A Horn of Bronze--The Shaping of Fusania and Beyond

[Rognvald]

You have my attention, metalinvader. I’m intrigued by the premise of Japanese contact with North America and I enjoy how this reads. Keep it up!

 

[Some Bloke]

I know it's probably a no brainer, but a less isolationist Japan will have a big impact in asian geopolitics.

 

[Arkenfolm]

-VI-
"Hempen Ships, Copper Horns"

Haruo Endou, Lords of the North: The Dena Origins of Fusania (1969) (Katorimatsu [Cathlamet, WA] University Press). Translated by Seppo Savolainen (Ilonlinna [Charlottetown, PEI] University, Vinland) 1978.
​

The climate changes at the end of the 5th century caused chaos in northern Fusania. The permanent villages and even towns ended up emptying out as the resources to feed them mostly vanished and the people sought better lives elsewhere. Traditionally called the Dena expansions and sometimes lumped into other ongoing migrations of Dena peoples, in modern times it has been proven that the Dena's own expansions resulted in other groups like the Ringitsu, Khaida, and Tsusha to likewise migrate. Such migrations have thus resulted in the era being called the American Migration Period, for its impact spread far beyond the territories inhabited by Dena peoples.

The disrupted of their lifestyle combined with their willingness to hold onto it led to the Dena to disperse from the Hentsuren, Nuklukayet, and other centers of their culture like never before. The Tachiri Culture found in that region served as a template for later cultures of the Dena. Armed with their reindeer, intensive skill at controlling key Arctic plants, and their knowledge of earthworks and waterworks, among other traits, the Dena migrated in every direction for a variety of reasons, seeking good land for their immediate kin.

Those of the Old Ringitani Sea Culture [1], ancestors of the Inuit and Yupik, felt the fury of the Dena first. Despite the increasing harshness of their lands, the Dena coveted and pushed into them, displacing many of the inland people of that culture. Along the coast, the Old Kechaniya Culture [2] faced a similar intrusion. The Old Kechaniya Culture ended up totally outcompeted by the inlanders with their strong trade links and their reindeer herds and pushed to the fringe, but the Old Ringitani Sea Culture persisted in the North thanks to some ingenuity on their part which a millennia later would have world-changing effects from the future Coast Provinces of Vinland to the Eryuna [3] in North Asia.

This era, the American Migration Period, marked a massive change in the history of the region later called Fusania. Also known as the Early Fusanian Formative, the key elements of later Fusanian society--the Western Agricultural Complex, metalworking, earthworking, sailing, and domestic animals--became established throughout Fusania in an archaeological eyeblink thanks to the dispersion of the Dena. And this Early Fusanian Formative influenced all of Fusania and in time the rest of North America beyond the Divide.

---
Mauno Korhonen, Triumph of the Wolf and Raven: The American Migration Period (1983) (Olastakki University Press)
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The Dena migrated from their origin point in far northeast Asia into the Americas as yet another group to live in that region. Along the Yenisei far to the west exists their distant relatives, the Kets and other small-numbered people of Tatary. Through lands later inhabited by a variety of peoples, the Dena crossed the narrow gap between the Old and New Worlds, and emerged along the Hentsuren River.

It wasn't long before the Dena continued to migrate, displacing many people in the Subarctic thanks to their honed knowledge of local plants. They turned southeast, traveling in the mountains and valleys of Northern Fusania and displacing those who came before them. By around 2,500 years ago, these early Dena migrations were slowing down, meeting organised resistance on the part of other peoples from Northeast Asia as well as established local peoples like those who spoke Wulchomic and Salishan languages [4]. Yet they established many links between these cultures, which later facilitated the Dena expansions of the American Migration Period.

The American Migration Period proper began with the climate changes in Late Antiquity. What caused the Germanic migrations in Europe, what brought down Teotihuacan in Mesoamerica, what caused the chaos in China and the steppes in this era, these same effects caused the American Migration Period. Essentially, the experimentation of the Dena and related cultures such as the Ringitsu, Tsusha, and Khaida in the warmer times of the 1st-4th centuries AD suddenly ran up against the wall of climatic effects. The Dena challenged this head on, intensifying their incipient horticulture and domestication of reindeer, but inevitably began to suffer the unpreventable effects of the climate. This population dispersed far and wide.

In the far north, the Dena absorbed some bands of Inuit, but in turn were absorbed by other bands. Dena practices of land use and tool construction were transmitted to these Inuit, and the most notable effect became the domestication of the muskox, historically attributed to a legendary figure named Kalluk, who perhaps is like the Dena's own "Lord of the Ground". Kalluk himself is likewise attributed to taming the reindeer--oral history attributes him to "stealing" the reindeer from the Dena, who mismanaged the land and its spirits. These stories are backed up by archaeological evidence, which show that by the late 6th century and early 7th century, the pressured Old Ringatani Sea Culture, ancestors of the Inuit, were increasingly adapting to the new circumstances in their homeland. These Inuit would migrate east along the Arctic coast in time. Unlike the Dena, who halted to absorb other Subarctic cultures into their system, the Inuit displaced other "Paleo-Inuit" and would reach Greenland by the end of the 12th century.

South of them, the coastal peoples, mostly those of the Old Kechaniya Culture, were less lucky. They were purely coastal peoples as their inland groups ended up decimated early on. These people, called the Guteikh by the Ringitsu who colonised them in the centuries to come, clung to the coast where they harvested the ocean's bounty, including whales which they processed into food for themselves and tools for nearby peoples. As only the Ringitsu had a whaling culture in the region, the Guteikh thus has a niche to prosper in for the time being. However, in the vast majority of the Nuchi Bay and Yagane Peninsula [5], the Dena displaced the locals to establish the prominent and famous Dena state later called Yahanen, the locals of which would give their ethnonym to far distant people who merely shared the same language family [6].

As the Dena moved southeast along the coast, they met far more established peoples. The rainy and temperate climate was new for the Dena, so they were forced to use their pure numbers to gain a foothold there. The moeity system and most notably the religious idea of the "Sibling Prophets" started here as a fusion of Dena and local influences. Dena people controlled access to reindeer herds which became prestigious, while also becoming powerful elites in these societies, assimilated as they often were. In the Ringitsu, the most affected, the "Wolf" moeity (associated with the Dena) entirely eclipsed the prior "Eagle" moeity except in some marginal Ringitsu-descended groups. Similar influence spread among the Khaida and the Tsusha and Uikara [7], although they mostly kept their older moeity system.

In these coastal peoples, a system of horticulture--which soon spilled over to agriculture--as well as tool designs, earthwork designs, and domestic animals (the reindeer)--proliferated. By the early 7th century, the tehi plant was increasingly domesticated and used for fibers, most notably for summer clothing, ropes, and for sails for their increasingly complex dugout canoes, often formed into a catamaran-style. The increasing population, leading to competition for resources and adaption of the new spiritual beliefs thanks to stress, led to coastal migrations to the south.

In the interior, the Dena merged with and pushed out other Dena peoples, as well as no doubt non-Dena peoples now lost to history. The old "grease trails", traditionally used to trade the key commodity that fish oil was, proved a key migration highway. Cultural similarities led to a relatively easy way to adopt and absorb migrating bands, assuming such an opportunity existed. As such, local Dena peoples more easily kept their culture, despite loanwords from Hentsuren Dena peoples appearing in their languages. Some Dena, however, ended up pushed to the south or to the east, ending up on the Plains or southwards in the American Divides [8], although these Dena remained rooted to the mountains and were only one part of those Dena later called the Apache, who lived south of these early Dena of the Divides.

Everywhere the Dena went they spread their religious outlook, their reindeer pastoralism, and their horticulturalist system based on bistort, sweetvetch, and other simple plants. In the river valleys, the Dena increasingly settled down, finding ample land for food, earthworks, and their herds as well as their ability to import slaves to mine local metal resources. Key among these was the jade found in much of mountainous Northern Fusania. These Dena became cultures of miners, producing valuable jade and later copper for their elite and other peoples.

But in the south, the Dena migrations were once again redirected, absorbed, and halted as they were centuries earlier. The greatest factor is the influence of Wayam [9]. This ancient center, inhabited for countless thousands of years, emerged anew in the time before the American Migration Period. Independently, they emerged a system of irrigation earthworks and the governance thereof to govern their critically important salmon runs which were the finest on the Imaru River.

Contact existed between Wayam and the Tachiri culture, early Ringitsu, and other peoples in this stage of Fusanian history. But Wayam adapted to their innovations very quickly despite their remote location. The Wayamese harvested ample amounts of salmon, and used their slaves to develop increasingly important crops such as species of lilies, camas, biscuitroot, balsamroot, and most importantly, the arrow potato, one of the ancestors of the omodaka [10], while also importing the aquacultural systems of the Ringitsu and their neighbors. While Wayam was just one village at this point, its influence spread amongst both its cultural relatives, the Aihamu people [11], as well as the cultural relatives of nearby villages, the Namaru people [12] and in turn, other nearby groups. The intermarriage, friendly trade, and other factors in relationships between these groups led to the mutual development of all these peoples. However, the sheer number and tenacity of Dena led to plenty of local intermarriage between these groups. With Dena influences came the religious developments of the coast peoples--the Sibling Prophets and their dualism--as well as the adoption of the reindeer as symbol of wealth.

Likewise, the Wulchomic and Salishan peoples resisted the Dena. They adopted earthworks from both them and the Wayamese, as well as the increasingly complex system of horticulturalism found in those groups. Trade and intermarriage with the Wayamese and the Namaru strengthened them, although their leadership ended up becoming dominated by assimilated Dena. Influences from the both the coast and northern interior penetrated their culture, spreading the crops used by the Ringitsu, Khaida, and Tsusha where they were grown to great success. The Wulchomic peoples fell under the influence of the Northwest Fusanians such as the Ringitsu and Khaida, while the Salishans adapted much from the Dena.

Important to these southern cultures was the issue of dealing with local deer, which carried parasites deadly to reindeer. In the religious system brought by the Dena, local deer were considered a dark and evil influence which needed to be balanced out. The local people's practices toward deer hunting dramatically changed in this period as they ruthlessly exterminated deer from their lands. While the issue of parasites--carried by ticks and insects--never abated, destroying deer populations prevented the worst of damage to the critical reindeer herds while also providing a generational boost of food which likewise proved critical to the cultural and sociological development of these Dena influenced peoples.

Despite all of this, the Wayamese and Namaru considered themselves impoverished in reindeer compared to those people of the mountains, termed the "Hillmen". The distinction between Hillmen--those Dena peoples and especially groups strongly influenced by the Dena--and lowlanders was to become a critical factor in Fusanian history. They became fine reindeer breeders, and as the centuries proceeded, breeders of mountain goats and moose, to attempt to circumvent their inherent poverty. Their earthworks developed very early on in order to harnass the maximum amount of plant growth to feed their reindeer as well as their slaves, and were especially crucial for the Wayamese and other Aihamu such as the people of Chemna [13]. Due to the dry, arid climate they lived in thanks to the rainshadow of the coastal mountains, the Wayamese, Chemnese, and other people of the Imaru Plateau became extensively innovative in their development of irrigation and earthworks.

In the furthest south, the Dena encountered their distant relatives, those Dena who lived along the coast, which a millennia later become home to Chinese ports such as Dawending [14]. Likewise, these same Dena encountered peoples from the coast. While these Dena had assimilated into local cultures and had similar traditions, small-scale organisation, and hunting-gathering patterns, the arrival of Dena from the north led to changes in their culture. While reindeer remained little viable in their region due to the disease issue, these Coastal Dena began to group together to form larger social structures as well as incorporate the horticulturalism of the other Dena. Combined with the Maguraku and Waluo [15], Northern Fusanian agricultural practices began to filter into southern Fusania.

Perhaps the most critical development of the Dena was copper working. Dena peoples in the copper-rich areas of the north, such as the Atsuna along the Higini [16], had worked the rich native copper deposits for centuries, and traded them extensively. In the 4th century onward, their exploitation of these deposits became critical, as they traded their tools and ornamentation of copper to Nuklukayet, the Ringitsu, and further beyond. Copper tools became almost as important as fish oil, being used as a symbol of prestige as well as being important for leaders to prove their status.

Such use and demand of native copper combined with the larger population inevitably depleted the best sources of native copper. Yet the Atsuna adapted in time--they first melted the native copper before reforging it, creating superior copper tools. The second adaption likely came from those clans shut out from the copper trade--these clans smelted copper ores to produce tools. They were valued just as highly by other Dena, the Ringitsu, and other peoples, and these copper ore smelting clans became prized partners for marriage as they held the secret to "creating metal from stone". As Atsuna smiths married into Dena clans, ornamental use of copper, and soon silver and gold, expanded throughout Fusania.

The Copper Age dawned on Fusania by 700 AD, and with it many competitive peoples seeking their place in this new world. Some would be assimilated and forgotten to history, yet others became the world-renowned originators of crops and innovations which produced the modern world. Those ambitious Dena with their crests of wolf and raven would never imagine the changes to come soon enough. Although they contented themselves with their dominance of the nobility of many Fusanian cultures, their need to cement their status, be it by their herds of reindeer or their earthworks, and their demand for the increasingly prestigious copper goods produced increasingly complex societies and with it, the opportunity for kings and others to dominate the population.

By land and sea, changes infiltrated Fusania. Locals everywhere soon realised the power of copper, silver, and gold, and what was needed to draw those substances from stone. At the same time, the value of the reindeer became critical in the assessment of the Fusanian elite. Fusanians built earthworks, irrigation networks, and increasingly grand mounds to provide for their cultural needs, while increasing warfare to fuel the new industries of agriculture and mining.

At the heart of this change lay the place named Wayam. This ancient crossroads, a fishing ground at a natural waterfall on the Imaru River turned a trading center, became hugely influential thanks to the ambition of its nobility. Poor in reindeer, yet rich in so much else, the Wayamese Aihamu nobility, influenced by their Dena elite, used the changes brought by the Copper Age to shape Fusania in their own image. As their fellow Aihamu copied them in competition, they set the stage for emergence of classical Fusania under the banner of wolf and raven.

[1] - The Old Ringitani Sea culture (ORSC) is equivalent to the Thule people of IOTL.
[2] - OTL's Kachemak Culture, an Aleut group which lived in Kenai, Kodiak, and other coastal parts of southern Alaska around this period.
[3] - TTL's term for the Lena River in Japanese, from the Tungusic term for it meaning "big river".
[4] - Wulchomic is TTL's term for Coast Salish, derived from the same native root as Lushootseed which means "salt water", referring to the Puget Sound and the Salish Sea ("Whulge"). ITTL, the term "Salish" is reserved for Interior Salish languages, which are very much pushed between the Aihamu people in the south and the Dena in the north, yet still thrive.
[5] - Nuchi Bay is the Cook Inlet of Alaska, the Yagane Peninsula is the Kenai Peninsula
[6] - "Yahanen" means "good land" in Denaina. The Denaina indeed had a very good land compared to other Athabaskan peoples given the geography and climate of that part of Alaska. And ITTL, the term "Dena" indeed derives from our alt-Denaina, who arrived in their land centuries before OTL (thanks to their horticulture and reindeer usage).
[7] - Japanese term for all Northern Wakashan speakers (aside from those who speak Kwak'wala).
[8] - The Rockies
[9] - Celilo Falls, a derivation of its Sahaptin name
[10] - Sagittaria latifolia, aka wapato, a key plant for Pacific Northwest Indians which enabled their sedentary lifestyle OTL along with the reliable salmon runs. Omodaka TTL is Sagittaria fusanensis, an ATL hybrid of S. cuneata and S. latifolia which will be developed in a few centuries.
[11] - Japanese derivation of "Aipakhpam", "People of the Plains", TTL's ethnonym for the Sahaptin people.
[12] - Chinookan peoples, their name TTL derived from the Japanese word for "People of the River" (Columbia River, natively Wimal and Imaru in Japanese).
[13] - Richland, WA, a key site on the Columbia River near where the Snake River and Yakima River flows into it--like Wayam, it was a very important site for local American Indians OTL
[14] - Eureka, CA, a Chinese transcription of the native Athabaskan name for the area
[15] - The Maguraku are the Klamath and Modocs, with this exonym derived from Japanese. The Waluo are the Shasta, their exonym from Chinese. This area is a borderland between Japanese and Chinese influence, a product of post-colonial developments.
[16] - Copper River, a Tlingit loanword meaning "River of Copper". The Atsuna are the Ahtna people.

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Author's notes
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This entry describes a monumental event in the history of the New World, where our horticulturalists/early agriculturalists we've discussed/hinted at spread very far and meet other sedentary cultures, like the PNW cultures (such as the OTL Marpole culture among the Coast Salish). It's the spread of an aggressive pastoralist society meeting various societies which are perhaps at the peak of "hunter-gatherer" societies thanks to the wealth of the land they live in.

Originally I intended a narrative piece with the Inuit/Thule (Old Ringitani Sea culture) and their relation with the influx of the Dena to appear here, but I'll hold that off for a bit. The Inuit, Yupik, and Aleuts will feature here, but they're at the periphery of the main focus--an agricultural, pastoralist, and metallurgical cultural area in North America. They'll be important for their relation with various Siberian peoples and in the east beloved figures such as Bjarni Herjolfsson and Leif Eriksson.

Next entry (aside from the little bit with the Inuit/Thule) will deal with Wayam, that place mentioned in this entry--it's crucial to the origin of so many things. Afterwards I'll do an entry on the Western Agricultural Complex (and what it consists of, and its relation to other American agriculture) I keep referring to, discussing local agriculture, the pastoralism of the Dena and others, and horticultural practices. And then we'll do something regarding the coastal peoples--Ringitsu, Khaida, and others--which will be key for South Fusania aka California and its development. After that, we'll come to the start of the Fusanian Copper Age which brings a whole new set of developments and things to discuss.

