Affiliated States of Boreoamerica thread
- Thread starter False Dmitri
- Start date
I had a very long training today at work and made this. It's the start of an idea for a flag of Dakota. Broken arrow symbolizes peace. I don't think it's there yet, but it's a start.
This one's getting a little closer. The flag dates from c. 1910-1920, so I'm hoping for a vibe that evokes that era.
Another idea: just the cross and colors, no arrow. The arrow could be the main symbol on the emblem or arms or what-have-you. I have a good feeling about this one, actually. Four colors for the four directions, green cross for the prairie.
Last edited:
It fits better than the previous versions, so I like this one.
I like this one better than the previous one, but I'm curious how it would look if you had one part of the broken arrow on the red, and one part on the black?
Also, if the colors are meant to be directions, wouldn't it be more appropriate to have it as a saltire rather than a cross?
I think it ends up a bit cluttered, if you ask me. But maybe there's an elegent way to incorporate it.
It follows the symbolism of the medicine wheel, which is almost always an upright cross with the colors in the four quarters. The cross flag is an attempt to translate that design onto a rectangle. But just for comparison, here it is with a saltire.
... But maybe what I need is simply a flag with a medicine wheel.
Last edited:
I think the medicine wheel flag might be the best so far. It fits with the rest while still being distinct.
Here's a short narrative for Dakota, along with the new flag. Most of it amounts to fleshing out a few details of things already posted here or there, and I was pleasantly surprised to see how much there was.
-------------------------------------
DAKOTA
The storied name of Dakota calls to mind eagle feathers, herds of buffalo, dusty saloons, long lines of painted warriors and Buffalo Soldiers riding together to fight outlaws and defend the border... but also vast fields of corn, simple village life, boxy limestone parish churches where soft-spoken priests gently guide their close-knit flocks. Contemporary Dakota is famous for a wide-open landscape that contains some of the Confederation's largest nature preserves. Besides the namesake Dakota people, the state is home to dozens of tribal and ethnic groups, some indigenous and others from elsewhere in America and Europe.
Flag
The flag's central design is a medicine wheel, a major cultural symbol throughout the Plains region. Its four spokes and colors primarily represent the four cardinal directions, but they have also been taken to represent different peoples, totemic animals, forces of nature, or aspects of the human psyche. Behind the medicine wheel is a green and white bicolor that suggests both the ASB's confederal flag and the wide prairie landscape.
History
Dakota's institutional origins lie with fur trading companies from Lower Louisiana. Traders were active along the Missouri from early colonial times, but in the early 19th century their activity picked up. Large expeditions began pushing up the river in flatboats, seeking cargoes greater than what canoes could carry. Louisianans established a line of forts along the river, starting a lively interchange with the nations they encountered. These forts eventually became something like a fortified border, with the Louisianans controlling the east bank and newcomers from Mexico and independent operators active along the west. The Louisianais traders were an interesting group. Their state was still basically a Caribbean culture, and the people who decided to try their luck in the vast interior were mostly from the mixed-race lower rungs of society. On the prairies, they began to build a new society, one that has been called "a buffalo pemmican with Creole spices."
Mexican land policies around mid-century encouraged landless peasants to head north to receive large plots in the Great Plains. This influx of homesteaders put pressure on the tribes already living there. Some were driven across the Missouri, where Louisianan agents welcomed them as an augmentation to their alliance. A war against Mexico helped to unite the people of Dakota and promote a common identity. The war's end defined the Missouri as Dakota's western boundary and established a neutral zone in the center of the Plains, which would later become the buffer states of Omaha, Punkah, and Lakota.
In 1863, Louisiana granted more autonomy to its two northern provinces, Upper Louisiana and Les-Arques. Dakota did not yet have a civil government, but this splitting of the Louisiana republic into three provinces pointed toward a future as a separate state. Two years later Dakota's northern border was defined in a treaty between England and the Grand Council of State. In 1872, trading company officials and the leading chiefs asked that the territory be permitted to name delegates to Congress. This marked the effective start of Dakota's life as a state, though the full panoply of statehood took many more years to develop, including representation in Parliament and freedom from the authority of Lower Louisiana.
