americans.

Great Sioux Nation: The largest of the Great Plains nations, the Great Sioux Nation was divided into eight tribal areas, each ruled by their own tribal council, and up to half a dozen smaller jurisdictions - four for the Numakaki, the original inhabitants of the region, and two for White Americans. Both were allowed to rule themselves in these "autonomous territories", however only the eight Sioux tribes were allowed to elect members to the Great Sioux Council. It should be noted that the Numakaki are more "autonomous" than the White Americans, who are subject to Great Sioux Nation law enforcement - their territories were frequently poor, grown up from shanty towns erected by stranded tourists, and were rife with crime. Both White American and Sioux territories frequently saw interference in the political process by organized crime.

Council of Three Fires: The Council of Three Fires was mostly taken over by reservation tribes and reformed. By 1442 this confederation of Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa was largely democratic, with local tribes voting for their clan chiefs, their representatives on tribal councils (one representative per clan, and their representative on the Council of Three Fires itself - tribal councils selected slates of representatives, and the vote was more like a survey to see how many members of the three registered tribes there were, thus determining how the seats would be proportioned. In addition, White Americans had the ability to vote in clan elections but not tribal or federal ones, and the cities of Michilimackinac and Green Bay, where most White Americans lived, elected their own city councils.

Haudenosaunee: The Haudenosaunee were a confederacy of tribes who, in the First Contact Period, were highly expansionist, seeking to assimilate conquered tribes into their confederacy. Haudenosaunne member tribes were made of of clans, and each clan and tribe was led by a chief, who was appointed by the Clan Mothers, the women of the most respected families in Haudenosaunee society. Clan Mothers could also remove a chief at will. After the First Contact Period, after Haudenosaunee expansion was checked by the Federation and by other centralized states, the Haudenosaunee maintained this political tradition.

The Pequot Confederacy, the Passamaquoddy Confederacy, and the Lenape Confederacy: All of these nations were typical Northeastern tribal confederacies. Their central governments included councils of chiefs, at first appointed vie the traditional blood ties or social capital, however as the few reservation citizens who lived in these nations began to make their voices heard and chiefs became more educated in modern political thought, democratization crept in and by 1442 these nations were more or less representative democracies where tribes voted for their own chiefs.

Powhatan Confederacy: The Powhatan Confederacy began with the conquests by the Powhatan tribe, augmented by reservation firearms and other technology. The Powhatan subjugated nearby tribes and made them subservient to their chief, who took the ceremonial name Powhatan (a common practice among the tribes of southern North America). However, the second Powhatan to rule after the translocation gathered his vassal chiefs together into a council of advisers. By 1442 the Advisory Council did not have much power, however the Powhatan chief sometimes leaves minor administrative issues to them while carrying on a more ceremonial role.

The Abenaki Confederacy: The Abenaki had been conquered by a coalition of neighboring tribes in the late 1430s and were still under occupation by those tribes when the Federation was founded. The Federation allowed them to choose their own leaders but confiscated their firearms and denied them a seat on the Federation Parliament until their chiefs swore oaths to obey Federation law. It is for this reason that the Abenaki called themselves "the Conquered Tribe".

Huron Confederacy and the Algonquin Confederacy: The Huron and Algonquin were typical Northeastern confederacies, where chiefs rose to power through the approval of clan leaders. They were supplied with modern technology and medical aid by the Council of Three Fires and joined the Federation as protection against the Haudenosaunee, who had pressed against their border by expanding into the St. Lawrence River Valley.


Seminole Nation: The Seminole Nation included a vast back-country of Florida swampland which operated as a protectorate of the Seminole. The nation itself was a representative democracy with a strong executive branch. Elections were conducted via mixed-member proportional voting, where voters cast their votes for political parties rather than candidates. Seminole Nation politics were dominated by the doctrine of "Fortress America" which was simultaneously isolationist (firm opposition to contact with Europe) and expansionist (the Federation needed to unite all of the Americas to protect it). Despite this, Federation loyalty trumped all other policy and the Seminole were among the few nations to maintain their own standing army, composed mostly of marines.

Taino Nation: Propped up the Seminole as the Federation's foothold in the Caribbean, the Taino Nation was governed by a council of chiefs. Notably, though, the Taino had both men and women who acted as chiefs. Taino society was organized around blood ties traced through the maternal line. The Taino also maintained a join naval base with the Seminole at San Salvador Island.

Mississippi League: For much of the early part of its history, the Mississippi League only governed part of its claimed territory, with much of the interior home to warlords, independent tribes, and adventurers. In addition, the Mississippian Cultural Complex which stretch from the Great Lakes to Gulf was characterized by dense cities separated by vast, uninhabited buffer zones, making travel and communications infrastructure difficult. The government of the Mississippian League was among the most varied of the Federation, with everything from direct democracies to hereditary warrior-aristocrats to theocracies ruled by priest-kings. Each of these cities met via their head of state (President, priest-king, or chief) in a single meeting once per year, the League Conference, which took place at the same time as a major religious festival presided over by the priest-kings. This League Conference was more an opportunity to snipe at the opposition and jockey for influence rather than to oversee actual policy. Federation-Mississippian relations were characterized by subtle maneuvering, with the Federation carefully propping up those more democratic cities as a way to encourage reforms in the others. However, this simply fed divides in the league and did nothing to solve the problem of the vast and lawless back-country.

Quigaltam League: A coalition of city-states headed by chiefs who themselves called on the allegiance of sub-chiefs, the Quigaltam League was formed with the support of the Osage Nation and the Seminole Nation. Each city acted as its own administrative unit, with a central bicameral legislature which met in Quigaltam, the Chief City of the League (and whose hereditary chief, head of government of the city, and ceremonial head of state took the name Quigaltam upon his ascendancy). The upper house of the legislature had representatives appointed by the head of state of the individual cities (almost always some form of chief) while the lower house's representatives were elected by the general populace. The franchise was generally limited, with only men allowed to vote except in cities with large immigrant communities, while other cities had property requirements to vote. One city, dominated by reservation immigrants, had literacy tests at the polls.

United Confederacies of the Southeast: Formed from multiple chiefdoms and reservations, the United Confederacies of the Southeast was a complex alliance of tribes united primarily by treaty. At first all tribes governed themselves, some operating by direct democracy, others ruled by hereditary chiefs, others operating by a kind of representative democracy. However, as the Federation formed, the UCS had its own convention, which featured delegates from hundreds of constituent tribes who eventually adopted a sort of representative democracy which included such things as a five-man executive, a standing army with elected officers (one of the few standing armies in the Federation), and a federal election system where candidates were submitted by tribal governments and a winner was chosen by lot.

Ohio League: Formed from three smaller leagues of city-states which themselves had unified due to external pressure from the Council of Three Fires and the Haudenosaunee, the Ohio League modeled itself off the Quigaltam League, and to a lesser extent the less-functional Mississippi League. In the Ohio League every chief selected his own representative to the central council. However, the Ohio League had a number of cities where chiefs were informed by elected council of advisers or where chiefs were elected by the general populace upon the death of the previous ruler.