 

[Arkenfolm]

-VII-
"Birth of the Ivory Men"

Along the Arctic Ocean, late 6th century​

The world seems colder and more violent by the day, Kalluk thought, gazing out onto the endless ice floes in front of him as he recently took to more and more for meditation. His people lost so many promising men to the southerners. He had no choice but to move his extended family far to the northeast, and hope they'd find plenty of reindeer and seals to eventually begin to harvest from the sea. Reindeer, he thought. The animal worshipped by the demons from the south. The southerners called themselves by a variety of names, including something that sounded like "Dena" (according to a young warrior they captured), but to him they were Ingalik, the people with lice [1]. Kalluk remembered an elder saying that encounters with the southerners were once rare, and they formerly went out of their way to avoid meeting real men [2] like his people were, but these days were far too common.

Over the years, the Ingalik pushed further and further into their land, bringing with them their massive herds of reindeer which they seemed to have supernaturally tamed. Where their herds moved every year, the land itself seemed more bountiful, sprouting much sweetvetch, bistort, reindeer lichens, and other plants. Kalluk never knew what supernatural skills the Ingalik possessed which allowed them to enchant the spirits of the land like this, and not even the shamans knew. Although warned to stay away from lands the Ingalik harvested and especially to avoid killing their reindeer, in times of need, Kalluk and his wife were forced to provide for their family. Such needs cost them everything in the end, as he was the sole survivor--sons, daughters, his wife, the Ingalik killed or abducted them all. North and north he went with his extended family, until with his extended family they reached the coast. But the people of the coast mostly rejected them--they claimed the hunting was not good anymore thanks to both the Ingalik and those distant kinsmen fleeing from the Ingalik--so they were forced into the worst locations there.

In the corner of his eye Kalluk saw a dark brown animal--a reindeer. Are the Ingalik near? Or is this one wild? The reindeer darted off as quick as he noticed it, and once again Kalluk's thoughts turned to the Ingalik and their supernatural magic. How did they do it? The plant growth, the Ingalik's selective harvesting of plants, and the abundance of reindeer must be related, not to mention the abundance of life in general. Bears, sheep, and other land animals seemed more common these days. It's as if the Ingalik's magic has bent every spirit in the world to their will.

After an hour of staring at the ocean, Kalluk turned around to head back to his camp and happened upon a small herd of muskox, perhaps ten animals. If only our magic was strong enough to bend the spirits to our will. But why wasn't it? Weren't they already benefitting from this magic by the increased bounty of reindeer and plants? And even trade with the Ingalik seemed more than ever, giving his people more furs and antlers and bones than before. And in return, his people gave the Ingalik fine furs made from muskox. Few real men knew the Ingalik better than inlanders like them--they fought them, traded with them, and were displaced by them. The sack he carried, of some odd fiber the Ingalik supposedly imported from far south, came to him from an Ingalik chief he once killed in the battle that cost him his son [3]. He took the dried food out of the bag, and ate a leisurely lunch. The spiritual value of this place is more than worth the trip, but I will gather something for my kin on my way home.

These thoughts filled his mind as Kalluk returned to his extended family's camp. Thoughts which grew hazy as he wandered, perhaps from exhaustion, perhaps from stress, perhaps from something he ate. The sky turned grey and a cold rain started falling. Thunder struck and he collapsed in the wilderness. Kalluk awoke many hours--or days--later under the Northern Lights at dusk, thirsting and starving. A muskox herd grazed nearby, and not far from him grew a patch of sweetvetch. The herd interested him the most. Furs, meat, and the rarest and warmest of fur, qiviu [4], they give so much to us, yet I wish we didn't have to visit the Ingalik's country to get them.

A spirit spoke back. Those Ingalik kill us and ignore our spirits. But you real men are noticing things. The Ingalik are spiritually powerful and have helped us thrive, but have cut us down at the same time. Strange sights filled Kalluk's vision. They cut us down, Kalluk, indistinguishable shapes in the sky spoke. Our family died, your family died, this is proof the Ingalik do not know how to manage their power. Will you not do something about this for the sake of everything? Steal the power of the Ingalik, and use it to strengthen the world.

Kalluk heard voices, speaking in what he knew were the bizarre tones of the Ingalik. Hazy as everything was, he noticed a group of five Ingalik men wielding sharp spears who likewise noticed the muskox herd. One man led three reindeer behind him. I will not survive this. The Ingalik killed randomly, and he had nothing to offer these men.

"You mean nothing you're willing to part with?" a voice spoke. "Offer them your knife, your cloak, and your sack, and you'll be saved." But Kalluk knew he couldn't offer such priceless goods, that which cost the lives of his family to gain. I've parted with too much. I have nothing more to offer but my life.

"Only your life? You aren't alone, Kalluk," a spirit spoke, which sounded like the voice of his dead family in unison. "Remember that when you offer these men something."

And suddenly everything came to him. The spirits called him here because the land was out of balance. His family, the muskoxen, the reindeer, the plants, the sea, the land, he needed to set things right. And it needed to start with these Ingalik. They must not kill that herd.

Beneath his fur cloak, he drew that treasure he stole from an Ingalik chief--a shining copper knife. Kalluk always felt it was the strongest thing he owned thanks to its spiritual strength. As those men drew closer, he prepared for an ambush attack. I offer the spirits my life, he thought, laying in the tall grass of the meadow.

"And I offer you the wrath of every spirit here!" he screamed, jumping to his feet and impaling the Ingalik man in front of him in the throat. Blood erupted from the man as he collapsed. The four behind him halted, standing shocked and shouting in their language, yet Kalluk charged them and plunged his knife into the throat of the second man near the reindeer, who fled when Kalluk approached. The three survivors rushed him, but Kalluk grabbed the man's spear with his off-hand while plunging his blade into his neck. He narrowly dodged a cut from one Ingalik's spear, blood spurting from his forearm, but repaid the man with his fellow's spear through his gut. The last survivor, shocked at Kalluk's strength and the fall of his comrades, tried to run, but Kalluk tackled him to the ground and wrung his neck.

"You, Ingalik!" he screamed in his delirium. "You must feed the spirits! Pay them back for what you stole!" The man garbled something in his language, and Kalluk tightened his grasp--the man fainted soon after, but Kalluk ended his life with a sharp blow to his skull. Kalluk collapsed, panting from exertion, the impact of the fight slowly hitting him. His bleeding arm pained him.

"You did well," a spirit said. "But this is the start of righting what is wrong. If you thirst and hunger, one of us will feed and nourish you. Our blood, milk, flesh, and fur can save you, and if you pass your knowledge and that of the understanding ones among you, the curse of the Ingalik will be defeated.

Kalluk rose wearily, grabbing a spear from a fallen Ingalik warrior. The muskox continued grazing, seemingly ignorant of him despite what their spirits told him. The strongest of them must live, he suddenly thought, no doubt informed by their spirits. The weak shall nourish us while the strong nourish the land. Turning his attention toward a runt of the muskox herd, he single-mindedly stumbled toward them, and at close range, threw the spear right into the beast. As it emitted a dying shout, the herd gathered together for defense, but Kalluk's shouts and cries intimidated them into abandoning their wounded comrade. The weakened muskox died from repeated spear thrusts, and Kalluk cut chunks of flesh and fur from the fallen beast.

The next morning, a delirious Kalluk wandered back into the camp of those awaiting for him, those who feared he was dead. And Kalluk told them of what happened, and most importantly, what was revealed to him. They recognised Kalluk's experience as deeply spiritual, and began to rever him as a shaman, one who communed with the spirits. And Kalluk's path was clear--adapt to the spiritual change brought by the Ingalik, but preserve the way of life threatened by them. Many rejected him at first, but the coastal peoples soon enough respected his interior people for the amount of muskox furs they brought, along with the trading links they began to establish. Eventually, even the coastal people adapted the muskox, using it to move whale and walrus ivory and other goods to the interior real men, who in turn traded it to the Ingalik. This trade gave the real men a new name they'd be known by the Ingalik and later even more far off groups--the Ivory Men.

Kalluk accelerated the process already occurring--the real men and muskoxen became closer, and soon enough even the reindeer became adapted by the real men as they shifted to a pastoralist lifestyle. This resulted in the Ingalik expansions being halted in the far north, and even pushed back. And he lived several decades more. He became mythologised as a servant of the thunder god amongst the Inuit and Yupik (true to his name "Kalluk"), the demigod who help rule the muskoxen and reindeer. Worship of him even spread to those far northern Dena, descendents of Kalluk's enemies, who themselves later adapted the muskox.

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The large and stout muskox--not an ox but a distant relative of the sheep family--on average stands about 1.2 meters high and weighs about 300 kg and is among the largest land animals of the High Arctic. The animal produces a thick coat suitable for its Arctic environment, including the inner qiviut down. Muskox usually form small herds, but can sometimes be found as solitary animals. Hunted by humans since Paleolithic times, the muskox slowly vanished from Asia, and would likely vanished from all but the most remote parts of the High Arctic if not for the domestication event traditionally attributed to the Inuit hero Kalluk.

The muskox revolutionised the Old Ringitani Sea culture, and the domestication of the muskox and adaptation to Dena practices of land usage is considered to mark the transition point between the Old Ringitani Sea culture and the Thule culture, conventionally dated around 650 AD. The Thule now had an extremely hardy pack animal, one capable of surviving where the larger reindeer preferred by the Dena had trouble surviving. The muskox produced a quantity of milk sufficient for nursing infants as well as the small number of lactose tolerant adults, improving nutrition. And like how the reindeer's ability as a pack animal to move large quantities of goods changed Dena material culture, the muskox did the same for the Thule, albeit it was not quite as sturdy of a pack animal and carried much less of a percent of its body weight. The Thule adapted new means of storing and transporting food.

The end result was a population explosion amongst the Thule people. More children surviving meant more fighting men and childbearing mothers for the next generation. These Thule heard lurid tales of Kalluk's story, now often told in a way which placed him as the turning point of the world. By sacrificing those five Ingalik warriors, he started the process of the rejuvenation of the world, weakening the powerful magic of the Ingalik. In return, Kalluk and his descendents and his allies gained control over the muskoxen, thankful to be free from their thralldom to the Ingalik. Hearing this tale, the Thule became more fierce than ever in repelling Ingalik bands from their territory.

Although they reclaimed much of their lost land and hunting grounds, like many pastoralist populations, the Thule constantly required more land. The Dena of the interior possessed equal technology, but lived in larger groups, and could call upon a much larger and developed trade network permitting access to worked copper, superior wood products, and goods made of tehi fiber. The Thule lived in a land without those goods. Thus, the Thule advanced along the path of least resistance, east and south along the Arctic Coast and across the sea into Far Northeast Asia and the Arctic Archipelago. There, they displaced local bands of Kinngait culture [5] in the east and other proto-Thule bands in the south and west, and made some inroads against the Chacchou [6], also a reindeer herding people.

Despite their land being bitter cold and extremely harsh, the Thule nonetheless eeked out a living in this environment, one better than before, thanks to their adoption of the muskox and adaption to many Dena practices. Known as the "People of Ivory" and sometimes the "People of the Warmest Fur" to their neighbours and especially distant peoples, the Thule became more integrated into regional trading networks. In return for finished copper tools, wooden crafts, and tehi products, the Inuit gave soapstone, muskox pelts, as well as whale ivory. As their remote location limited the volume of goods moved between various locations, the demand for each side's rare goods remained very high.

Amongst more southern people like the Ringitsu and Khaida, Thule goods were extremely rare--a saying went that to obtain a cloak of muskox fur, one sold their wife to the Gunana, but obtained a new wife upon the return home. They perceived the Dena as greedy and unreliable to deal with. As Dena bands further from the Ringitsu and Khaida--and closer to the fabled Ivory Men--offered more reasonable terms for these goods, and increasingly long-distance trade started. To process more goods for this trade, the peoples of the northern coast needed more land--and slaves. Not only would voyages along the north coast accelerate by the start of the Fusanian Copper Age in 700 AD, but so would voyages to the south, voyages which would continue the reshaping of the southern lands already well under way.

[1] - An unkind exonym for Athabaskans used by the Yupik OTL--at this point, Yupik and other Inuit languages have not separated so I will use it here
[2] - Literal meaning of the names of several Inuit groups like the Yupik, Iñupiat, etc.
[3] - Kalluk has a tehi sack, made of Apocynum cannibinum, Indian hemp. It is prized amongst the more northern Dena who have no access to the plant (as it is traded from the Ringitsu), and thus very rare for an Inuit man to own.
[4] - Alaskan dialectual form of qiviut, muskox down, which will have several different names from non-Inuit cultures who encounter it
[5] - Dorset Culture, named for the Inuit name of Cape Dorset "Kinngait"
[6] - Chukchi people, a Japanese rendering of their exonym meaning "rich in reindeer".

---
Author's notes
​

Since we're focusing on this part of the world, we obviously needed to mention the Thule/Inuit. Unlike the Thule of a certain other timeline which I had to stop myself from making random references to when writing this, these Thule are a more fringe and marginal people and won't be turning the Arctic and Subarctic into their playground anytime soon. That said, they're obviously on a slightly different path than OTL which will have some interesting results for everyone involved both now and soon to come.

As I mentioned in the previous entry, the next entry will deal with the northern (well, central) parts of Fusania along the Columbia River and its development of complex civilisation, and then we'll cover this Western Agricultural Complex in a bit more detail.

Thoughts and comments on this and previous entries is always much appreciated.

 

[St. Just]

Do the Thule adopt human sacrifice a la the Mesoamericans?

 

[Arkenfolm]

Do the Thule adopt human sacrifice a la the Mesoamericans?

Yes (basically every culture here will have elements of human sacrifice, like their OTL equivalents tended to), it's more along the lines of "we need to kill strong people to maintain the vitality of local spirits", which can be done through killing people in combat or capturing and sacrificing them. But the population density and thus manpower of the area is and will be so low (even many centuries after this event) that it's unlikely they'd ever be able to have epic flower wars and such. In general, they'd likely be content with sacrificing a strong slave (either purchased or captured) or muskox/reindeer, the latter of which will spur plenty of conflict among fellow Inuit as well as neighboring Dena (religious needs can be flexible, especially in a society like this). So it's more likely in a typical conflict they set out to steal a neighboring group's reindeer or muskox and as a nice bonus capture a few people to sacrifice or kill some strong warriors in combat.

 

[Arkenfolm]

I will post an update regarding Wayam (and its cultural relatives) tomorrow morning. For previous comments I neglected to reply to:

You have my attention, metalinvader. I’m intrigued by the premise of Japanese contact with North America and I enjoy how this reads. Keep it up!

Thank you, there are lots of stories to be told here. Unfortunately, it will be quite a while before we even get to the part where the Japanese and indigenous Fusanians meet, but the dialogues between the curious monk Jikken and the elderly Fusanian exile Gaiyuchul will fill in a nice frame story when it needs to be there.

I know it's probably a no brainer, but a less isolationist Japan will have a big impact in asian geopolitics.

Japan and China is basically England and France (or given the population and economic disparity, England and the Franco-Spanish Union) after all, with Korea thrown in as a mix of Scotland and the Low Countries. How much of that comparison will hold true TTL we'll see, but I can promise that TTL's East Asians would be confused at OTL's relative lack of Sino-Japanese wars.

And not just Asian geopolitics, since if we consider the OTL 16th century in East Asia, we have the start of European influence in the area. The term "original world war" is often given to the Seven Years War, although some historians label previous conflicts like the War of Spanish Succession or the Eighty Years War as such, but the first time I saw the term "true first world war" applied was in regards to the Seven Years War, so we'll go with that. TTL it's highly likely that a comparable event to the Eighty Years War or other contemporary conflicts may be the one usually labeled as the "true first world war", "world war 0", etc. As for what that means for Amerindians, OTL has nice examples of conflicts between British allied Indians and French allied Indians.

But this timeline is subtitled the "Shaping of Fusania and Beyond". "Beyond" has quite an implication, and odds are some peasant dirt farmers in OTL Oregon aren't as interesting as the peasants of Mesoamerica or the Andes for certain groups of people.

 

[Derekc2]

This timeline is really interesting. So, has Mesoamerica had any form of trade/contact with Fusanian cultures yet or is that happening later?

Also as someone who lives in the pacific northwest I'm really wondering how the indigenous nations of the Puget Sound will develop differently, as well as how places like the Hoh Rainforest will be differently seen ITTL.

 

[Arkenfolm]

-VIII-
"To Tame a River and a Desert"
​

Tall, forested mountains mark the boundary between the rainy, wet coast of the Pacific Ocean and the interior Imaru Plateau [1]. These mountains are volcanoes, some of which are still active, formed by a mantle plume hotspot of the same sort which created Hawaii. The greatest eruptions of these volcanoes occurred long before human times--17 million to 6 million years ago, this hotspot erupted continually and poured out vast quantities of lava to create the modern Imaru Plateau and the modern Imaru River. The mountains blocked the moist air from reaching the Plateau, yet the soil of this region was deep and very rich. One river, the Imaru River, punched through these coastal mountains to reach the Pacific Ocean, creating a gap for animals to easily pass between the Plateau and the coastal regions.

Catastrophic events like these eruptions shaped this land--and its people. Millions of years later, massive floods from melting glaciers at the end of the last ice age swept over this landscape and down the Imaru River. The first humans to live in these lands witnessed these floods, which passed into the legends of their distant descendents. Similarly, the intense volcanic eruptions of later times likewise passed into local legends, where the volcanoes were transformed gods and home to powerful thunderbirds, who controlled their eruptions.