The 1870s also saw the growth of commercial farming in Dakota. Steel plow technology had already revolutionized agriculture east of the Mississippi and southwest of the Missouri, and from this time it began to catch on in Dakota as well. As in other states of the ASB, the first new farms developed near older Indian villages and within the village social structure. But the sheer size of the land and its great potential for growing crops made it very inviting to outsiders. Dakota's leaders issued ever-larger grants for groups of settlers to build new communities. Prominent among them were Swedish farmers, often led by experienced Lenape-Swedish guides from Christiana and Ohio. By the early 1900s, corn and wheat had replaced the prairie covering much of the state. A growing web of railroads made it possible for farmers to sell their crops, as well as link Dakota to the eastern states, reducing its economic dependence on the Louisianas.
-------------------------------------
DAKOTA
The storied name of Dakota calls to mind eagle feathers, herds of buffalo, dusty saloons, long lines of painted warriors and Buffalo Soldiers riding together to fight outlaws and defend the border... but also vast fields of corn, simple village life, boxy limestone parish churches where soft-spoken priests gently guide their close-knit flocks. Contemporary Dakota is famous for a wide-open landscape that contains some of the Confederation's largest nature preserves. Besides the namesake Dakota people, the state is home to dozens of tribal and ethnic groups, some indigenous and others from elsewhere in America and Europe.
Flag
The flag's central design is a medicine wheel, a major cultural symbol throughout the Plains region. Its four spokes and colors primarily represent the four cardinal directions, but they have also been taken to represent different peoples, totemic animals, forces of nature, or aspects of the human psyche. Behind the medicine wheel is a green and white bicolor that suggests both the ASB's confederal flag and the wide prairie landscape.
History
Dakota's institutional origins lie with fur trading companies from Lower Louisiana. Traders were active along the Missouri from early colonial times, but in the early 19th century their activity picked up. Large expeditions began pushing up the river in flatboats, seeking cargoes greater than what canoes could carry. Louisianans established a line of forts along the river, starting a lively interchange with the nations they encountered. These forts eventually became something like a fortified border, with the Louisianans controlling the east bank and newcomers from Mexico and independent operators active along the west. The Louisianais traders were an interesting group. Their state was still basically a Caribbean culture, and the people who decided to try their luck in the vast interior were mostly from the mixed-race lower rungs of society. On the prairies, they began to build a new society, one that has been called "a buffalo pemmican with Creole spices."
Mexican land policies around mid-century encouraged landless peasants to head north to receive large plots in the Great Plains. This influx of homesteaders put pressure on the tribes already living there. Some were driven across the Missouri, where Louisianan agents welcomed them as an augmentation to their alliance. A war against Mexico helped to unite the people of Dakota and promote a common identity. The war's end defined the Missouri as Dakota's western boundary and established a neutral zone in the center of the Plains, which would later become the buffer states of Omaha, Punkah, and Lakota.
In 1863, Louisiana granted more autonomy to its two northern provinces, Upper Louisiana and Les-Arques. Dakota did not yet have a civil government, but this splitting of the Louisiana republic into three provinces pointed toward a future as a separate state. Two years later Dakota's northern border was defined in a treaty between England and the Grand Council of State. In 1872, trading company officials and the leading chiefs asked that the territory be permitted to name delegates to Congress. This marked the effective start of Dakota's life as a state, though the full panoply of statehood took many more years to develop, including representation in Parliament and freedom from the authority of Lower Louisiana.
The 1870s also saw the growth of commercial farming in Dakota. Steel plow technology had already revolutionized agriculture east of the Mississippi and southwest of the Missouri, and from this time it began to catch on in Dakota as well. As in other states of the ASB, the first new farms developed near older Indian villages and within the village social structure. But the sheer size of the land and its great potential for growing crops made it very inviting to outsiders. Dakota's leaders issued ever-larger grants for groups of settlers to build new communities. Prominent among them were Swedish farmers, often led by experienced Lenape-Swedish guides from Christiana and Ohio. By the early 1900s, corn and wheat had replaced the prairie covering much of the state. A growing web of railroads made it possible for farmers to sell their crops, as well as link Dakota to the eastern states, reducing its economic dependence on the Louisianas.
