Iroquois as the 14th state?

I don't think there would ever be a literal "Indian state," in the sense that it would be closed off to white settlement yet treated equally to the other U.S. states. There could be a state organized which has a predominantly Native population at the outset, but which quickly experiences an influx of white settlers. Part of being in the Union is having open borders with the other states.
 
I don't think there would ever be a literal "Indian state," in the sense that it would be closed off to white settlement yet treated equally to the other U.S. states. There could be a state organized which has a predominantly Native population at the outset, but which quickly experiences an influx of white settlers. Part of being in the Union is having open borders with the other states.

Yeah, pretty much this.
 
The land isn't the Federal government's to sell. New York, Mass, CT, and PA all have claims on that land owned by the Iroquois. In the 1780s and 1790s the Iroquois would make treaties giving it up.
So, the Iroquois would need to be military allies with the various state militias. And matter-of-factly swing reasonably favorable deals for the land. If this happens with two out of three of these states, you have a beginning.
 
I don't think there would ever be a literal "Indian state," in the sense that it would be closed off to white settlement yet treated equally to the other U.S. states. There could be a state organized which has a predominantly Native population at the outset, but which quickly experiences an influx of white settlers. Part of being in the Union is having open borders with the other states.

Ya. This.

12k Iroquois? vs what, 2.5 million Americans? the influx of white settlers would totally overwhelm the natives very quickly.
 
A state with some level of continuity of government with the Iroquois league could perhaps have existed. The Revolution is at least a half century too late for a POD, though, since every real solution would necessarily include a much larger Iroquois population.

Getting them to 120,000 is impossible, sure, but technically it would solve their problems. Doubling that 12,000 wouldn't help, but it's definitely doable. In between.... It's not impossible.
 
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