Not long after the great outburst floods, the first sign of humans in the area appears at the site of what would become the first--and for a time, greatest--city west of the Rockies. The intense geologic history of the region created a waterfall, which became the perfect place to gather salmon, which formed the main part of their diet. All sorts of water plants and animals likewise lived at this site, which later people called "Wayam"--"echo of falling water".

Thousands of years later, as the Roman Empire reached its golden age, the people of Teotihuacan finished the Pyramid of the Sun, and the Lord of the Ground tamed the reindeer amongst the Dena, two groups of people lived permanently in this rich land--a group of Aihamu as well as the easternmost Namaru. Over a dozen other groups, including those from hundreds of miles away, regularly gathered at the site during the salmon runs, or periodically during other parts of the year to trade. At times, up to ten thousand people congregated here during particularly good years. All sorts of goods (including people) and ideas exchanged hands at Wayam, a borderland between east and west.

The nearest village to the Wayam Falls itself shared its name with the falls and was an important village of the local Aihamu people, who called themselves the Wayampam [2] but are often known in history as the Wayamese. Many people from far beyond passed through this village to gather the rich salmon runs of the area. The Wayamese and their close neighbours likewise frequently gathered in this place to hold ceremonies related to the changing of seasons to pray for prosperity.

Along the Imaru Plateau, drought could strike in any year, and potentially for decades or more, much reducing the flow of the Imaru and constricting plant and animal life on land. Those who lived there knew of the fickle nature of the climate, but had little means of counteracting the damage. The end of the 3rd century saw one of these lengthy droughts. For nearly 40 years, less rain fell than before and the Imaru ran at a reduced flow, with only a few wet years to break up the pattern.

In this time of poverty came the beginnings of change. From the north came bands of Dena who brought with them bits of the culture and lifestyle changes occuring far to the northwest via their intermediaries, the Chiyatsuru, who became increasingly Dena-ized. This included their semi-domesticated plants--sweetvetch, bistort, and others--and most importantly, their pack reindeer which fed upon them. The sight of tame reindeer, normally a rarity seen only in the north along with the mountains, must have filled the Wayamese and other Aihamu with shock. It is likely that in the first years, right at the end of the 3rd century, many reindeer were bought and sold at Wayam, as the Chiyatsuru integrated their Dena allies to the new system.

But keeping reindeer was challenging in the lowlands, for this was deer country. White-tailed deer often carry brainworms, a parasitic nematode which while mostly harmless to the deer, are usually fatal to reindeer and moose. The Dena and Chiyatsuru noticed this, and quickly attributed it to the spirits of the deer in the area. Refusing to abandon their herds, they embarked on campaigns of extermination against deer with an unusual vigor. For the time, the Dena grazed their animals in the highlands in the summer, and moved to the lowlands in the winter.

This extermination campaign against a major game animal did not endear the Dena and Chiyatsuru to the Aihamu, who fought back against the people decimating their key source of food. But like many clashes against the early Dena and Dena-ized people, the battles went poorly. The better nutrition, larger numbers, and superior logistics of the Dena and Dena-ized cultures held the clear advantage. However, the Wayamese had their own tool to fighting back--their vast network of alliances, forged by many decades of successful trade. They used this to call upon other peoples of the Plateau as well as some from downriver like the Namaru to protect their lifestyle.

Despite many victories over the years, they alliance fell to infighting amongst themselves in addition to the death of many warriors. The slaughtered deer often became food and tools for the Dena and allies, resources now denied to the Aihamu and Plateau people. And the drought continued mostly unabated, further decreasing the deer population. Faced with these clear signs (perhaps interpreted religiously), and faced with the desire of many more peaceful Aihamu and Namaru to maintain peace to continue trade, the people of the Plateau effectively fell in line with cultural Dena-ization as a new nobility of reindeer herders dominated their people. The white-tailed deer, and to a lesser extent the mule deer, were overhunted to local extinctions in much of the region.

Critically, the Dena demanded water from the river to grow more fodder for their reindeer. Unlike more northern Dena or the Ringitsu, these pre-Migration Period Dena did not understand the methods of making earthworks, with the large villages of Tachiri culture Dena along the Hentsuren only a distant legend. This forced the Wayamese to independently innovated similar techniques. Such building of additional channels along the river went along well local fishing, while also producing additional land for reindeer fodder.

The additional challenge of growing these subarctic plants in the warmer lowlands of the Imaru Plateau led directly to the domestication of local plants in the centuries to come. Camas (Camassia) and biscuitroot (Lomatium) were likely the earliest local plants to be gardened in this manner, as the Wayamese created channels and other primitive irrigation techniques to ensure their growth and easy reliability. Soon after came nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) and amaranth (Amaranthus), both exceptionally useful plants for feeding both reindeer and humans alike. As the decades passed, they supplemented this by increasingly directing the growth of tule (Schoenoplectus acutus), a water sedge, in their wetlands. This helpful plant was preferred to make baskets, clothing, roofing for lodges, fish weirs, and also had parts which could be eaten or fed to reindeer. With water plants came the increasing use of arrow potato (Sagittaria latifolia), pond lily (Nuphar polysepala), and tiger lily (Lilium columbianum). While other groups in the area conducted similar experiments with these local plants to feed their reindeer, Wayam served as a natural place for ideas, plants, and other products of success to be exchanged. Thus, whether it was the Aihamu, the Namaru, the Furasattsu [4], the Chiyatsuru, or another group who first started the experiments or grew the most superior plant didn't matter--the other groups would adopt it by way of the Wayamese sooner or later.

This regional complex became known as the Irikyaku culture, after the town of Irikyaku (called Itlkilak in pre-colonial times) [5] where the first artifacts were found. Irikyaku artifacts typically include nearly uniform designs for tools made from reindeer antlers and bones, a few similar styles of pottery designs, and early evidence of artificial channel and pond building, with the main regional differences being those to the east or west of the mountains. Most critically, the Irikyaku culture eliminated the distinction between summer and winter villages and established a pattern of sedentary villages for all but those in the high mountains. The Irikyaku co-existed with the Late Chishinamu culture [6] of the Furasattsu. Their artifacts and designs retain similarity for over 300 miles in a radius centered around Wayam, evidence of a massive regional shift in culture, technology, and way of life starting around 350 AD and reaching its full extent by 400 AD.

The artificial channels, especially in drier areas, proved the perfect place to encourage these early experiments at agriculture. The intensive labor needed to construct these channels led to the early Wayamese to demand the most from them. The Wayamese transplanted promising-looking plants from the wild or from already built channels to grow along new channels, and picked out the weaker and lesser plants while preserving the larger ones, usually to move to new channels. The Wayamese removed plants they didn't prefer from the area entirely, and never transplanted them.

Channel-building was very labour-intensive. They were directed by medicine men who mediated with spirits called takh [7] to place energy in the plants, energy which would later flow back into humans and animals to ensure good health. The medicine men needed to fight off evil takh which poisoned the beneficial takh and caused disease of plants, animals, and humans. The Wayamese conducted channel-building in winter, when the reindeer herdsmen pastured their herds in the lowlands and had their reindeer available to assist in hauling dirt and mud. Slaves provided most of the manpower in constructing these channels.

All of this led to the increasing stratification of society in the region by the 6th century for all but the most isolated hill tribes and desert dwellers. At the top of society sat the nobility, the keepers of reindeer, who migrated from the mountains in summer to the lowlands in winter. As bone and horn remained the most important materials for making tools (including fishing spears and digging sticks), and they held access to the best groves of trees (used for other tools and the increasingly complex weirs), the reindeer herdsmen effectively were the wealthiest people and thus had ample opportunity to acquire and distribute tools to other members of society. Elements of coastal-style potlatches arrived in Wayam during the Irikyaku, as well as the construction of coastal-style longhouses which were used by the elite (and their extended families and slaves) as palaces but not used by lower-status individuals, likely due to the expense in moving the large amount of wood to construct these longhouses. Below them were the common people, who lived relatively freely yet did not own reindeer or have access to the pasturing grounds. They could move up in status by acquisition of wealth, of which the quickest method was by success in warfare against the Amorera or other hillmen [8]. At the bottom were slaves, people whose roots and ancestry had been stripped from them. Slaves were traded from as far south as the Central Valley of Zingok [9], captured in battles and raids. The desperate poor could sell themselves or their children into slavery, providing another source of slaves. Wealthier commoners might own some slaves, but the majority were owned by the nobility. Slaves could be freed, in which case they'd become commoners. Outside this entire system lay the medicine men, who could be from any class. To become a medicine man was a mixture of luck and choice, and relied on one seeing visions of spirits. Initiation rites were trying and harsh, but to become a medicine man granted one great influence in society, as only they could manipulate the takh and keep people, animals, and the entire land healthy.

The Irikyaku reached their terminal phase in the late 6th century. Wayam had absorbed neighbouring villages on both sides of the Imaru to become a thriving proto-city of almost 2,000 people. The Wayamese constructed large marshes and channels to increase the harvest of fish and water plants as well as to irrigate fields of camas, nutsedge, and other land crops. This fed both the locals as well as visiting peoples who traded goods from all around the entire region. This cultural complex extended to other key sites along the Imaru like Chemna [10]--in later centuries the greatest rival of Wayam--or Shonitkwu [11], the Chiyatsuru equivalent of Wayam. In this phase, Chemna and Shontikwu had over a thousand permanent residents each, with many minor villages have several dozens of permanent inhabitants.

At the end of the 6th century and continuing to the 7th century, a major drought occurred, resulting in the solidification of these traditions. Most importantly, this period marked that of the American Migration Period and the arrival of a very different group of Dena. These Dena bore new breeds of reindeer, new breeds of plants, and most importantly, the arrival of a new cultural outlook and its influence on the life of the people influenced by the Irikyaku culture. This great change is why the Irikyaku fades into several other cultures by the year 600.

The American Migration Period introduced the culture of later Dena as well as that of coastal people to the Aihamu. These Dena warred with the ruling class of the Aihamu, assimilating and displacing them. They transplanted elements of their social system to the Aihamu and other people of the plateau, including the moeities of Wolf and Raven, elements of a clan structure, and belief in the Sibling Prophets with its dualistic division of the world. As trade networks reconstructed, the Aihamu spread these cultural beliefs throughout the region.

Sometime around the year 750, the Copper Age reached Wayam, as the Wayamese began importing smelted copper from the north, marking the beginning of the Imaru Copper culture. Because of the rarity of worked copper tools, and even moreso, the rarity of arsenical bronze, these tools became yet another elite status symbol. Like with their reindeer, the elites of Wayam loaned out these tools to others in society, especially for the further construction of channels, cementing themselves as the leaders of society. Metal tools made the work of digging channels and constructing artificial wetlands easier.

The population of Wayam, Chemna, Shonitkwu, and other important centers continued to grow at an accelerated pace, increasing the demand for more earthworks, the slaves to build them, and the raiding expeditions to acquire slaves. During drought years, the Aihamu and other people of the plateau put increasing strain on the river, threatening the food supply, water supply, and especially the valued fishing grounds. All of this meant a demand for solid leadership which the collective leadership of the nobility was not providing. It would be in these cities around the year 800 when the first emergence of true monarchs appears.

[1] - Columbia Plateau
[2] - "-pam" (and cognates), meaning "people" is a typical ending in Sahaptin for tribal/ethnic groups, hence "Wayampam" ("people of Wayam"), "Aipakhpam" ("people of the plains"), etc. It should also be noted that sitting on the easiest path across the Cascades, Wayam is a borderland, and that like OTL with Sahaptins (Tenino) and Chinookans (Wasco-Wishram), the Wayamese mix freely with neighboring bands of Namaru, facilitating a lot of cultural exchange.
[3] - Generic Japanese exonym for Interior Salish peoples, deriving from a Chinookan (TTL Namaru) exonym for a few nearby Interior Salish bands
[4] - Generic Japanese exonym for Coast Salish peoples, derived from a Nuuchahnulth (TTL Attsu) exonym meaning "outside people".
[5] - White Salmon, WA
[6] - Late Marpole culture, a Coast Salish archaeological culture named for Marpole (part of Vancouver, BC), TTL having a Japanese derivation for its Coast Salish name. The Marpole culture OTL marked the origin of sedentary society amongst the Salish and beginnings of the complex culture encountered by 18th century Europeans.
[7] - An extrapolation/alternate evolution of certain OTL Sahaptin animistic beliefs regarding guardian spirits and their role in nature.
[8] - Japanese exonym for the Molala, deriving from a Kalapuya exonym. "Hillmen" in general is a term used for groups which don't extensively use earthworks (typically because they live in the hills or mountains), but eventually comes to mean "barbarian" (thus why it's a term used for desert cultures). As the Amorera are pushed into the mountains, they retain more egalitarian social structures but develop a raiding culture.
[9] - Westernised form of "Jinguo" (金國), "golden country".
[10] - Richland, WA, near the Priest Rapids, another key fishing site of the Sahaptins
[11] - Kettle Falls, WA, a major waterfall on the Columbia River similar to the Priest Rapids or Celilo Falls which was a major fishing site of the local Interior Salish.

---
Author's notes​

Here is our first look at some groups outside of the far northwest corner of the coast, and they'll be quite an important group for the rest of this TL. Basically it's where "civilization" in the literal sense (people living in cities, not just glorified villages) begins. There's probably more I can expound on regarding something so critical, and I probably will when I do a post on the Western Agricultural Complex and just how/why a major lifestyle change emerged in the past few centuries.

I forgot to include this section at first because I was a bit rushed for personal time when I was editing this chapter for posting here.

 

[Arkenfolm]

This timeline is really interesting. So, has Mesoamerica had any form of trade/contact with Fusanian cultures yet or is that happening later?

That'll be a bit down the road, as sailing has only recently been invented and is still uncommon even in the northwest with the Ringitsu and others (since a dugout canoe is cheaper--tehi sailcloth is very expensive and sailing vessels need more trees--and gets the job done almost as well). But regional trade is increasing and some of those coastal peoples are part of the groups moving around in the American Migration Period (by both land and sea). They've gotten pretty far already and are spreading their innovations as they go, but it's a ways off before they'll be able to sail to Mesoamerica with any regularity. Right now there's just no reason to keep sailing south--the further south you get the less the locals have to offer.

Also as someone who lives in the pacific northwest I'm really wondering how the indigenous nations of the Puget Sound will develop differently, as well as how places like the Hoh Rainforest will be differently seen ITTL.

Quite differently indeed. At the start of the Copper Age (8th century) they're already on a much different path than OTL, and especially for the people of the *Hoh Rainforest given their more exposed location, are having many encounters with the coastal peoples from further north, some peaceful, some not so peaceful.

 

[Arkenfolm]

-IX-
"Fruits From Earth and Water"

J.E. Haugen and Seppo Savolainen, Fusania's Harvest: An Encyclopedia of the Western Agricultural Complex (Ilonlinna [Charlottetown, PEI] University, Vinland) 1980​

The Western Agricultural Complex (WAC), sometimes called the Fusanian Agricultural Complex, is the term given to an independent center of plant domestication in Western North America. Its origins date to the beginnings of pastoralism and accompanying increase in horticultural practices in the far north of Fusania around the 2nd century AD, with the center of plant domestication along the northwest coast from the mouth of the Imaru to Old Ringitania, and it reaches its final periods of experimentation around 1200. The Western Agricultural Complex was the last center of independent plant domestication to originate, with some of its associated plants showing little distinction from wild forms. Domesticated animals and a complex agroforestry system were extremely important to the success of the WAC, enabling extra sources of protein and calories as well as providing tools, manure, fuel, shade, and windbreaks which enabled the system to work. These plants and animals became critical to not only indigenous Fusanians, but numerous other indigenous Northern Americans, and eventually people around the globe. In some writings, it is called the Fusanian Agricultural Revolution, but this term is disputed by some anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians who consider it an evolution (not a revolution) from proto-agricultural practices to horticulturalism to full agriculture.

Some of the Western Agricultural Complex's crops have become key staples for both humans and animals alike globally, such as omodaka (sometimes called river potato) (Sagittaria fusanensis), river turnip (Sagittaria cuneata), sweetvetch, common bistort (Bistorta vulgata), and the Fusanian lupine (Lupinus fusanensis), or of major commercial importance like tehi (Apocynum cannabinum). Others like camas (Camassia esculenta), rice lily (Fritillaria camschatcensis) and biscuitroot (Lomatium) are important local staples in some parts of the world, especially in Fusania, elsewhere in the Americas, or in the Far East. Some WAC plants are nearly extinct, having faded back into their wild forms or are only grown in isolated parts of Fusania.

---
Practices of the Western Agricultural Complex
​

Fusanian agriculture had a number of diverse and unique practices which are related to its origins and its social status. In Fusania, agriculture was an extremely low status activity which existed as a supplement to the preferred hunting and fishing techniques which had been practiced for thousands of years. Unlike in other parts of the world, where agriculture led to people settling down, indigenous Fusanians already lived in sizable villages of a few hundred people before they ever began any sort of true agricultural practices. This was due to the wealth of the land in terms of wild plants, animals to be hunted, and especially fish. The Western Agricultural Complex emerged as an evolution of horticulture, which was practiced due to the need to feed the herds of reindeer which became the most high status animal.

Key among these were the ubiquitous earthworks and waterworks, which ensured Fusanian agriculture would become focused on water plants. These appear to be a cultural legacy of the Dena people of the Early Tachiri culture and those later cultures influenced from it, who used these earthworks at their villages as a means of prestige, but also as a means of flood control, water management, fishing tools, and encouraging the growth of certain plants, most notably those of genus Sagittaria. The two most important independent developments of this are at Nuklukayet on the Hentsuren and Wayam on the Imaru, created by two very different groups of Dena, each of which emerged by the 4th century. These earthworks and waterworks diffuse over the following centuries even before the start of the American Migration Period, reaching inland to the Continental Divide and as far south as Tappatsu [1] near the modern border of Zingok. Thus, by the start of the 7th century, much of Fusania already practiced a form of horticulture which in the key places of plant domestication--the Imaru Plateau and far northwest [2]--was spilling over to agriculture.