Last edited:
The imminent end of a decade makes a man look back and take stock. I need archive more of this on the wiki.
This is a chart of all the major pieces of content that have been posted. I wish this site allowed for tables, but this will have to do. Love and thanks to everyone involved (@Turquoise Blue , @Upvoteanthology , @Venusian Si , @Pempelune , @Doctor President , @Tyche , @Falkanner , @Tsochar , @Frank , @Neoteros , @Gian , and @Undeadmuffin ).
This is a chart of all the major pieces of content that have been posted. I wish this site allowed for tables, but this will have to do. Love and thanks to everyone involved (@Turquoise Blue , @Upvoteanthology , @Venusian Si , @Pempelune , @Doctor President , @Tyche , @Falkanner , @Tsochar , @Frank , @Neoteros , @Gian , and @Undeadmuffin ).
I've finally put @Neoteros' countries of greater China onto the Worlda. As with all other areas that are not developed in detail, expect some changes to these borders as we discover more about them.
While I was at it, I filled in a few other gaps. Given that the other Central American countries exist in TTL, it's pretty certain that Costa Rica does, too. The map shows Nicaragua keeping Guanacaste. I also added an independent country to southern Chile. This is the idea, tossed around a few times, of the residents of a French penal colony essentially going native and integrating with the local Mapuches.
In Europe, I've drawn a tentative border between France and the German confederation. On the German side can be seen some small territories that have links to France. They are France's equivalent to the known small states that have dynastic ties to Sweden-Russia. I also filled in the Swiss space to make a reduced Switzerland, and put in OTL borders for Spain and Portugal. These areas can be more or less assumed, but if a brilliant idea comes along it could alter the picture here. Ditto for Japan.
While I was at it, I filled in a few other gaps. Given that the other Central American countries exist in TTL, it's pretty certain that Costa Rica does, too. The map shows Nicaragua keeping Guanacaste. I also added an independent country to southern Chile. This is the idea, tossed around a few times, of the residents of a French penal colony essentially going native and integrating with the local Mapuches.
In Europe, I've drawn a tentative border between France and the German confederation. On the German side can be seen some small territories that have links to France. They are France's equivalent to the known small states that have dynastic ties to Sweden-Russia. I also filled in the Swiss space to make a reduced Switzerland, and put in OTL borders for Spain and Portugal. These areas can be more or less assumed, but if a brilliant idea comes along it could alter the picture here. Ditto for Japan.
Last edited:
Chicasaw Nation
Chikasha Okla
Chikasha Okla
The intertwined colors red and white represent war and peace in the iconography of many of the southern nations. The same symbolism can be seen in the Cherokee flag, which is red during wartime and white during peace. On the Chicasaw flag the colors are in balance to remind the nation's leaders to carefully tend to both peace and war, not neglecting either. The spiral is a traditional symbol representing wind, breath, the human lifespan, and the survival of the nation over many lifespans. The two circles on either side represent the two traditional divisions of the nation.
!wave
History
Chickasaw emerged as a major chiefdom in the early contact period. Of the four major Indian states of the inland south, Chicasaw was the farthest from major colonial centers and therefore avoided European interference for the longest. Its main rival was the closely related Choctaw Nation. As Choctaw became a client of French Louisiana, Chicasaw naturally leaned toward alliance with England.
After Virginia achieved independence from England, the new state aggressively pushed westward, where its agents encountered the Chicasaw living near the Mississippi. The Virginians stepped into the role that England had played, supplying the Chicasaw with guns and other goods in exchange for military and political support. Chicasaw foght alongside Virginia in the war of 1803. Hostility continued intermittently after the wider war ended, with Chicasaw fighting against Choctaw and Louisianans until a landmark treaty 1818.
