Guns, Germs, and Good Intentions - American Indian Reservations ISOTed to 1418
- Thread starter ScottishMongol
- Start date
- Timeline Supernatural
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- isot (isekai) timeline america
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- In the depts of despair.
Take care of yourself, never forget that this is a hobby and your health and happiness come first.
- Location
- Great Khanate of Scotland
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- She/Her
One of the problems with the Federation (and it does have problems!) is the absolute lack of any symbols common across all cultures. There is, however, one symbol familiar to any uptime Pan-Indian activist...
The flag of the American Indian Movement.
ExNihilo
SPACE!
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
One of the problems with the Federation (and it does have problems!) is the absolute lack of any symbols common across all cultures. There is, however, one symbol familiar to any uptime Pan-Indian activist...
The flag of the American Indian Movement.
I'm having trouble finding the origin of the symbolism of the colors. It's clearly related to the Miccosukee (Florida native Americans) flag, which claims east=yellow, north=red, west=black, and white=south, but any history of the AIN flag is harder to find, it seems.
We Just Write
Blatantly Plural
- Location
- New England
- Pronouns
- Plural
Presumably they just arrived at the flag pattern everyone hated least after a few years of bickering?
Rear Mirrors
Cynic
- Location
- Seattle, Washington, USA
I liked it better if the black was vertical and the rest horizontal. I like the limit at either direction to be three.
- Location
- West Michigan
You're using the same shade of red twice in two different contexts. How would it look if the red bar was removed, so it was just the logo over a tricolor?One of the problems with the Federation (and it does have problems!) is the absolute lack of any symbols common across all cultures. There is, however, one symbol familiar to any uptime Pan-Indian activist...
The flag of the American Indian Movement.
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- Location
- California Conservation Corps
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I believe that is the flag of the current American Indian Movement.
Renko
Look closer ~☆
- Location
- The Endless Void
Can't we use the swastika and change it a bit as a sort of reclamation?
Just a thought.
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the Founding of the Federation
- Location
- Great Khanate of Scotland
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- She/Her
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.
ExNihilo
SPACE!
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This seems pretty small, but it could be right. In 1500, the first century Wikipedia has by-country pop counts, it would be eleventh, though some of those, like Ashikaga, Aztec, and the HRE were only partially states, and quite a few others were unions. Still, it's only a third the population of the Inca Empire, give or take.
bookwyrm
Doom of Public Libraries
- Location
- Wichita, Kansas
Seems like the Federation of American Peoples is like a weird mix of the Articles of Confederation and the tangled web of the European Project, I dig it. Though I assume that "Parliament" was deliberately used instead of "Council" or "Assembly" or "Senate" as a symbolic separation from the centralized highly-defined hierarchy of the old USA and sell it as this new only quasi-sovereign thing to hardliner isolationists and nationalists?
Zap Rowsdower
Ex-cultist vagrant
- Location
- Bright lights, big city
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- He/Him
Population counts for pre contact US, like tribal descriptions, will always have a high degree of speculation and guesswork. By the time folks with writing came through anywhere north of the Nahuatl in a systematic fashion, the disease apocalypse had come and gone. There are no solid numbers for how densely populated a continent it would be; four million plus the ones the reservations couldn't save from disease is well within the insane range of possibility.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
Which, to compare. Europe had a population a bit north of 80 million, but highly, highly divided and fragmented, far more than the Federation, for all that it is far from a unitary government. Five million people with superior technology and a basic knowledge of what comes next is more than enough that, uh.[1] I do wonder, then, will the Federation try to stop colonization of South America too? In theory, if they have a good enough navy they could make it difficult. I'm imagining butterflying away the collapse of the Incan Empire. Certainly, less disease overall is spreading south? Like, not enough to keep it from being devastating to South America, but it might be relatively better by some degrees?
Hey, what do we know about the tribes/groups in what we now know as Northern Mexico? Other than the idea that America as a unit is somehow natural[2], what's dividing those people, truly, from the Federation?
[1] That said, the Federation has every reason to at least release their knowledge on a drip at most, because of the risks involved otherwise.
[2] Which is where Continental History comes in!
Hey, what do we know about the tribes/groups in what we now know as Northern Mexico? Other than the idea that America as a unit is somehow natural[2], what's dividing those people, truly, from the Federation?
[1] That said, the Federation has every reason to at least release their knowledge on a drip at most, because of the risks involved otherwise.
[2] Which is where Continental History comes in!
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- Location
- Great Khanate of Scotland
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The Federation has designs on making contact with Mesoamerica and the Inca for the purposes of building them up against European incursions. Certainly they can't police both continents but they can offer a strong deterrent for exploration and colonization.
The tribes of Northern Mexico simply haven't been modernized and organized enough yet to seek admission into the Federation, but they could in the next couple decades.
There's certainly less deadly diseases going around overall but what epidemics there are have spread past Federation control, they're already in Mesoamerica and the northern coast of South America.
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- They/Them
Oh, and a similar question would be asked for Canada. It's not as if many of the northern borders aren't just pieces of paper. At least in the areas around the lakes, there's no simple cut-off.
- Location
- Hell
I think what is dividing those people is that only U.S. reservations seemed to have been transported. So one, there is not much modern stuff to disseminate in such a wide manner.
So adventurers should go up and down the continent, but not enough to truly start a revolution or such I think.
So adventurers should go up and down the continent, but not enough to truly start a revolution or such I think.
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- They/Them
Bu the thing is, 4/5ths of the population is in fact Native to this time, and they of course have ties both of enmity and friendship with various groups, and do not stop these merely at some arbitrary line established centuries later.
States of the Federation
- Location
- Great Khanate of Scotland
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Appendix 1: Member States of the Federation
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.
the atom
Anarcho-Kemalist Thought Leader
- Location
- Comfortably numb
There must have been some controversy over naming the area after a guy who's main achievement will probably be getting shot in the head in 40 years.
- Location
- In the depts of despair.
They are probably keeping Columbus alive if only because they can predict his expedition but not the ones that follow, so they need him alive and not too batered in order to carry to Europe the message that any wannabe conquistador is going to be received by rifles capable of firing ten times as fast as a musket at a greater range that a cannon can archieve and carried to battle in short ranged but extremely fast ships who don't need to depend on the wind.
But don't worry, they might not consider smart using Columbus as target practice but there is always going to be an idiot conquistador who decides that Columbus was mad and tries to gain a foothold to the land of wonders therefore volunteering to act as a moving target for hunting rifles and some locally made light artillery.
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I find all the Spanish names rather odd as well.
- Pronouns
- They/Them
"I know that bastard Marco Polo was lying about reaching it! This is nothing like that!"
But yeah, I could imagine that as, like a first impression that might continue for a year or two? Or a while, depending on how things go.