The addition of the Sibling Prophets to Fusanian religious beliefs during the early American Migration Period resulted in revolutionary changes to agriculture in time. Carried by the later Dena migrations and the early coastal migrations from the far northwest and expressed in many ways contigent on the culture influenced, plants became categorised based on their relation to the resonance of the universe, symbolised by "dark" and "light". Practically, this meant finding dualistic dichotomies in these plants, for instance, the distinction between plants which grew in water versus those which grew on land, and those whose edible parts were below the ground versus those above ground. The most cited example in the literature is how readily 15th century Fusanian traders noticed the potato in its earliest moments in Mesoamerica as the spiritual counterpart of the omodaka, and imported it into their own lands, but similar distinctions were noticed for many centuries. Their effect on the body was also studied by these early farmers, who used this to sort plants into various categories.

These practices were intensely spiritual, and the domain of the medicine men and shamans. Indigenous Fusanians believed medicine men needed to talk with the spirits in order to ensure the plants would be nutritious and able to sustain them. In some cultures, like on the Imaru Plateau, the medicine men placed spirits called takh into the growing plants to ensure they could pass on their energy to humans and animals. These plant-focused medicine men and shamans became an important subclass of the religious castes who eventually accrued more and more power by the Fusanian Copper Age to form the ruling caste over the nobility, from where the traditional princes of later Fusanian city states arise as the first appearance of state society and monarchy in the region.

Under the guide of their shamans and medicine men, the Fusanians thus sowed their fields and bogs with the plants they relied upon. The more intensive earthworks and waterworks were demanded from the native nobility to compete with other noblemen. The end result was an agriculture which covered all bases--nutrition, vitamins, animal feed--and a population set up to farm it.

These beliefs led to the Fusanian version of the two-field system by the 8th century AD. Half of the field would be flooded and grow water plants, and half of the field would grow dry-land crops--typically this would be an alternation between omodaka and camas. The influx of nutrients from the flooding of the field helped enrich the field for the following season. In some parts of Fusania, a three-field rotation quickly followed this development, where one field either lay fallow (and flooded) or grew a non-food crop (typically lupine or tehi). This occurred as an evolution of religious beliefs, where water and land crops constituted two fields each, and the fallow (or flooded) field constituted the "pillar of harmony", symbolising the initial state of the universe.

Use of controlled burning--a tradition tens of thousands of years old in the region--remained common in the Fusanian agricultural system. Traditionally used to encourage the growth of favored plants or smoke out game, in the early agricultural period it was used to enhance the fertility of the land by burning the forest. Fusanian slash-and-burn agriculture tended to be rather light compared to other cultures. It usually occurred only every few years, and under strictly controlled conditions so as to minimize the loss of important plants like reindeer lichen and to maximize the availability of useful trees like oaks, bigleaf maple, and cedar yet also ensure significant new growths of birches and other trees and plants which colonized burned forests. Although already a complex system by the early Copper Age, this forest management system paled in comparison to the complexity of Fusanian silviculture found in later centuries.

In some places--namely the stony, barren coasts of the area--soil management was crucial for this process. Notably, the Ringitsu among other far northwest peoples developed a means of permitting agriculture in these barren areas. Dirt from the interior mountains was mixed with sand from the beach, ashes, seaweed, living and dead fish and other beach life, and small animals both living and dead to form new soil and form the base for earthworks. Spiritually, this practice originated as creating local harmony--making life from barren rocks--by melding together elements of the land and the sea as well as the inferior "beach food" which made men weak and superior hunted game which kept men strong, the land was restored to a harmonious state. Creation of these plots boosted the productivity of marginal coastal lands and enabled a full transition to agricultural even in northerly Ringitania by the early Copper Age. This practice would spread throughout Fusania by the 11th century thanks to the American Migration Period.

The tools of Fusanian agriculture into the Copper Age remained comparable to those of previous eras. The digging stick, a tool of wood and antler, was the most common means of harvesting crops. Tools of wood, bone, stone, and antler in general were used to prepare fields for sowing and harvesting. The earthworks were constructed by hand, using primitive versions of shovels, reed baskets, and reindeer and dog power to move dirt and water. Because of the need for antlers and bone, the nobility who controlled the main source--reindeer antlers and bone--retained a great deal of power as through potlatches they distributed these materials to their followers.

By the 9th century, things were changing all throughout Fusania. The proliferation of smelted copper, silver, and gold spread throughout the entire region through the trading networks of the Dena and others. The sheen and hardness of these new metals immediately attracted the attention of the nobility, who endeavoured to equip their commoner followers and slaves with tools made of these metals. The most prestigious leaders equipped their followers and slaves with tools made of tumbaga (archaelogically named for this fusion of copper/silver/gold's similarity to the common Mesoamerican alloy of the same name) or other alloys of copper with bronze and/or silver. These tools were regarded as superior to all other tools, and most suitable for performing ritual ceremonies regarding the first fruits from the earth.

Arsenical bronze--exceptionally strong copper created thanks to its impurities--likewise was an important metal for constructing agricultural tools, but there was no concept of smelting arsenical bronze in the early Fusanian Copper Age, and instead, arsenical bronze was regarded as a powerful metal thanks to its smiths literally pouring their souls into it. The arsenic in the ore poisoned these smiths and led to their crippling as well as their early deaths, but this was regarded in religion as an example of universal balance--by using the fire Raven stole from the gods to destroy the rocks (by melting) the gods created, these smiths tended far too much toward the "light" aspect of the world. To balance things out, their crippling and often painful death allowed the "dark" aspect of the world to shine through in their craft, leading to "balance" in the tools they made, and thus those tools' spiritual power. The lesser nobility provided their slaves and followers with copper tools as a matter of prestige.

Regardless of the methods of their construction, indigenous Fusanians of the 6th-9th centuries accelerated their construction of ponds for aquatic plants and fish harvesting. Methods for shellfish gardens, common along the coast from the Whulchomish in the south to the Ringitsu in the north, proliferated, and helped inspire gardens for aquatic plants and other forms of aquaculture and agriculture. By the 9th century, this emphasis on wetlands would lead to the domestication of the local species of mallard as the Fusanian duck, an important domesticate of the Fusanians.

---
Key crops of the Western Agricultural Complex​

Omodaka (Sagittaria fusanensis)
​

Omodaka, sometimes called river potato, is the most critical staple crop of the Western Agricultural Complex, occupying a position akin to maize in Mesoamerica or rice in Asia. The plant is a hybrid of Sagittaria cuneata, the river turnip, and Sagitarria longifolia, the arrow potato, and grows to a larger size than either. It is somewhat more drought tolerant than its wild ancestors, but still requires damp, marshy ground to grow in. Domesticated omodaka is intolerant to severe cold, unlike S. cuneata, with its northernmost range in coastal Ringitania. Omodaka is tolerant of many different water conditions, and can cleanse polluted waterways--as such, it was usually grown near sewers and latrines, amongst other places.

Historically, its ancestors were utilised for thousands of years as a good starch and supplement to the protein rich diet they ate. Omodaka was functionally very similar in this regard, but was an even greater source of calories and carbohydrates. Cooking the omodaka in Fusania was traditionally done in an earth oven until the early 2nd millennium. Digging sticks made of wood, antler, and bone were the main means of removing the omodaka tubers, but these sticks became increasingly complex and by around 1000 AD, the foot plow became common in Fusania.

Omodaka displaced its wild ancestors in most places it grew in, barring the colder interior and far north. S. longifolia in particular fell out of favor, but was still gathered by some groups of hillmen as well as in times of famine, in addition to becoming grown for the medicinal value of its leaves.

In later times, its counterpart was the potato--both were impressive tuberous crops capable of feeding the population. The search for this counterpart was long considered a dream of Fusanian agriculturalists. The omodaka in later times became exported to the rest of the world, and in much of East Asia supplemented native Sagittaria species in agriculture. In Europe it became popular in rice-growing areas like in Italy and France, but also in Scandinavia and Russia, where it fed livestock and increasingly the peasantry, and in the British Isles, where it served a similar role. Historically called "river potato" (omodaka being a 20th century marketing term in Western countries), European incorporation of the omodaka is considered an important moment in the economic history of Northern Europe second to only the potato, and for countries like Ireland and Finland, exceptionally critical.

Camas (Camassia esculenta)​

The most prized land plant of the Western Agricultural Complex, camas was prized for its bulbs. A drought tolerant plant, the camas thrived throughout much of Fusania, but it struggled in harsher continental climates like those found in northern interior Fusania. A hybrid of several wild camas species, the domesticated form Camassia esculenta [3] featured bigger bulbs. The camas flowers blooming produced impressive blue foliage which marked the changing of seasons in many native Fusanian cultures. In much of Fusania, camas and omodaka, as the key land and water plant respectively, formed a dichotomy marking the dualism of society. Harvested with a specialised digging stick, the camas bulbs were either turned into flour or slowly boiled and eaten much as potatoes were eaten in some cultures.

Its water counterpart was considered to be various lilies, although before the introduction of the potato from Mesoamerica some cultures considered the omodaka the water counterpart of the camas. Camas became popular as a livestock feed in many parts of the world, especially inland China as well as in Spain and Portugal. In some of these places, camas was also eaten by the local population. In the British Isles, camas was imported by landowners, and became especially important in Ireland and Scotland to feed not only animals, but the people.

Wild camas species were harvested by the hillmen as well as used as a nutritious livestock feed. Similar-looking yet poisonous species, like the plants known as "death camas", were regarded as negative, spiritually evil versions of camas and uprooted and destroyed when found.

River turnip (Sagittaria cuneata)​

The river turnip, sometimes called the northern river potato, is an important staple crop of interior and northern communities and the ancestor of S. fusanensis. Unlike S. longifolia, which became marginalised with the spread of domesticated omodaka, S. cuneata remained in extensive use as a food crop due to its tolerance to cold. In its domesticated form and with special care, it grows as far north as the Tetjo [4] Delta, but these northern specimens are small and stunted, thus mainly are used to feed reindeer and muskox by the Dena and Inuit people who live in that region. The largest use of the river turnip historically was found in much of interior Rihoku, where through careful care it can still grow to a suitable size in some microclimates.

In colonial Vinland, cultivation of river turnip was especially noted by the colonists. While it would be many years after the settlement of Vinland for effective cultivation of the river turnip to arrive in Scandinavia, when it did, the effect was revolutionary in the northern parts of the realm. For Finland in particular, river turnip and its relative omodaka (both known in Finland by the name keiholehti) became critical crops in the early modern period thanks to the influence of early Finnish settlers of Vinland as well as innovative Finnish landowners. Beyond Fennoscandia, river turnip found a niche in the agriculture of far northern Russia as well as in much of Siberia. For the Japanese, it was established early on as an essential crop for the northern lands of Karafuto and Chishima.

Nut sedge (Cyperus esculentus)
​

The nut sedge, known in other parts of the world as chufa, tiger nuts, or earth almonds, was an important crop of the Western Agricultural Complex. Eaten throughout the world historically due to its nutritious qualities and widespread distribution, in the Americas, the nut sedge became more developed in Fusania than anywhere else. A hardy plant, nut sedge grew throughout Fusania and possessed tolerance for both cold and dry conditions.

Nut sedge came with drawbacks. The plant easily outcompeted other, more preferred plants like camas, irritating farmers. If spread by the wind, as nut sedge often did, this created conflict between farmers. Further, despite its nutrition, nut sedge caused severe constipation if eaten in excess. Due to this, nut sedge never became a true staple crop of the Western Agricultural Complex, albeit retaining much importance. Its water counterpart was the cattail, also known for its useful qualities while having severe drawbacks.

Sweetvetch (Hedysarum alpinum)​

Despite its occasional perception as a "bizarre" sort of carrot, the sweetvetch is one of the most important vegetables and crops in general of the Western Agricultural Complex. In every legend of the Lord of the Ground, the Dena cultural hero who tamed the reindeer, sweetvetch is one of his favorite foods, and one he encourages since he knows the reindeer enjoy it as much as he does. Genetically, sweetvetch is among the oldest crops of the Western Agriculture Complex, with artificial selection beginning by the end of the 2nd century. Its domesticated form several centuries later resembles a carrot and has similar nutritious values, leading to common names like "Fusanian carrot" or "Indian carrot".

Sweetvetch grows slowly, taking around three years to reach maturity. In its southern range, sweetvetch only takes two years, enabling crop rotation of fields in the mountainous habitat where it grows. Despite this disadvantage, sweetvetch is a common vegetable throughout much of Fusania and a staple crop in the interior and far north. As a legume, sweetvetch fixes nitrogen in the soil, acting as green mulch and thus improving crop yields and the soil as a whole. The Fusanian two-field system, first noted in the early Copper Age of the 9th century, in part relied on sweetvetch. In mountainous locations, sweetvetch was the main legume grown.

In the modern era, sweetvetch is a very common plant of Arctic agriculture, grown in gardens in remote indigenous and mining communities as well in subarctic zones colonised in the so-called Mid-Vinland Project of the late 19th century intended to separate Vinland from dependence on other North American nations among other goals. Historically, it was a highly effective animal feed in Scandinavia and Russia and often eaten in times of famine. In the late 20th century, the Inuit, Dena, Cree, and other northern peoples gained success farming this vegetable among other Arctic crops, in part because of the old Mid-Vinland Project.

Common bistort (Bistorta vulgata)
​

One of the most important plants for northern peoples alongside sweetvetch and river turnip, the common bistort was among the first domesticated plants of Fusania, with its modern form arising in Ringitania sometime in the 6th century as a hybrid of Arctic bistort and Alpine bistort. The fertile hybrid is larger than either wild species, but also very dependent on humans for its propagation. Common bistort also lacks the tolerance to extreme cold Arctic bistort has, but with care can be grown along much of the coast of the Arctic Ocean in places the soil permits it, like a well-manured river valley. Because of this, bistort along with sweetvetch and river turnip served as the key staples of the far northwest coast and interior Fusania.

Much of the plant was edible, including the root, leaves, and seeds. Traditionally in Fusania, the roots were eaten by people, while the rest of the plant saved for future crops or fed to livestock.

Like omodaka, the river turnip, and sweetvetch, bistort became one of the most successful crops of the Western Agriculture Complex globally, becoming critical in agriculture in Iceland, Fennoscandia, Russia, and far northern Japan, as well as alpine zones in Japan, Korea, and China. In the highlands of the Alps as well as in Tibet, bistort (along with sweetvetch) helped create an agricultural revolution--and subsequent economic and political factors--by increasing the amount of food available for both animals and humans.

Biscuitroot (Lomatium vulgatum)
​

Biscuitroot was an age-old species utilised by indigenous Fusanians, but the domestication of the species now known as the common biscuitroot did not begin until the 7th century. On the Imaru Plateau, various biscuitroot species cultivated for flour or for their medicinal value became selected for the size of their roots and ease of cultivation. By the late 8th century, this created the common biscuitroot, the domesticated form of the plant.

Domesticated biscuitroot was preferred for its drought and cold tolerance, growing throughout much of the Great Basin and well into interior Fusania. On the Imaru Plateau, in the Central Valley of Zingok, and the Great Basin in general, biscuitroot was a key staple, but elsewhere it remained a minor addition to flour and animal feed. Both domestic and wild biscuitroot were important for tribes of hillmen. This versatile nature of biscuitroot enabled its spread in the colonial era and beyond.

Balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sp.)
​

Another favored plant, the balsamroot was used in many native dishes, but also was preferred for its medicinal values. Balsamroot was added to various flours to enhance their supposed health value, but also used in their own right as a minor staple of the Western Agricultural Complex.

Medicinally, balsamroot was preferred for numerous throat, stomach, and other digestive conditions. The powdered leaves were also used to aid sleep.

Fusanian lupine (Lupinus fusanensis)​

Hybridised from many local Fusanian lupines, the Fusanian lupine produced colourful foliage which provided nutritious feed for reindeer as well as seeds comparable to peanuts which made good eating for humans. Lupine grown in fields helped replenish the soil. The poisonous yet rejuvanating nature was a key illustration of the duality of life in traditional Fusanian religion. The seeds diverged into a version commonly eaten as a snack as well as the traditional version which was consumed as a deliriant in the far northwest. The "snack" version spread far throughout Fusania, despite its very bitter taste.

Pond lily (Nuphar polysepala)​

Favored in the wetter parts of Fusania, this lily was notable for the intense cultivation indigenous Fusanians subjected it to. It was first grown in flood years, thriving in the deeper water, but later grown in other years, even drought years. The powdered seed was often mixed into flours. Of indigenous Fusanians, the Maguraku hillmen [5] preferred this plant beyond other agricultural plants.

Tiger lily (Lilium columbianum)​

Another prominent water plant, the bulb of the tiger lily was especially prized as a minor staple in parts of Fusania. It was a companion to the pond lily, and like other lilies, inadvertently domesticated.

Rice lily (Fritillaria camschatcensis)​

Despite its foul smell, the rice lily (sometimes called the black lily) was preferred by early Fusanians thanks to its root, which produced rice-like bulblets. It was contrasted with other more preferred marshy plants, but enjoyed in a vast range thanks to its cold tolerance. It formed a culturally important part of the diet of many interior Dena people.

Its cold tolerance and its comparison to the proper Asian rice crop led to its continuing popularity well into the colonial era in Fusania.

Goosefoot (Chenopodium sp.)​

Goosefoot was an important land component of the Western Agricultural Complex for its seeds and leaves. The variety in northern Fusania appears to be a hybrid of native wild goosefoot and domesticated imports from the Great Plains, and as such is often known by the local term ragaku [6]. As such, it was essentially a hybrid between Eastern and Western Agricultural Complexes. The plant was simple to grow in most of Fusania and had great genetic diversity, and in the early 2nd millennium, cold-weather cultivars were gradually spreading throughout the interior far north.

In Fusania, goosefoot was not a high prestige plant compared to camas or omodaka, but it was considered an extremely important plant for animal feed. It was often eaten by commoners and slaves as well due to the ease of growth and harvest and its low status. It's counterpart was the water amaranth.

Water amaranth (Amaranthus aquaticus)​

Water amaranth was a minor staple of native Fusanians, originating as a hybrid between the weed Amaranthus tuberculatus and farmed plant Amaranthus hybridus sometime around the end of the first millennia. Like A. tuberculatus, A. aquaticus grew on marshy ground which made it useful for Fusanian agriculture, but like A. hybridus, produced useful and edible seeds and leaves. Compared to A. hybridus, A. aquaticus fit much better into the system of Fusanian agriculture, especially as it became religiously associated with the counterpart to Chenopodium.

A traditional Fusanian story declares the plant to have been a gift from the "Transformer" god to a virtuous yet struggling farmer. Unable to feed his family, and having his patch of land choked with weeds, the farmer refused to sell his youngest daughter into slavery to a rapacious local noble. A mysterious noble approached them one night, and offered to either purchase her for a huge price, or turn his fields and entire village into the most bountiful in the world. The farmer chose the latter, but the noble--who turned out to be the Transformer god--led the man's daughter out and transformed her into the first water amaranth plant. Despite mourning the loss, his daughter's spirit comforted him and thanked both her father and the Transformer god. [7]

Vegetables​

Fusanians used many minor domesticates and semi-domesticates as vegetables, most notably plants such as various springbeauties (Claytonia sp.), docks (Rumex sp.), and saxifrages (Saxifraga sp.). Most of these vegetables were first subject to human selection as reindeer fodder, but later for their medicinal value, use as dyes, and as garnishes for various dishes. Exceptionally hardy, these plants grew throughout the alpine, subarctic, and arctic regions and were a favorite of pastoralists and hillmen, as well as various Guteikh and Inuit peoples.

Reindeer lichen (Cladonia rangiferina) was among the most preferred vegetables due to its association with reindeer. While too slow growing and finnicky to ever be domesticated, the lichen was extensively encouraged for both reindeer and human use. In the more densely populated areas around the rivers and coast, reindeer lichen grew faster than its wild counterpart. In addition to its use as a vegetable or for reindeer fodder, the lichen was used as medicine for both humans and animals.

---Other plants---

Tehi (Apocynum cannabinum)
​

A poisonous plant, the tehi plant served as one of the most important domesticated plants of the Western Agricultural Complex. It was first used for minor purposes--a bit of extra fabric here and there, or for its edible seeds--but by the late 6th century, tehi helped form the first sails in Fusania. Demand for sails in far northwest Fusania combined with the increasing demand for clothing from the plant led to its rapid domestication by the 9th century.

Domesticated tehi served the Fusanians in every way possible. It served as a poison for enemies, be they human or animal. The seeds were mixed into animal feed, or occasionally into food for humans. And most importantly, the fibers formed a similar industry comparable to flax or hemp in the Old World, used for making clothing and many other purposes. The use of the tehi plant and production of cloth from it was of critical importance for Fusanians from the 9th century onwards.

Sweetflag (Acorus calamus)​

Used globally for its medicinal value and sweet smell, sweetflag became a natural choice for extensive cultivation by Fusanians. Sweetflag was among the first plants to be extensively grown in artificial wetlands due to its medicinal value which was said to ease pain and cure numerous digestive diseases. Oil pressed from sweetflag was burned as incense which repelled the ever present mosquitos and flies--the strong, sweet smell of it was common in the homes of the elite, but also in granaries and food storage areas as it was believed the burning smell of sweetflag repelled insects and rodents. Native Fusanians extensively used powdered sweetflag as a spice and condiment, fulfilling roles comparable to cinnamon and nutmeg in other cultures. Occasionally the plant was simply used as a vegetable. Sweetflag gained an association with wealth and prosperity in many Fusanian cultures as the elite could afford to use the plant as mats or thatching instead of its more practical uses.

Tule (Schoenoplectus acutus)
​

This plant served as a traditional building material in much of Fusania, especially in south Fusania. Its fibers were perfect for baskets, mats, flooring, and roof thatching. Parts of the tule plant were often mixed into flour or served as garnishes. Cultivars of tule were created to be food crops first (and fiber crops second) and vice versa, and thus served as highly important crops throughout Fusania.

Cattail (Typha latifolia)​

While not a domesticated plant unlike many others listed here, cattails remained an important component of the Western Agricultural Complex. Much of the plant was edible, and it was easy to grow and maintain, but its main use was as a construction material, where it could make baskets, footwear, simple buildings and rafts, and serve as insulation for all sorts of clothing. Cattails were also often fed to animals.
The main issue with the cattail was its excessive growth which crowded out other water plants. Further, a cattail marsh naturally drained over time due to the growth of the plants, requiring extensive labor to construct and maintain. As such, cattails were not a preferred species, and were usually considered weeds (albeit beneficial weeds).

Yonetsu (Heracleum maximum) [8]​

The yonetsu was an exceptional plant, used throughout Fusania as a vegetable, spice, and medicine. It could repel mosquitos and flies and supposedly cure many conditions, and lend a unique taste to food. All parts of the plant were cultivated by native Fusanians, and used for garnish, spices, medicine, and insect repellant.

Sappitsu [9] (Oplopanax horridus)
​

The sappitsu plant with its notable thorns was a common plant in the far northwest, hung over the doorways of most houses as it was believed to ward off evil. Sappitsu was burned as an incense (often mixed with sweetflag) to ward of insects, and also often used as a medicine to ease pain and kill lice. As a food, its leaves and roots were often mixed into meat dishes and were an important vegetable in the far northwest. Due to its medicinal value, sappitsu spread far to the south.

Labrador tea (Ledum sp.)
​

Labrador tea was a common plant in the subarctic and arctic regions of Fusania. This tea was favoured for herbal medicine, believed by indigenous Fusanians to cure many illnesses. It was also enjoyed as a recreational deliriant thanks to the terpenes found in the plant.

Indigenous Fusanians favoured this plant thanks to its medicinal value and the tea it produced. Leaves of the labrador tea as well as the tea itself were often used to flavor fish and other meat in Fusanian cuisine in various sauces and garnishes.

[1] - Crescent City, CA, a Japanese rendition of its Tolowa name.
[2] - By "far northwest" I'm referring to the coastal region from northern Vancouver Island to Kodiak Island, including the BC Central Coast, Haida Gwaii, and the Alexander Archipelago. I term it "far northwest" because that's what it is from a Fusanian perspective. It is a marginal, rainy region, and IMO well-suited for the sorts of processes which would lead to the intensification of reindeer pastoralism/horticulture which tips over into the agricultural society this timeline centers around. The cultures of the region, most notably the Ringitsu (Tlingit), Khaida (Haida), and Tsusha (Coast Tsimshians), thus play an extremely important role TTL which we've only seen the beginning of.
[3] - OTL a synonym for several Camassia species, TTL used for the domesticated variety of camas.
[4] - Mackenzie River, derived from Japanese "Teicho" which is in turn derived from the Slavey language name for the river.
[5] - Klamath, from the Japanese rendition of their ethnonym. OTL, the Klamath indeed were fond of eating pond lilies.
[6] - Japanese loanword from a Nuuchahnulth word meaning "leaf".
[7] - An ATL domesticated hybrid of several amaranth species, mostly Amaranthus hybridus and Amaranthus tuberculatus. Amaranths are known for often hybridising with each other, and hybrid wild amaranths produced many of the farmed amaranths (and weed amaranths). The story of its origin is an example of Transformation stories, where a Transformer god transforms people into the ancestors of common plants and animals.
[8] - Cow parnsip, TTL commonly known by its Japanese name which is derived from the Tlingit word for the plant
[9] - Devil's club, TTL known by its Japanese name which is a rendition of its Tlingit name

---
Author's notes
​

A rather dry entry for this TL, but a necessary one. This displays a key portion of Fusanian agriculture in its earliest form during the early Fusanian Copper Age, and how it develops. I'm not a botanist, and I'm no doubt exaggerating a lot of the capabilities of these indigenous American plants. This shows the religious beliefs behind Fusanian agriculture and why they use slaves to build such impressive earthworks as we've seen at Nuklukayet and Wayam, amongst other places, and how it drives the agricultural revolution in Western North America, which is essentially a side effect of what allows the herds of domesticated reindeer to thrive. No doubt there's a lot more I should've written about some Fusanian domesticates, but I covered the base elements. If it's truly important, it will be mentioned in a later update. This update is simply to show the Western Agricultural Complex and what it meant to native Fusanians.

I've deliberately excluded cultivated trees (although touched on their importance), berries, and domesticated/extensively managed animals from this update, despite their huge importance in Fusania. This is because this update focuses on the early Copper Age version of Fusanian agriculture. We'll deal with Fusanian agroforestry practices and the mature form of their pastoralism soon enough. In part, this is because I need to discuss our alt-California Indians in greater detail. Later imports from the Eastern Agricultural Complex plus imports from Mesoamerica (which aside from Amaranathus and goosefoot are the first imports in Fusanian agriculture) will be dealt with at this time. Later animal domesticates--like the Fusanian mallard I mentioned--as well as older Fusanian domesticates will be focused on at that point.

There's a lot of foreshadowing here, especially since there's bits of the Western Agricultural Complex described in the context of their later influence. And there's a lot of recapping previous discussions of Fusanian agriculture as well.

Next entry will deal with another key element of the American Migration Period (the Haida are always compared to Vikings after all, but their foes TTL from the Whulchomish to the Namaru are likewise notable), and afterwards we'll discuss South Fusania (call it California, Zingok, whatever it's a unique place compared to North Fusania to say the least) and eventually the Hillmen, Fusania's "barbarians".

 

[Vlad von Carstein]

Nice update, I needed a way to keep track of all these crops. As for foreshadowing...

For the Japanese, it was established early on as an essential crop for the northern lands of Karafuto and Chishima.

It seems the Japanese are expanding Northwards more quickly then OTL

 

[Arkenfolm]

Because of the out of sequence way I wrote the last entry, I missed an important bit I had planned to cover, namely some bits relating to forest management/slash and burn agriculture as well as the practice of land reclamation in the coastal areas in a way similar to (and inspired by) the Aran Islands of Ireland, where locals turned more or less barren earth into useful land for growing fodder for sheep as well as vegetables, although the process is a bit different (more animal bits, soil from mountains--in some cases volcanic soil) and more wrapped up in their religious beliefs. There's obviously a limit to how much you can get out of this (and the local climate is a bit less forgiving than the Arans), but the groups who practice it at this point are getting enough to make it worthwhile.

This section has been edited in toward the top of the entry.

Nice update, I needed a way to keep track of all these crops.

For the sake of readers I probably need to make a glossary of all the different groups discussed and how they relate to OTL groups, since most are referred to by several names (usually an endonym, an Asian exonym, and occasionally another Fusanian group's exonym). some point when I have time I'm also going to go back through and edit for consistency of which name I use in which place ("common" names--usually the Asian exonyns--for in-universe texts, endonyms for narrative entries, etc.) since my own inconsistency is starting to bug me.

It seems the Japanese are expanding Northwards more quickly then OTL

No point in visiting the New World if you've barely begun to visit your own backyard after all.

 

[mythmonster2]

Love the attention to detail given here; there's not many other TLs I can think of that go into botany like this. I like the little hints we got here, especially interested in the consequences for Tibet that were mentioned...

 

[Arkenfolm]

Love the attention to detail given here; there's not many other TLs I can think of that go into botany like this. I like the little hints we got here, especially interested in the consequences for Tibet that were mentioned...

Thanks. I'm probably being too detailed in parts (which is slowing me down for getting to the more typical--yet also very enjoyable--"here is X empire" stuff), but it's been interesting to write and do the research. One annoying part is that since I wrote/editted that post, there's still a few aspects I'd need to cover, but I'll settle for mentioning them in later updates.

 

[Arkenfolm]

-X-
"Lives and Deaths Along the Coast"
​

The western coast of North America presents a stark, rocky, foggy landscape, with few good harbors for ships. Those few which exist are often separated from the interior by tall coastal mountains, creating a major barrier between land and sea. But in some places, geology has been more kind to the humans who were to later inhabit this land, with subduction zones and glaciation carving out a vast estuary along an inland sea called Whulge [1] by its locals. This sea provided ample fishing and whaling grounds and rich growths of forests in one of the rainiest climates in the temperate regions of the world. The large island of Wakashi [2] hems off Whulge from the Pacific. Around the Whulge and on Wakashi, several different groups of locals resided, from Wakashan speakers like the Atkh and Lik'wil'dak [3] along the west coast and east coast respectively of Wakashi to Wulchomic peoples [4] along the shores of the mainland, along with several other groups. The rich land they inhabited allowed for a large population and complex society from early days, founded on fishing and for the Atkh, whaling, but also enabling much trade and cultural contact with people across the sea.

Like much of the region, this area around Whulge dramatically changed in the 4th to 8th centuries. Coastal Dena peoples struck south into the region, decapitating the ruling class as they did elsewhere, and like elsewhere, they mostly blended into the local population, although holdouts in the mountains may have persisted with a Dena identity and culture until the 14th century. Their culture blended with the local culture, bringing with them new traditions of reindeer herding, plant management, and social organisation. At the same time, the Whulchomic peoples inherited the legacy of the Aipakhpam and Namal from the Imaru region, bringing with them similar changes and introducing ever increasing amounts of plant horticulture to the region.

Evolution of the Whulge Coast​

Among the largest estuaries in northern America, the coast of Whulge was inhabited by a number of Whulchomic peoples, so named for their shared reliance on Whulge and the waters which drained into it. These peoples relied on the intensive harvest of food--salmon, river potatoes, and game--from the many rivers and lakes of their land for their livelihood. This provided the foundation for a complex settled culture in the region by about 400 BC, as evidenced by the artifacts found from the Chishinamu culture (400 BC - 400 AD). [5] These Chishinamu peoples developed a culture of a nobility ruling over commoners and slaves which managed the resources of the land. Potentially up to 50,000 people lived in the area around 100 AD, in the same era as the "Lord of the Ground", the legendary Dena culture hero, tamed the reindeer.

Whulchomic peoples include the Whulchomish, the Tlatlechamish, the Lelemakh [6], and several extinct groups whose legacy remains only in family stories and oral histories of the region due to the many wars and migrations over the centuries. These migrations would begin to dominate the history of the region starting around 300 AD, when increasing numbers of Dena moved into Whulge from the north. Unlike Dena peoples already in the area, these Dena people spoke Northern Dena languages and herded reindeer acquired from the north. The Dena tendency of destroying white-tailed deer populations brought them into conflict with the local Whulchomic peoples.

According to Whulchomic legend, a great battle occurred around the year 350, between an alliance of the Whulchomic peoples and the invading Dena. Called the "Battle of the River of Tears" (so-named for the weeping of people for the many lost in the fighting), the Whulchomic peoples attempted to drive out the Dena invaders from their land under an alliance which included nearly every group of Whulchomic-speakers and even some neighboring peoples. Despite initial victories, the superior logistics of the Dena and their greater access to tools and weapons led to the Dena victory at an unknown stream, where "a vast number" of Whulchomic warriors died or were captured. The story ends with the Dena becoming the new rulers over the people, who prosper yet mourn for what they have lost. Comparable to similar stories about a great war between the Dena and the alliance of peoples assembled at Wayam, such a legend described the conflict between the already complex societies of central-northern Fusania and the invading Dena peoples, but also symbolised the Dena as bringers of change both positive and negative.

The Dena nobility of the area combined with increasing amounts of reindeer used to carry packages for trade created a much more uniform culture in the area, called the Irikyaku culture, or sometimes called "Fusanian Neolithic". It was characterised by influences from interior peoples, such as the Aipakhpam around Wayam. Goods were traded widely along the Imaru River and along the coast. The Whulchomic peoples increasingly built earthworks and waterworks intended to both glorify their nobility and manipulate the land to more easily grow the increasingly domesticated staple foods like omodaka and camas as well as other plants. One notable tradition along these lines, supposedly created by the Lelemakh in particular, was the construction of shellfish gardens, where beaches were reshaped to increase the amount of shellfish which could be collected. This Irikyaku tradition spread in time to other Whulchomic peoples and then far beyond its point of origin.

The Whulchomic peoples possessed a tradition of nobility which thanks to the Dena increased in power. These new nobles owned many reindeer and helped control the source of local tools and furs thanks to their reindeer. With these Dena as their nobility, the Whulchomic peoples adapted to these new circumstances. Like the Wayamese, they build great earthworks and waterworks to grow their crops and exalt their nobles.

With the increased population from the Whulchomic adoption of agriculture in the Irikyaku period, the weaving tradition (strengthened by cultivation of tehi) demanded more blankets made from the wool of the mountain goat, a common game animal. Tradition attributes the Lelemakh to domesticating the mountain goat. As this animal became rarer, the Lelemakh moved to make peninsulas and islands as reserves for the animals to harvest their wool. These goats already occasionally visited mountainous human villages for their crops and security against predators. From this initial "tame" population, the Lelemakh and their initial shepherds domesticated the mountain goat by the 9th century--also called the white goat, forest goat, or Indian goat by later Europeans or Asians. The domesticated mountain goat, used for its wool and for meat, spread quickly to neighboring groups, but in the 9th century, the mountain goat's impact on the Americas was yet to be realised.