Virginian influence also continued. Chicasaw sold Virginia a tract along the Mississippi, a region today known as Tishomingo after the chief who led the negotiations. In exchange, Virginia gave Chicasaw a generous annual subsidy and help to develop a Mississippi River port. Virginia wanted to maintain the alliance in order to keep the nation on its side in the presumed next war. But Chicasaw never intended the alliance to be more than an expedient that would help them to avoid the ambitions of France and England. It turned out that a wider alliance with the entire ASB helped them achieve this better than links to Virginia ever could, so once the nation became a permanent member of the confederal institutions, it began to move out of Virginia's orbit.
The people of Chicasaw today largely identify as indigenous, though many have significant White ancestry in their backgrounds. Some communities of ethnic Virginians stretch along the Mississippi and some major historic trails; these descend from grants made to settlers in the 19th century. English is the main second language and is widely spoken in the largest towns; the villages still largely speak Chicasaw, including a few of those that were originally founded by White settlers. Chicasaw culture has absorbed many elements from its neighbor Upper Virginia besides language, in such areas as religion, music, and pastimes.
Last edited:
Oops, they'd hate that. Thanks very much. Choctaw is the last state to need both a flag and a short history. I wonder what I'll do with myself after that.
Very excited to learn about this French-Mapuche state, reminds me a lot of the Kingdom of Arucania and Patagonia.[/USER]
Something's terribly wrong here. Why did the content of that post link back to a random user's account? 
If you're tired of seeing these Founders infoboxes, I don't blame you. But I'm excited to share them now that they're all finally done. New figures since the last posting in March are: Tanacarison, the Half-King in Allegheny, who established Iroquois control over the region; Mateo Cimarrón in Cuba, hero of Afro-Cuban resistance; Swatana in Poutaxia, who helped make the region free and neutral; Jacques Malveaux in Dakota, Louisianan war hero; Maurice Aubert in West Acadia, the statesman who led the state through its first years; and Fermín O'Regan y López in West Florida, who transformed the local independence movement from an ethnic into a universal cause. Of these six, two are real people, one is loosely based on a real person, and three are fictional. Mateo in Cuba is the creation of @Upvoteanthology , with some tweaking from me.
Every story has a hero, and a state's own story is no exception. They serve to focus and define a state's identity. But the idea of each state having an official Founder figure comes from civic culture in the turn of the twentieth century. Several states have multiple people honored as founders, but the tradition is now that each identifies one figure as a first among equals to represent the state and its history.
We see a mixed group here. Colonizers and people who fought against colonization, warriors and peacemakers, people who united disparate groups and others who boldly broke away. But each one of them played a crucial role in shaping the states as they exist today. Recently the demographics of the group have provoked some comment. The set of founders is predominantly, though not exclusively, White; and it is overwhelmingly male. This reflects historic power structures and the colonial origins of a majority of the states. Nevertheless, a look at the Founder list does give a glimpse of the range of people who are honored as the heroes of Boreoamerican society.
The state founders
Every story has a hero, and a state's own story is no exception. They serve to focus and define a state's identity. But the idea of each state having an official Founder figure comes from civic culture in the turn of the twentieth century. Several states have multiple people honored as founders, but the tradition is now that each identifies one figure as a first among equals to represent the state and its history.
We see a mixed group here. Colonizers and people who fought against colonization, warriors and peacemakers, people who united disparate groups and others who boldly broke away. But each one of them played a crucial role in shaping the states as they exist today. Recently the demographics of the group have provoked some comment. The set of founders is predominantly, though not exclusively, White; and it is overwhelmingly male. This reflects historic power structures and the colonial origins of a majority of the states. Nevertheless, a look at the Founder list does give a glimpse of the range of people who are honored as the heroes of Boreoamerican society.
- Gender: 48 men, 2 women
- Race: 35 White, 8 Indian, 2 Black, 4 Mixed White/Indian, 1 Mixed White/Black
- Birthplace: 14 born within their state, 13 born in a different state, 21 born in Europe, 1 born in Africa, 1 born in America but outside the ASB
- Role: 27 founded the very first form or kernel of their state; 20 effected a significant transformation to help produce the modern state; 3 can be called "spiritual founders" who played little to no role in creating their states' institutions.
Last edited: