How can you maximise First Nation populations without changing the geopolitical territorial borders of Canada and the United States?
How can you maximise First Nation populations without changing the geopolitical territorial borders of Canada and the United States?
How early a POD is allowed? Definitely with a POD before 1800 it would be possible to create some sort of cultural shift which would encourage Native folks (I'm including Métis and Inuit folks here not just First Nations - although if you mean specifically First Nations in the narrow sense the POD would probably be the same) to increase their population density through adopting more sedentary lifestyles and having large families. If the POD is before 1800 you could see a increase of population by a factor of 10 or 20 within 100 years. This is literally what I'm trying to do with my TL: Donnacona's Dream.
However, the drawback to this would be that with a POD before 1800 the chance of having the US and Canada winding up with the same borders as OTL would be nearly 0. To be honest, to have the 'same geopolitical territorial borders', you'd probably need a POD after the 1850s. Again, a cultural shift which favours large family sizes could increase population substantially, but by 1850 you already have large aspects of Native life under the control of the US and Canadian governments, and neither government would have any interest in increasing the Native population. In fact, large aspects of the OTL Native policy in the US and Canada was designed to REDUCE the number of Native people by encouraging assimilation.
However, one easy POD (which is probably not what you want), is to change the modern definition of First Nations to include ANYONE who has at least some Native blood. Doing so would result in about 50% of the population of Western Canada (and slightly lower proportions in Eastern Canada and the USA) now being counted as Native. Maybe a 19th or 20th century cultural movement could come about whereby people have something to gain by claiming Native ancestry, and all the people who OTL hid their Native ancestry instead embrace it... But, I think this is also not what you want....
The POD is indefinite, but must retain Canada's and the USA's geopolitical borders. I assume embracing aboriginal pride might be able to pull off in Canada and the US.
I'm actually wanting to read your TL since it's addressing these issues.![]()