Evolution of Wakashi Island​

One region remained separate. The island of Wakashi saw few Dena arrive there, and kept much of its original culture and traditions, but increasingly supplemented by reindeer being traded from the coastal areas. Agriculture was slow to spread in Wakashi, but cultural links between Whulchomic peoples on the island and across the sea slowly spread innovations from the mainland. As elsewhere in Fusania, cultural similarities helped cross linguistic and ethnic borders to spread new concepts and technologies. Cultural blending was common as well--bands of Whulchomic people could and sometimes did settle with their Wakashan neighbours elsewhere on the island, who likewise would settle with them

Due to this minimal Dena influence and slower development, the non-Whulchomic cultures of Wakashi Island are not considered part of the regional Irikyaku culture, instead being associated with several separate archaeological cultures. This later development of the Wakashans perhaps influenced outside perceptions of them, where even from an early age they are regarded as backwards and barbaric, or even cannibalistic. The latter perception perhaps comes from the ritual cannibalism practiced by some secret societies of the island, where a slave or prisoner was butchered and their flesh eaten by initiates combined with vast amounts of salt water to expel the flesh. The people of this society in later years occupied the highest rung of the priesthood--and an exaggerated place in the imaginations of outsiders. The Wakashans similarly enjoyed other "barbaric" activities, such as self-punishment for purification, notably the vigorous self-flogging to ensure successful whale hunts, and to add to their increasingly morbid reputation, a love of skulls and bones of all species, including humans. They extensively used whale bones in construction of whaling shrines, where bones of reindeer, whales, bears, and occassionally human skulls ornamented the premise. [7]

As it was elsewhere in the region, the introduction of the reindeer no later than about 450 AD greatly changed the lifestyle of the native inhabitants, as all the hills and forests of the island became potential pastures for reindeer. As elsewhere, reindeer offered an easy source of food, tools, and transportation for goods, and the animal quickly became prestigious. Groups which adopted the reindeer first quickly expanded at the expense of the neighbours, both Whulchomic and Wakashan alike. Similarly, reindeer offered a good source of horsepower for construction, thus, in the 5th century, the size and complexity of longhouses increases, and construction of the ubiqitous earthworks and waterworks accelerates as plants become a more important part of the diet, especially amongst the Whulchomic peoples of the island.

One important group for both the history of Wakashi Island (and later Fusania and beyond) were the Atkh. Distantly related in language to their neighbours, the ancestral Lik'wil'dak, the Atkh were the first culture in the region to practice intensive whaling [8], a practice occurring around the same time as the adoption of the reindeer, but with its origins even further back in time. To the Atkh, the whale already was the most essential animal to their livelihoods. The origin of whaling is obscure, but unlike the Ringitsu, where whaling arose as a way to gain prestige and extra resources without needing to own herds of reindeer, for the Atkh, the process seems to have been a tradition of villages with poor access to salmon runs. The arrival of reindeer to Wakashi allowed these whaling villages to acquire increasing amounts of reindeer in exchange for whale goods, which necessitated their leaders hunt increasing amounts of whales.

The Atkh thus had a head start over other groups on Wakashi in terms of integrating the reindeer into their economy. Coastal Atkhs traded with interior Atkhs extensively, thus forging marital bonds which meant large family networks to call upon when needed. The amount of whale bone and other whale tools enabled an easy source of tools unmatched elsewhere on the island. To meet the demand for reindeer, the interior Atkh became increasingly warlike, raiding their neighbours Atkh and non-Atkh with impunity. Although these family alliances cut across ethnicity, and the Atkh could and did trade and ally with Whulchomic or Lik'wil'dak groups, the Atkh as a group tended to benefit at the expense of non-Atkh groups, who saw their territory slowly reduced. Construction of forts and lookouts exponentially increases in this period throughout Wakashi Island, but this is likely not only because of inter-islander wars, but raiders from outside the island.

The start of the American Migration Period saw conflict all over northern Fusania as groups moved into new lands due to the cooling climate of Late Antiquity. At sea, slave raids increased to gather labour for the many new innovations sweeping the region. Wakashi Island was thus frequently raided by people from the Central Coast and Far Northwest coast, the majority of them Khaida or Tsusha, but many other groups as well, from the Ringitsu to those who have since been lost to history. Like the Vikings, they came not only as raiders, but traders as well, bringing innovations both economic (catamarans, sails, new forms of useful plants undergoing domestication) and cultural. The latter impacted Wakashi Island the most--the clan system of the Far Northwest arrived in Wakashi, although it had four clans organised into two moeities (Orca and Raven in one moeity, Eagle and Wolf in the other), similar to the Tsusha. An equally important cultural innovation was the introduction of the dualistic system of the Sibling Prophets, although their story was told differently on Wakashi Island than in the far northwest--for instance, amongst the Atkh, the Brother and Sister are twin siblings (not cousins), and they marry ambitious commoners who each become important prophets amongst their people. As elsewhere, this dualistic system deeply informed Wakashi Island's society and its practices.

Aside from whaling and reindeer, the key aspect of the Atkh economy was their textiles. Atkh land tended to be rough and mountainous, and in this era, the practice of soil improvement by mixing dirt, bones, and seaweed as done by the Ringitsu had not arrived yet. As such, the Atkh preferred to use much of their limited growing lands for fiber crops, growing tule, cattails, sweetflag, in addition to leaving much of it as forest, where the prized cedar trees were harvested for a variety of purposes (including textiles). From these fibers came all sorts of mats, baskets, clothing, and other products which were traded to other groups in exchange for food crops like camas and omodaka. But above all, tehi served as the most important fiber crop. One major center of diversity for tehi is the ancestral lands of the Atkh, hinting at their extensive cultivation and manipulation of the tehi plant. In addition to clothing and other textiles, the Atkh used this plant to experiment in making sails, which is often explained as an adaption from the Ringitsu or another group from further north during the 6th century.

The Atkh innovated in ship design as a result of this, developing new sorts of canoes and catamarans which proved highly useful in exploiting the rich seas of the area. Borrowing technology from the Ringitsu and Khaida, around the year 750 the Atkh developed massive catamarans which could carry over a hundred people or a comparable amount of cargo. These catamarans, called humhach'apac (literally "mother canoe") were used for a variety of purposes, from fishing to trade, but most often were owned by chiefs and used to hunt whales. A humhach'apac would transport provisions as well as a smaller, sturdier whaling canoe, which had its own sail to move about freely. When they sighted a whale (typically a humpback or grey whale), the whalers used smoke signals to attempt to signal the humhach'apac and then lowered the sail and started the pursuit, firing poisoned harpoons (typically aconite, hemlock, tehi, or a mix of all three) at the whale. When they killed the whale, the humhach'apac and canoe together hooked onto the whale and dragged it back to the village. The size of these ships combined with their sailors made the Atkh perhaps the most capable whalers in the Americas, moreso than the Inuit, Guteikh, or Ringitsu, capable of striking much further at sea and taking larger whales.

The Atkh and Lik'wil'dak practiced extensive aquaculture and especially mariculture along the many fjords and coves of their homeland. Borrowing and innovating on the shellfish gardens of the Whulchomic peoples, gardening of kelp and other seaweed occurred with the system of mariculture common among these groups. One notable effect of this was the creation of artificial salt marshes in places where the farmers kept back the sea using partially submerged earthworks. Using a mix of seawater and the ample rainwater of the area, they cultivated plants like glassworts--a preferred species which would eventually be domesticated--as well as saltbushes, cordgrass, and eelgrass [9]. One saltgrass, Distichlis spicata, was preferred for it could be fed to reindeer but also used to concentrate salt, which coastal peoples traded to inland groups. Salt harvesting in general occurred in this mariculture system, where in the dry summers, seawater was heated with charcoal to produce salt. Bits of these plants fed shellfish they harvested, and when fully grown, these plants were mixed into flour for breads or more often fed to reindeer. The Wakashans used this mariculture system to attract schools of fish--especially salmon and herring--to their inlets where they'd harvest them and their eggs. These fish in turn attracted seals and whales, even more preferred. By manipulating their tidal environment, the coastal Atkh and Lik'wil'dak were easily able to live off the sea yet also join in the increasing Fusanian Agricultural Revolution.

Both Atkh and Lik'wil'dak in this era divided themselves into many small chiefdoms, consisting of extended family groups and their slaves and ruled by the leader of the most prestigious clan. The borders of these chiefdoms were established by negotiation (occasionally after warfare) with other groups, and negotiated fishing and hunting grounds as well as where plants and trees could be cut. The leader of this land needed to keep the loyalty of his people through the giving away goods in potlatches as well as his prowess in warfare and hunting, including whaling. If a chief proved weak, or was excessively cruel, people would move away from his territory or outright assassinate him. This system worked well for centuries, but by the dawn of the Copper Age on Wakashi around 800 AD had begun to weaken thanks to the increasing population, the need for management of the new earthworks and waterworks, and conflict over access to the best copper sources. Increasing numbers of commoners migrated between chiefdoms, often with lesser nobility, while the ambition of the chiefs increased, setting the stage for many conflicts.

The losers of these conflicts often refused to accept defeat--instead, they simply migrated with their followers and continued their fighting against a new enemy, their neighbours. The superior numbers of Whulchomic peoples helped absorb and defend against much of this initial influx of displaced groups, incorporating their cultural traits while redirecting them elsewhere. Faced with conflict against these groups, the Lik'wil'dak largely stopped their migrations and consolidated into larger and more organised confederations, while the Atkh instead used their humhach'apac to move entire clans elsewhere.

Their first target was the mountainous Pacific coast right to their south, where many Atkh settled. An ancient nation called the Kwidit'atkh lived there, according to oral histories, who spoke a language incomprehensible to both the Atkh and their Whulchomic neighbours. The Kwidit'atkh were decimated by Atkh invaders starting in the late 8th century, and over the following centuries, slowly assimilated into the mainland Atkh groups, who incorporated many loanwords from their language. [10] The Kwidit'atkh were the first major casuality of the Atkh in what became called the Wakashan Migrations, part of the American Migration Period and beyond.

Yet the Wakashans themselves suffered from the American Migration Period. Drawn by their wealth, they fought incursions of other Wakashans--bitter wars occurred between the ancestral Lik'wil'dak and the Atkh as well as conflicts against Whulchomic groups. But the greatest conflict occurred with the increasing incursions of the Ringitsu, Khaida, Tsusha, and other far northwest people. By the end of the 9th century, even more intensive conflict began on Wakashi Island thanks to these northwest peoples.

Evolution of the Lower Imaru and Central Coast
​

Alongside Wayam, no area held greater importance toward of the development of what is considered "indigenous north Fusanian culture" than the lower Imaru, the homeland of the Namal people. From the mountains to the coast, the Namal held sway over the most productive land in the region, although in the river valley they called the Irame, a tributary of the lower Imaru, a major group called the Amim [11] lived. All manner of Fusanian agriculture and pastoralism was practiced in this region, and no region north of Mesoamerica was as densely populated as the Lower Imaru and the Irame Valley were by the start of the Fusanian Copper Age.

By the later Irikyaku period, this riverine region was developing fast. The town of Tlat'sap [12], a leading Namal settlement at the mouth of the river, helped funnel external trade with its benefits down the river. Atkh, other Wakashan, and far northwest cultural developments arrived in this area thanks to Tlat'sap and its surroundings, which mediated access to the rich interior along the river. Tlat'sap proved a powerful and wealthy fortress. It was ruled by an early example of a Fusanian monarchy--a single chief controlled all aspects of the town and those subject to it. The transition to centralised, monarchial rule around the late 8th century grew out of the ever increasing complexity of the culture, the need to direct labour for the earthworks and waterworks, and the growing population, a reflection of developments occurring elsewhere along the Imaru in Wayam and as far downstream as Chemna. These nobility were likely Dena in cultural origin and were rich in reindeer.

Tlat'sap sent out many trading expeditions both down river to Wayam and beyond, to the south to the mouths of the rivers, and to the north to Wakashi and the far northwest. Bringing in goods like greenstone, whalebone, and many other goods, and serving as an entropôt for the area, early Copper Age Tlat'sap helped procure a leading role in the Namal people's cities. In 830 AD at its height, over 1,000 people lived permanently in Tlat'sap. Its ruler is recorded as subjugating much of the Lower Imaru. This great chief fought a large naval battle against the Atkh at one point, killing many of them and stealing a giant whale they killed, while also managing to steal many reindeer from neighbouring Dena.

Tradition also holds this ruler of Tlat'sap as a frequent enemy of the nearest important town upstream, Katlamat, about 35 kilometers a day. Tlat'sap often sent raids against villages Katlamat held as a tributaries, and the two cities fought numerous battles which often involved over a hundred warriors, although chiefs did not join the battles in this era to avoid assassination or death [13]. Occasionally, battles between parties of large war canoes accompanied these battles. Under its greatest ruler, who's given many names depending on the story, Tlat'sap's forces breached the tall palisade around Katlamat and sacked several longhouses, carrying off the families of several prominent nobles for ransom.

Although its major rival was defeated, Tlat'sap faced a new threat--coastal raiders. Wakashans and some Whulchomic groups were drawn by the prosperity of the region, and often threatened the town. Normally, Tlat'sap's fleet of war canoes and system of watchtowers and forts repelled these groups, but starting with the increasing raids from the Khaida and other far northwestern groups on Wakashi Island, these raids increased in scale and frequency. Yet it would be those far northwestern peoples who dealt the greatest blow to Tlat'sap. In the year 857, a fleet of Khaida ships descended on the mouth of the Imaru, making a feint on a nearby village while using deception to sneak into the town. With most of its soldiers outside the city, the Khaida then had free reign to plunder Tlat'sap, killing dozens of men while carrying off the women and children as slaves. The Khaida killed the ruler of Tlat'sap and then burnt his longhouse and systematically plundered the surrounding fields. A second group of Khaida behind them dispatched the soldiers of Tlat'sap in a decisive battle, and then continued on to plunder the town themselves. Hundreds of slaves were carried off alongside the accumulated wealth of the town. Tlat'sap would never recover after this.

Like Lindisfarne in Europe, the Sack of Tlat'sap is a landmark event in the history of coastal raids. Events like this occurred frequently in the later American Migration Period (800 - 1000) as the increasing wealth along the Imaru drew the far northwestern peoples and others. They came as traders, raiders, slavers, and in time, settlers. Like the Dena before them, they'd open a new chapter on the history of Fusania, bringing great changes, and with it, great violence.

[1] - A Salish term for the Puget Sound, TTL extended to the entire Salish Sea region. I'll use the most common rendition of the word in English instead of other transcriptions.
[2] - Vancouver Island, the term derived from "Wakash", a commonly used term in Nuu-chah-nulth roughly meaning "good"--this is the also the name origin of the "Wakashan" language family. It is a misnomer akin to that which IOTL gave us the place name/ethnonym "Nootka".
[3] - Nuu-chah-nulth and Kwakwakaʼwakw/Laich-kwil-tach respectively
[4] - Coast Salish peoples, basically meaning "peoples of Whulge".
[5] - Chishinamu culture is the Marpole culture, named for the Japanese name of the place which is derived from the native name
[6] - The Whulchomish ("people of Whulge") are the Puget Sound Salish, the Tlatlechamish ("people of the islands") are the North Straits Salish, while the Lelemakh ("people of salt [water]") are Halkomelem speaking peoples. As we shall see, they'll have a quite different ethnogenesis TTL than OTL, hence why people speaking similar languages are grouped together, unlike OTL where no identity like that existed.
[7] - The cannibalism is based on the Hamatsa society of the Kwakwakaʼwakw OTL, who at one point practiced ritual cannibalism. The self-flogging is also OTL (see the "whaling shrines" of the Nuu-chah-nulth)--the whaling chiefs would beat themselves with boughs of hemlock and nettles while bathing to purify themselves. The whaling shrines themselves often had many bones and skulls, including human skulls. A related legend has it that a great whaling chief attempted to make a causeway between two islands using the bones of whales he killed--given this, I think we can imagine an interesting evolution of how whale bones are treated.
[8] - OTL, the Nuu-chah-nulth--and their close kin the Ditidaht and Makah--were the only groups to extensively practice whaling south of the Aleuts, although they spread their traditions to the neighbouring Chimakuan peoples. TTL, the practice of whaling is slowly spreading south thanks to the Ringitsu having adopted whaling, and will be practiced by most Wakashan peoples, but the Atkh are still among the best whalers.
[9] - These plants are halophytes, which are very tolerant of salt water and typically grow in salt marshes. They require minimal freshwater to grow, which can be supplied by the constant rainwater of the region.
[10] - These are Chimakuan-speaking peoples (named for a Nuu-chah-nulth exonym), a small language family of the Olympic Peninsula. OTL, the Makah, who split from the Nuu-chah-nulth, conquered and assimilated a Chimakuan-speaking group at the end of the first millennia, as evidenced by Chimakuan toponyms there (and the separation of the two Chimakuan languages), and proceded to strongly influence the Chimakuan groups culturally. TTL, they're much less fortunate. The Olympic Peninsula and the Pacific Coast in general is a backwater relative to the rest of Fusania, and the Nuu-chah-nulth (Atkh) far more numerous. Between the Dena group which has moved into the *Olympic Mountains and the invading Atkh (essentially an ATL *Makah), they're assimilated and leave little traces but evidence of a foreign people and some odd toponyms. TTL's linguists and ethnographers would kill to learn what we know about these peoples.
[11] - Irame Valley and the Irame River is the Willamette. The Amim are the Kalapuya, named for a Kalapuya term meaning "people".
[12] - Astoria, OR, named for the dialectual Chinookan term meaning "place of dried salmon", which is rendered as "Clatsop" in English. Its related to places with the element "Cathla-" (and the variant I'll use, "Katla-"), as it is a Chinookan dialectual term.
[13] - Cathlamet, WA, IOTL an important Chinookan town on the Lower Columbia. The reference to chiefs preferring to avoid battle is OTL among the Chinookans for the reasons I mentioned--at this point this concept is still common despite how much the Chinookans have evolved down a different path.

---
Author's notes
​

I originally planned to revisit the Khaida and their neighbours and show their raids on the growing southern towns, but then I realised I never got to really introduce those peoples, and I figured I needed to. So this entry combines some notes on a couple of the different groups of people. Next week we'll be doing the Khaida and Ringitsu and the later American Migration Period though, that's for sure.

As always, thanks for reading and if you like it, don't be afraid to comment.

 

[LostInNewDelhi]

The Dena and associates have come a long way from central Alaska, and I've been using a rough MSPaint map to keep track of the various locations mentioned so far. Recent developments seem to indicate that while the Haida and Wakashan whaler-raiders have far better naval forces for now, the inland Columbia cities like Wayam have the greatest economic potential, and by being so far inland can force raiding ships to proceed along the narrow river, possibly hemmed in by forts on both sides. And of course, there is the sleeping giant of Zingok, which could be divided among many midsize powers or unified into a northern answer to the Incas. I love the amount of groundwork that has gone into getting us this far, and I'm looking forward to the development of more complex states and pan-Northwest economies.

 

[Arkenfolm]

The Dena and associates have come a long way from central Alaska, and I've been using a rough MSPaint map to keep track of the various locations mentioned so far. Recent developments seem to indicate that while the Haida and Wakashan whaler-raiders have far better naval forces for now, the inland Columbia cities like Wayam have the greatest economic potential, and by being so far inland can force raiding ships to proceed along the narrow river, possibly hemmed in by forts on both sides.

Basically, although only the Dena moved from Central Alaska, unless you count the Thule/Inuit/Guteikh, who are slowly following their OTL trajectory of spreading east (but in larger numbers due to their pastoralist lifestyle), and the groups of Ringitsu I mentioned who were Dena-ized but kept their language and moved into the foothills of the Rockies near the Saskatchewan River. The Cascades are definitely a strategic barrier for getting at the upstream cities like Wayam.

And of course, there is the sleeping giant of Zingok, which could be divided among many midsize powers or unified into a northern answer to the Incas. I love the amount of groundwork that has gone into getting us this far, and I'm looking forward to the development of more complex states and pan-Northwest economies.

Time is of the essence for them, since they can't just switch your culture overnight when a stronger, more aggressive culture comes knocking, yet if they don't they'll just get swept away. A key issue in north Fusania is the relatively short time between the development of their civilization and when outsiders will inevitably encounter it. South Fusania has it even worse in that regards, AND they have to build themselves up in a place rather alien (climate-wise and to a lesser extent terrain-wise) to either the Aridoamerican examples nearby or the north Fusanian examples which as you might expect, will be the most intrusive for many of them.

Still, it's a pretty wealthy land in many ways, so even a "partially developed" civilization can do a lot for themselves and others around them.

View attachment 469450

I guess you beat me to posting the first map in the thread, but yes, that's the gist of it. I'll be trying to do my own map to summarize at least the first few updates (plus some added comments), odds are I'll have it done within a few weeks.

 

[Arkenfolm]

Sorry about the lack of update this week--it was busier than normal, what with the holiday and all. The next update (regarding the far northwest people, coastal raids, the emergence of identifiable states in parts of Fusania with some cultural notes) is about 60-70% done and should be no later than next Friday. I'll try and post a map with it to make up for things.

 

[Arkenfolm]

-XI-
"The Burning Rainforests"
​

The situation in the Far Northwest of Fusania declined at the start of the Copper Age. Increasing development to the south combined with new sources of copper impacted trade with the southern lands. Further, the continued increase in population once again started to impact societal harmony. The rugged lands of the Far Northwest possessed a limited carrying capacity--only a limited amount of land could be improved with the creation of new soil from burning and such a process was time consuming and expensive. Further, many commoners and even lesser noblemen were being forced onto poorer and poorer land which could hardly support herding reindeer. The nobility, be it the whaling elite of the coast or the reindeer elite of the inland, continued polygamous practices leading to a shortage of eligible women for marriage and provoking great resentment at the same time.

Out-migration from the Far Northwest was nothing new--many from this region sailed south in the past, or even north, spreading their civilisation and cultural influences among southern peoples. Yet starting in the middle of the 8th century, these migrations started to accelerate. Often this was accompanied by warfare and violence. Initially, much conflict was centered in the Far Northwest, where another intense period of violence began. Despite the greater societal constraints in these regions against warfare thanks to the Sibling Prophets, the priests and more peaceful nobles were unable to control more hotheaded warriors using any excuse they could to start conflicts.

The result was that from around 700 to 750, a generation of constant low-level warfare and raids occurred in the region. Raiders took slaves in great numbers, and often sold to the south to the labour-hungry peoples of the Whulge and especially the Imaru. Reindeer, a desired symbol of wealth, similarly were taken, although the size of the animals ensured usually only calves were stolen. Nobles captured in warfare often lost much of their fortune in ransom money paid. Warriors in these conflicts fought mainly with traditional clubs of whale bone, jade, or cedar, or occasionally axes made out obsidian or sharpened jade, while for ranged weapons, bows of traditional construction and composition remained common, but also occasionally a new invention, the crossbow, a simple, all-wooden form of that weapon [1]. Armour consisted of thick furs or occasionally strips of cedar. At close range, obsidian, copper, or jade daggers were the pre-eminent weapon. Far Northwestern peoples most prized jade and metal weapons--nobles tended to fight with these weapons, but weapons were frequently stolen from those killed in battle.

This constant conflict decimated the old social system in the region and in place, a new one more suited for these conditions arose. The institution of the war chief existed in older times, but with the constant need for war leaders, the nobility empowered these war chiefs to not only lead wars, but prepare for them as well. Typically, the nobles as well as shamans elected two chiefs (representing each moeity) for a period of one year, and from a cycling of noble houses of the village or town. Variants and exceptions existed--for instance, the Tsusha elected four war chiefs to represent their four clans. These war chiefs, in later times called by the generic term "prince", became the effective leaders of their villages and towns. Training for warfare became a demanded and exalted practice of not only all adult males, who trained under the watchful eye of a noble appointed by a prince. Training for women was expected as well as women were expected to protect hillforts with crossbows firing poison darts--the elderly, infirm, and occasionally even children also used these weapons. The overall goal of this training and mass militarisation was to make enemy raids and their main targets--reindeer and slaves--so costly it would be pointless to continue fighting, thus bringing peace through conflict.

Oral history remarks the creation of these oligarchic diarchies with their demands and edicts helped bring peace to the region through their military and spiritual prowess, but this is perhaps an exaggeration of their role. More likely, the decreasing frequency of warfare in the middle and late 8th century was due to the raiders turning their attention elsewhere as the nearest lands were effectively "picked over", devoid of the best goods. Slaves traded to the south were exchanged for numerous valuable goods, which piqued the interest of those who wanted to make a name for themselves and acquire those goods in an easier manner.

The Far Northwestern peoples first struck immediately south and north. For the Ringitsu, they finished absorbing the remnants of the Iyaqwan, considered to be a backwards people for their poverty in reindeer [2] and pressed hard on the Guteikh of the area, who owned even fewer reindeer but were hated rivals of the Ringitsu due to their whaling activities. In the south, substantial waves of people--first the Uitsuda [3] and then the Khaida--invaded the main territories deep in the fjords which produced jade, inhabited by the Old Touyachi people, sometimes called "Ligimuu" after their Tsusha exonym. [4] The Old Touyachi people faded into obscurity, their name preserved only in the oral history of the people who conquered them by the end of the 8th century.

Raids to the south--Wakashi Island and the shores of Whulge--were nothing new either, but starting in the mid-8th century, these raids increased in number and frequency. The oral history of the Lik'wil'dak of Wakashi explains their conflict with the "northerners" began when an arrogant chief cheated a Khaida merchant of middling status and showed him great inhospitability. This merchant, barely escaping alive, called upon his kin who immediately sent out a group of war canoes with a raiding party consisting of a hundred warriors. These hundred men attacked and plundered the village the merchant was cheated at, killing all the men and enslaving everyone else, and only chose to return when several neighbouring chiefs handed over the kin of the offender, who were executed on the spot. The survivors of this expedition returned home to the lands of the Khaida fabulously wealthy and without a single casuality, and received the promises of the kin of the deceased warriors they would join them in the next raid, "for the men of Wakashi are as soft and weak as seaweed yet claim to be as hard and strong as cedar". Encouraged by words like that, raiders attacked all around the area in increasing numbers, where they gained the common name "Coastmen", a comparison to the inland raiders who were the "Hillmen".

Not all raids resulted in plunder and victory. At the mouth of the Imaru River, the Coastmen struck, sacking the Namal town of Tlat'sap at the mouth of the river in the middle of the 8th century. The town's nobles resolved to never let that happen again and organised far more effective networks of fortifications. At battle at Tlat'sap around 780 resulted in a great defeat for a large war party of Wakashan Coastmen. Hundreds of Wakashans died at the cost of only a few Tlat'sap lives. The survivors became slaves for Tlat'sap for a year before being sold back to their relatives with the warning that they would return as either merchants or slaves. Similarly, around 790 an ambitious Khaida war party attempted to navigate the back country and avoiding the Imaru River, stealing reindeer and goods from small villages as they went, in order to reach the city of Wayam for plunder, but a Namal war party defeated them and sold the survivors as slaves to Wayam. Only a single man returned home to his islands a decade later, to tell a great story about the most wealthy and powerful city in the world, a story which was passed around family groups all over the Far Northwest and inspired a near legendary reverence for the city which ensured that sacking Wayam would be the dream of all Coastmen.

The stories of these raids and the valiant defenders against them traveled far and wide, becoming important stories of many families and clans. Sometimes the clans let them be performed freely, other times they remain personal property of these families up until the present day. Many times these tales became exaggerated in their heroism and the feats of the people in them, and often times stories about the same battle contradict each other. Collections of these stories became popular in later times and formed the basis of Fusanian literature as well its historiography thanks to the efforts of the earliest historians of Fusania who wrote down their works, such as the famous 15th century Namal prince Gaiyuchul.

Some of these stories became celebrated in the form of ceremonial pillars, sometimes called totem poles. Usually raised in memory of an ancestor, these pillars became increasingly popular in the 8th century as carving tools became cheaper and wealth increased. Stories of raids became a popular theme for these poles. A common set of motifs developed to enable the learned of any culture to easily tell what the pole signified to its owner, which those trained in the art of carving the poles came to inherently understand. The construction of such poles originated in the Far Northwest and spread through Wakashan influence to the Whulchomish and eventually the Namal, some Dena groups, and other interior cultures by the end of the American Migration Period. Their rot-resistant cedar construction ensured they'd last for many decades, but even the inevitable rot of the poles was not a cause for concern. [5]

But in the meantime for all Fusania, this explosive situation would soon get far, far worse, for in this land so shaped by intense geologic activity, not even the very ground the Fusanians stood on nor the air they breathed was safe and unmoving. In the span of only a few years, these great processes intervened to change the history of the land forever.

---
From an old Tsusha tale, loosely translated
​

There once were two nobles of the town of Lakhgw'alaam, Adat'sokh of the Ravens and Wiseks of the Blackfish [6], each dear friends of each other and brothers by marriage and each holding descent from the highest nobility of old, great men who commanded a herd of a hundred reindeer and the mastery of a hundred slaves and ruled the world at land and at sea. Yet their line increasingly grew wicked and depraved, forgetting to mind the balance of both the land and their spirit. The hundred reindeer and hundred slaves faded to nothing over a hundred years. Only the echo of their glory remained with Adat'sokh and Wiseks at the time of their birth. Despite their high birth, each possessed little more than commoners, and depraved and wicked men held the leadership of their clans

Yet each man inherited two items from their great ancestor. For Adat'sokh, he inherited an axe of finest cedar and jade, created by the Ligimuu and claimed by his ancestor. For Wiseks, he inherited a club of the finest whalebones studded with jade, created by the Ligimuu [7] and claimed by his ancestor. From their youth, they felt a spiritual calling from these objects, and they knew they must return to the place of this greatest of achievements, the Ligimuu's town of Ligimiilk [8].

One night as Adat'sokh gazed at the clouds under the bright moonlight, he heard his axe speak as clear as day.

"Return me to Ligimiilk, boy!" the weapon said to him one night. "The Ligimuu are not fit to rule that land. You will surely be a ruler there, and the Ts'ats'aew will hail you as an equal and shower you in their jade! A hundred reindeer and a hundred slaves will be yours, as they were your ancestor! [9]"

"You give a fine offer, axe of my ancestor! I will return you to Ligimiilk as soon as I can!"

"It is fortunate you accept my offer without reluctance."

One day as Wiseks gazed at the clouds under the bright sunlight, he heard his club speak as clear as day.

"Return me to Ligimiilk, boy!" the weapon said to him one day. "The Ligimuu are not fit to rule that land. You will surely be a ruler there, and the Ts'ats'aew will hail you as an equal and shower you in their jade! A hundred reindeer and a hundred slaves will be yours, as they were your ancestor!"

"I do not trust you, club of my ancestor! Why should I return you to Ligimiilk?"

"It is unfortunate you are so reluctant to accept my offer."

The next day the two boys met and discussed the events of the previous days.

"My axe spoke to me, and gave me the offer of endless wealth if I journey to Ligimiilk! Together we must go there, for it is the place promised to us!"

"My club spoke to me, and gave me the offer of endless wealth if I journey to Ligimiilk! Together we must reject this offer, for it will lead to our deaths!"

Adat'sokh and Wiseks disputed this, becoming enemies for a time. But soon they reconciled, understanding to neither be hasty nor greedy in what they agreed was their destiny. Each agreed they must return to Ligimiilk, but to reject the wealth they'd gain from it and leave the whole endeavour up to the gods and spirits.

As young men, they called upon the men of their clan to join them in a voyage to Ligimiilk, where they promised great success. Yet their relatives derided them and called them ambitious fools. Their wicked clan leaders enlisted their followers to mock the efforts of Adat'sokh and Wiseks.

"What point is there to fight those people? You have been lied to by evil spirits! You'll find nothing but death there!"

Adat'sokh and Wiseks searched far and wide in their quest to regain their status. To conquer Ligimiilk became their destiny. Men of the Hayda, Gyidaghaniits, and Wutsdaa [10] joined them. Each man married noblewomen of the Wutsdaa, who themselves were vengeful on the occurrences in Ligimiilk. Their sons and daughters grew up with the desire to return to that city.

Many years later, Adat'sokh and Wiseks put out a call to their clan to go voyage south to Ligimiilk, yet once again they were denied.

"Evil spirits still mislead you! There is no reason we should fight!"

But as older men of their people, Adat'sokh and Wiseks gained a following. Outcasts, freedmen, and others swore allegiance to these two. They found the allegiance of those who did not fit in society, and at the same time, gained the enmity of their lord, the Prince of Lakhgw'alaam [11], who demanded their arrest. Allied with the wicked lords of their clan, they sought to destroy the power these poor nobles acquired.

At winter potlatch, the corrupt nobles struck at Adat'sokh and Wiseks. They placed serpents in their sacred box. They placed aconite in their sacred cider. But Adat'sokh and Wiseks evaded these efforts. They sacrificed their few slaves to the poison of the serpents and the poison of the cider and stood proud against their enemies.

"How do they avoid certain death?" The nobles asked themselves. "These men are certain to bring yet more doom on our people!"

In the spring, the Prince of Lakhgw'alaam exiled them.

"Evil spirits preserve you from all the cruelty of the world. You and your followers will doom our people, so you must leave this land."

Each man understood.

"If you wish we shall do so."

But the Prince of Lakhgw'alaam did not know that many lesser nobles and commoners would join them.
"Adat'sokh, Wiseks, we will join you in your destiny! The spirits are with you!"

The Prince of Lakhgw'alaam sent his medicine men, his shamans, and his warriors against these rebels. Many lesser nobles and commoners denounced Adat'sokh and Wiseks under the threat of these men.
"We were misguided, these men are fools and are misguided! How could we support such evil?"

In the next spring, Adat'sokh and Wiseks left with a hundred followers on board four ships, fifty men of Wolf and Orca, and fifty men of Raven and Eagle [12]. Adat'sokh and Wiseks knew their followers were nothing but a few slaves, a few peasants who owed something to them, their kinsmen in an equally poor situation, and a few adventurers. They set out south along the coast.

"How can I return you to Ligimiilk with this weak retinue?" Adat'sokh asked his axe.

"Believe in the spirits and the land itself," he heard back.

"How can I return you to Ligimiilk with this weak retinue?" Wiseks asked his club.

"Believe in the spirits and the land itself," he heard back.

Camped on the shore, Adat'sokh and Wiseks discussed the challenge before them as they prepared to sail to Ligimiilk.

"No choice except to push forward to Ligimiilk," Adat'sokh argued. "Destiny awaits there!"

"We must retreat lest we die at the gates of Ligimiilk." Wiseks argued. "Destiny awaits someplace else!"

As the two disputed, the Ligimuu pushed forward regardless. Striking fierce in a sudden raid on their camp, half the force of Adat'sokh and Wiseks perished in the first battle, including the eldest son of each.

"I have been too impetuous in my pursuit of the Ligimuu and my destiny!" Adat'sokh mourned. "I have not trusted in my men and their spirits enough!"

"I have been too cautious in my pursuit of the Ligimuu and my destiny!" Wiseks mourned. "I have not trusted in my men and their spirits enough!"

Deep in the mountains Adat'sokh and Wiseks fled to seek another path to the village of the Ligimuu. Hunger and storms battered their force as they navigated the valleys and rivers of the coastal mountains, yet Adat'sokh and Wiseks did not falter. With their faith in their men and knowledge of what needed to be done, not a single man died. As they reached a major village of the Ligimuu, they prepared to find foes, but instead found only friends.

"The Hayda are our mutual enemies," the villagers spoke. "They seek to rule us yet have no right to! As the enemies of the Hayda, you must be our allies. Those who call themselves the Ligimuu in this era are nought but Hayda barbarians."

Adat'sokh and Wiseks bowed to these villagers and presented their jade weapons.

"This evil must be purged from your land," Adat'sokh said.

"I will fight for you to ensure justice for your land," Wiseks said.

The sight of those jade weapons inspired the villagers.

"Those weapons killed the greatest amongst us. The single flaw of your ancestors was their lack of trust. They believed only in themselves and knew not how to believe in others. In time this let evil into Lakhgw'alaam. And now the time has come to right this wrong. We will fight for you, the true rulers of this land. We will guide you through this land."

Two hundred Ligimuu joined Adat'sokh and Wiseks as they crossed the valleys and passes of the mountains with their followers, surviving many hardships. They came upon the city of Ligimiilk at last.

"My lords, the strength of the Hayda is ten times our own!" a scout warned.

"Our faith in ourselves and trust in our men is worth ten times even that number." Adat'sokh said.

"Our faith in ourselves and trust in the spirits is worth ten times even that number." Wiseks said.

As the band of the chosen prepared to descend upon Ligimiilk, Adat'sokh saw two ravens flying high above the mountains as Wiseks saw two orcas swimming in the fjord far beneath. Each man knew they placed their faith and trust in the correct forces of the world, but could not decide when to attack the town.

"We strike at dusk and fight all night!" Adat'sokh said.

"We strike at dawn and fight all day!" Wiseks said.

Each man argued their point fiercely, but the arrival of a war party of Ts'ats'aew halted the arguments. Yet the Ts'ats'aew halted when they saw the jade axe and jade club and offered them gifts of jade.

"Your jade is powerful," the Ts'ats'aew war leader said. "The world would prosper in blood and spirit if you were rulers of that town. My force and its two hundred slaves and two hundred reindeer will assist you in bringing about this reality. On land our men will aid you."

After each man thanked the Ts'ats'aew, Adat'sokh and Wiseks went back to disputing over when to descend upon the Ligimiilk.

"We strike at midnight and fight until noon!" Adat'sokh said.

"We strike at noon and fight until midnight!" Wiseks said.

Each man argued their point fiercely, but the arrival of a war party of Wutsdaa halted the arguments.
"Your jade is powerful," the Wutsdaa war leader said. "The world would prosper in blood and spirit if you were rulers of that town. As your kinsmen and their friends, we will assist you in bringing about this reality. At sea our men will aid you."

After each man thanked the Wutsdaa, Adat'sokh and Wiseks went back to disputing over when to descend upon the Ligimiilk. Then Adat'sokh saw an raven flying and Wiseks saw an orca swimming, and each man heard thunderous voices from these animals.

"You trust yourselves and your men, and you trust the spirits of land and water, yet you still argue over this meaningless matter?" the spirits of raven and orca shouted. "You must cease your dispute at once, lest your rule over Ligimiilk be no better than the Hayda!"

"Just by appearing here, victory is already yours," Adat'sokh's axe spoke.

"Just by appearing here, wealth is already yours," Wiseks's club spoke.

"We must ensure balance," each man agreed.

"We attack at midnight under the full moon," Adat'sokh said.

"We retire at dawn as night ends and day begins," Wiseks said.

"We attack at noon under the bright sun," Adat'sokh said.

"We retire at dusk as day ends and night begins," Wiseks said.

"And we repeat this every day until Ligimiilk is in our hands," each man said together.

The chosen men struck at midnight, surprising the Hayda in Ligimiilk, killing many of them at little cost, but they failed to breach the walls. At dawn they fled back into the mountains. At noon, they struck again, killing few Hayda at great cost to them, but breaching the walls. At dusk they fled back into the mountains.

"How will we win when half our men our dead?" Adat'sokh wondered to himself, even as he trusted in the certainty of his victory.

"How will we win when the Hayda remain so thick on the ground?" Wiseks wondered to himself, even as he trusted in the certainty of his victory.

Each man suddenly saw a raven flying in the sky illuminated by moonlight and an orca swimming in the ocean. The raven revealed his true form as the greatest of thunderbirds, and the orca his true form as the greatest of whales [13]. These great spirits clashed, shaking the ground with tremendous fury, yet the orca and raven reassured Adat'sokh and Wiseks.

The sea drained from Ligimiilk as the battle went on and the thunderbird appeared to win. Adat'sokh wanted to strike with his men, but Wiseks held him back. The sea swamped over Ligimiilk as the battle went on and the whale appeared to win. Wiseks wanted to strike with his men, but Adat'sokh held him back. The battle ended soon after with both thunderbird and whale exhausted, and the sea back where it started. The orca and raven appeared again.

"The true battle is over," each spirit said. "Go and claim your destiny."

The chosen men charged down the mountain at midnight under the full moon, arriving in the devastated town. Although much weakened from the battle between thunderbird and whale, the Hayda remained strong on the ground. From midnight until the next midnight, the chosen men clashed with the Hayda as the Hayda fought until their last.

"Victory is ours!" the two men shouted. "Praise the spirits of the land and sea!" Their followers and their allies the Ligimuu, Wutsdaa and Ts'ats'aew joined in their shouts. The surviving people of the town pleged allegiance to Adat'sokh and Wiseks.

Adat'sokh and Wiseks rebuilt the town of Ligimiilk after the fight, burying the dead of the Hayda and the innocents killed in the fight between thunderbird and whale. Yet each man realized the burden they carried now that they ruled the town of Ligimiilk. They renamed the city Lakhalidel [14] to forever remind people the hallowed ground they tread upon. In time, the Ligimuu faded into memory as the descendents and kin of Adat'sokh and Wiseks spread throughout the land, but this memory was never forgotten by the people of Lakhalidel, even in their future of great prosperity.

---
​

The 9th century in Fusania saw much destruction at the hands of both the Coastmen, the seaborne raiders sometimes (somewhat inaccurately) called the "Vikings of Fusania"--and at the hands of nature, in particular two great disasters. The first disaster, a massive megathrust earthquake on the Wakashi subduction zone [15] and subsequent tsunami in the early 9th century, wiped out large segments of the coastline. Few coastal towns were spared from the waves, including Tlat'sap and Katlamat on the Imaru River. These cities rebuilt fairly quickly, but other towns wouldn't be so lucky. The second disaster, the eruption of the volcano Kel't'khe (better known as Kerutsuka after its post-colonial name) [16], poisoned many herds of reindeer while clogging streams and ponds, producing mass famine as the salmon died and with it died the plants eaten by Fusanian peoples. Yet in this era of devastation, a great irony occurred as these Coastmen laid the groundwork for the revival of Fusania through forging new trade links and spreading technological, social, and economic developments to the furthest corners of the land.

The great earthquake at the start of the early 9th century spurred many migrations and conflict due to the great amount of coastal destruction prompting opportunistic migration, including events such as the arrival of the Tsusha people at Lakhalidel. Most of these migrations occurred locally, as with coastal villages wiped out, the amount of whalers--and thus number of killed whales--dropped greatly, sparking a change in the delicate balance between inland reindeer herders and coastal whalers and fishermen as the coastal groups used the scarcity of whale tools to their advantage in obtaining goods from the interior.

Finding the exchange of goods too weighted in favour of the coastal communities, reindeer herdsmen attacked the villages to seize tribute. The ones who struck first became the new rulers of the coastal villages and thus controllers of the trade in whale bone and other goods. However, many whalers and fishermen refused to accept such terms of trade. Some coastal communities banded together into powerful confederations and struck back at the reindeer herding groups. One of these confederations, known as Yutluhitl after its capital, became the nucleus for one of the first and most powerful organised states on Wakashi Island, controlling a significant portion of what became known as Yutluhitl Sound [17].

Other whalers and fishermen simply left. Some joined bands of Coastmen, repurposing their canoes and catamarans into yet more warships, but others went to settle elsewhere, either in villages with fair rulers or in foreign shores. This helped spread knowledge of new shipbuilding skills, such as those prized by the Wakashans, and new techniques such as whaling as men from whaling families married women of other groups, with their children raised in the new culture. In the early 9th century, whaling appeared among Whulchomic groups and the Namal for the first time, and becomes an integral part of the coastal regions. In particularly, this allowed the city of Tlat'sap to rise to even greater prominence. A last group mixed both approaches--leave their homes and find new people to rule over. This latter group targetted the many distinct peoples on the rocky coasts of the Pacific.

This migration accelerated with the eruption of K'el't'khe--a later name for the mountain meaning "Ash Mouth"--in the late 830s. While the worst of the effects appeared mainly in the Far Northwest, climate disruption occurred throughout much of northern Fusania and Wakashi Island. The situation declined in the years following the eruption, as herds of reindeer and other animals suffered illness and mortality from breathing in ash and ashfalls poisoned the streams and ponds relied on fishing and for agriculture. While archaeology can only guess as to the population before and after, it appears the population in some places declined by as much as half judging by the disruption to local economic activity. Faced with starvation and uncertainty, people fled the area and took up the lifestyle of the Coastmen in increasing numbers during the mid-9th century.

While often called the Wakashan Expansion, after the dramatic expansion of Wakashan-speaking peoples (mostly of Atkh stock) down the coast of Fusania, migrations occurred elsewhere as well, such as the aforementioned Tsusha migration to Lakhalidel, once known as Ligiimiilk, or the Ringitsu migration to Keirchaniya. Wakashi Island itself became a target for migration, which helped spur the later, more famous migrations southwards along the coast. Most notably, the Lik'wil'dak record that the people known as the Southern Khaida pushed many of their ancesters southeast from the northern part of Wakashi Island to their current location. These Southern Khaida became feared raiders of the Whulge, and became the group to raze the prominent town of Tlat'sap at the mouth of the Imaru River--for centuries after, a population of Southern Khaida lived in that area.

The Fusanian Coast south of the Imaru River served as the key target of the Wakashan Expansions. The people there developed along the same lines as the Namal and Whulchomic peoples, but due to their isolation along the rugged coast and the mountains immediately interior to it, remained cut off from later developments. Dena groups dominated most of the coastal peoples, who otherwise spoke many distinct languages separated by river valleys, and a system similar to that elsewhere prevailed--fishing peoples along the coast and horticulturalist peoples along the river traded their excess goods and food to the reindeer herders, who held a monopoly on tools. However, this far south the issue of reindeer parasites and other diseases was much more pressing, keeping the region rather poor, yet also rather egalitarian.

The isolated valleys and good fishing and whaling waters drew the Coastmen to the area starting in the middle of the 9th century. Through warfare and more peaceful migration significant parts of the coast became Wakashanised in culture, and eventually in language. The Wakashans claimed many slaves to sell down the Imaru River in their battles against the coastal peoples, who lacked forts as powerful as those along Whulge or the Imaru as well as the experience gained in fighting coastal raids. Towns along the estuaries and river mouths fell to Wakashan invaders, who settled in the area and took up leadership over the local peoples.

Yet despite the destruction of cultures, we see from economic evidence that the Coastmen and the Wakashan Expansion brought new prosperity to much of Fusania. By burning down the old system (with help from nature), the Coastmen inserted themselves into the new system as key traders. They spread their whale tools, eulachon oil, and copper and jade tools to places all over Fusania. Further, the slave trade they helped spread further than ever led to the mixing of cultures in unprecedented ways as habits of slaves rubbed off on their masters. In places where people were displaced by the Coastmen, such as Keirchaniya, these places later became sites of important cities.

Agricultural technology also advanced thanks to the Coastmen, who imported new innovations like the foot plow from the Imaru basin and spread it as far as Ringitania. Domesticated animals like the Indian goat, lynx and domestic duck spread from their points of origin to appear all over Fusania, while new breeds of reindeer emerged. A similar story occurs with crops, as breeds of plants spread all over Fusania thanks to the actions of the Coastmen. In places where agriculture was poorly established, like the Pacific Coast and areas further south, the intrusions of the Coastmen no doubt helped spread new concepts into this part of Fusania.

For the peoples raided by the Coastmen--and the Coastmen themselves--new modes of society emerged to confront the problem. Nobles and especially rulers became increasingly powerful, and hierarchies of these rulers and their towns emerged based on power (economic, military, and spiritual). Councils of nobles--and occasionally commoners--emerged to deal with the challenges of organising and defending against raids, and in many places, the institution of the war chief became a permanent position rather than temporary, and often passed down within the chiefly line. Further, rulers needed to supervise the increasing scale of the agricultural works in their towns and surrounding countryside, and with that task came the equally important task of supervising defenses against raids from the Coastmen or Hillmen. Various modes of oligarchic government emerged to deal with the new challenges in this new era. For the people of the Imaru River and the Coast of Whulge, a critical distinction emerged in their societies--that between civilised peoples (such as the Namal, Aipakhpam, Amim, Whulchomic peoples, etc.) and uncivilised peoples (Hillmen like the Dena, Wakashan peoples, the Far Northwest Coastmen, etc.), as well as the concept of a border between civilised and uncivilised, motifs which played critical roles for the future of Fusania.

---
Author's notes
​

This one is lengthy and had a lot of material I wanted to cover. It took longer than normal to write, and technical difficulties (computer/internet problems messing with my ability to access the online sources I rely on) combined with the busy holiday (4th of July, hooray) delayed this one.

The story of the Tsusha conquering Ligimiilk is an approximation at folk tale stylings. The repetition in the story is an element rooted in an abstraction of the dualistic cosmology of the Tsusha and most northern Fusanians (which will be especially important for their poetry and their music). I'll take "loosely translated" as my out here--given the structure of the languages that many traditional Fusanian stories are challenging to render in English and can be done in many different ways. Just look at the literal English translations of OTL stories from this region which appear in some ethnographic/linguistic works and you can see there's a lot of ways of rendering things. At some point I'll likely do an entry regarding indigenous Fusanian literature, art, and music, but that won't be for a while.

I've always been interested in the past history of astronomical and geologic events in the context of alternate history, simply because how different societies might react to them is very interesting and the fact that to a large degree, they're almost predestined to happen more or less since premodern humans have so little ability to affect them via the butterfly effect (or at least my interpretation). Hence my spin on a megathrust quake in the Cascadia subduction zone which OTL potentially occurred in the early 9th century according to geologists, although there's a significant margin of error. TTL will be able to better date the quake since there will be far more artifacts to interpret earthquake/tsunami damage from.

I had written a second story, about the immediate time before the Mount Churchill eruption which leads to the founding of Keirchaniya (Kechaniya), but I felt this was long enough as it was so I will post that at a later date.

Thanks for reading as always, and comments are appreciated.

[1] - The Inuit are known to have constructed all-wooden crossbows, which are also found in Africa and occasionally as hunting weapons in parts of Europe. The simple design of these crossbows and the conditions of warfare relegates them to defensive uses.
[2] - The Iyaqwan--OTL's Eyak--adopted some of the same cultural and societal innovations as the Ringitsu in previous centuries, but their land was rather poor and they faced continual raids, so many were absorbed. They exist only as an ancestral people conquered by the Ringitsu.
[3] - The Uitsuda are the Heiltsuk, a northern Wakashan people, derived from a Japanese version of their Tsimshian exonym
[4] - These are the Nuxalk, or Bella Coola, people, a Salishan speaking group who traded greatly in jade. "Touyachi" is a Japanese version of their Tlingit exonym, which also refers to various Northern Wakashan speaking peoples
[5] - TTL has totem poles (an improper name for what they are but it's OTL's recognisable name) spread a bit further than OTL and originate earlier thanks to the increased wealth of the region. Like OTL, they have developed common motifs which aid in the interpretation.
[6] - More commonly spelled Lax-Kw'alaams, also known as Port Simpson, BC. The names of these two men mean "alive at night" and "great splash" respectively.
[7] - Same as the Touyachi. Ligimuu is the Tsimshian exonym for the Nuxalk/Bella Coola
[8] - OTL Tsimshian exonym for the town of Bella Coola proper, which OTL was an important Nuxalk village.
[9] - Ts'ats'aew is the Tsimshian exonym for Athabaskan (Dena) people. OTL it gave the name for the Tsetsaut Athabaskans, who are now extinct. Like OTL, this is a generic term for all Dena, meaning "those of the interior", and like IOTL, the Dena are the source of most of the jade traded to the coastal peoples (often in exchange for eulichon oil, an important condiment, along the "grease trails"), of which the Nuxalk were among the most notable recipients so much they had a reputation among some groups for their fine jade. Jade itself wasn't entirely unknown along the coast, it was simply very rare compared to the interior. TTL gives the Dena a rightfully deserved reputation as fine breeders of reindeer.
[10] - For this passage we'll use the OTL Tsimshian exonyms for these groups, who are the Haida (Khaida), Tlingit (Ringitsu), and Heiltsuk/Bella Bella (Uitsuda) respectively
[11] - Once again, "prince" is just a generic term for a ruler of a Fusanian city state, closest in connotation to Germanic "Fürst".
[12] - OTL's "sub-moeities" where the four Tsimishian clans were arranged as such continues in TTL's Tsimshian culture.
[13] - Battles between thunderbirds and whales are a common motif in OTL legends in this region depicting earthquakes and tsunamis.
[14] - "Place of a battlefield"
[15] - TTL's term for the Cascadia subduction zone
[16] - Mount Churchill, it's Tlingit name TTL meaning "Mouth of Ash".
[17] - Barkley Sound. Yutluhitl means "Safe Harbour", and is derived from the ethnonym of the Ucluelet people, a Nuuchahnulth group. Note that Yutluhitl proper is not the same as the OTL town of Ucluelet, it's more inland.