Land of Salmon and Totems 2.0
- Thread starter Malta
- Start date
A Letter of Recognition
Winning their independence from the British the government of the United States was slow to be recognized by the powers of the world, let alone their native continent. Yet, in 1801 the US Congress received recognition from His Majesty, Emperor Tso’lonack, the Raven Emperor of the Mal’llan and Kal’llan, Protector of Ona’llan and Ana’iluco, and Keeper of Balance. The message was translated from the Kal’llan language into English and Dutch-the message itself was relayed through the Dutch embassy-under the Batavian Commonwealth. The message having been given to the Dutch at Shua’tilich and traveled around the southern tip of South America before arriving in the United States.
For their part, the House of Raven and generally the people of Onallan had been aware of the independence of the United States a few years after they achieved it in the 1780s but a lack of direct contact and a strong alliance with the British prevented any initial contact from being given for over a decade. The extension of recognition by Tso’lonack could be seen as the Raven Emperor extending his wings-making it clear to the British that he would not be a puppet. All in all, the gesture itself was mostly symbolic in nature anyway, the two countries occupied the extreme opposites of their shared continent. Contact between the Onallan and the Americans was sparse, mostly coming through the opened sea trade along the coast but word from the hinterlands did reach to them through the North American Native Trade Network of white skinned men pushing westward as hunters and traders.
The wording of the letter described the Onallan Empire extending their recognition to the United States, wishes for peace and prosperity, as well as an understanding of the ‘mutual inviolability’ of their respective lands. Tso’lonack was in a sense warning the Americans to respect his people and their lands, and in mutuality he would do the same for them. The matter of threat the Americans posed was seen as negligible at best, but the recent conflicts with the Europeans had made Tso’lonack realize that nevertheless a line needed to be drawn in the sand when it came to these Europeans or their offshoots.
On the opposite end of the continent the letter of recognition spurred no small amount of interest of Onallan. Here was the far away native, nation on the shores of the Pacific said to be full of riches. It had also beaten off the Spanish. Though, there was also some suspicion especially as word of treaties with the British caused concern among the staunchly anti-British among the Democratic-Republican party. Still, here was a nation of Native Americans who were said to be highly civilized (if not as civilized as good, Christian Europeans) and extremely wealthy. Surely, having the good graces of such a nation would allow the United States to extend their commercial wealth into the fur trade rich waters of the Pacific Northwest-and better yet an ally if they could convince them of the tyranny of the no-good British. Among the Native American tribes within the United States territory interest was also very high, a nation of their people that was not only populous and had resisted encroachment of the Europeans? The old tales of a far-away nation of millions of natives was not just an old fairy tale it seemed. What could they learn from their far-off cousins and could they use them as leverage against the settlers encroaching on their own territory?
Plans were made to extend an embassy, an expedition to meet and establish relations with not only the Onallan but the Confederacy of the Californians. One would go by sea and the other by land, however there were heavy concerns which delayed these expeditions. The heartland of the continent was owned by the Spanish who were still hostile to the peoples of the West Coast thus any overland expedition would be poorly received. Likewise, a sea expedition had its own dangers, the Spanish navy was still a fairly strong presence in the middle Atlantic and would be a threat. So, while the logistics of the expeditions were planned out they were also halted until a time when the Americans could act without angering the Spanish. This opportunity came in 1804 with the Louisiana Purchase.
Winning their independence from the British the government of the United States was slow to be recognized by the powers of the world, let alone their native continent. Yet, in 1801 the US Congress received recognition from His Majesty, Emperor Tso’lonack, the Raven Emperor of the Mal’llan and Kal’llan, Protector of Ona’llan and Ana’iluco, and Keeper of Balance. The message was translated from the Kal’llan language into English and Dutch-the message itself was relayed through the Dutch embassy-under the Batavian Commonwealth. The message having been given to the Dutch at Shua’tilich and traveled around the southern tip of South America before arriving in the United States.
For their part, the House of Raven and generally the people of Onallan had been aware of the independence of the United States a few years after they achieved it in the 1780s but a lack of direct contact and a strong alliance with the British prevented any initial contact from being given for over a decade. The extension of recognition by Tso’lonack could be seen as the Raven Emperor extending his wings-making it clear to the British that he would not be a puppet. All in all, the gesture itself was mostly symbolic in nature anyway, the two countries occupied the extreme opposites of their shared continent. Contact between the Onallan and the Americans was sparse, mostly coming through the opened sea trade along the coast but word from the hinterlands did reach to them through the North American Native Trade Network of white skinned men pushing westward as hunters and traders.
The wording of the letter described the Onallan Empire extending their recognition to the United States, wishes for peace and prosperity, as well as an understanding of the ‘mutual inviolability’ of their respective lands. Tso’lonack was in a sense warning the Americans to respect his people and their lands, and in mutuality he would do the same for them. The matter of threat the Americans posed was seen as negligible at best, but the recent conflicts with the Europeans had made Tso’lonack realize that nevertheless a line needed to be drawn in the sand when it came to these Europeans or their offshoots.
On the opposite end of the continent the letter of recognition spurred no small amount of interest of Onallan. Here was the far away native, nation on the shores of the Pacific said to be full of riches. It had also beaten off the Spanish. Though, there was also some suspicion especially as word of treaties with the British caused concern among the staunchly anti-British among the Democratic-Republican party. Still, here was a nation of Native Americans who were said to be highly civilized (if not as civilized as good, Christian Europeans) and extremely wealthy. Surely, having the good graces of such a nation would allow the United States to extend their commercial wealth into the fur trade rich waters of the Pacific Northwest-and better yet an ally if they could convince them of the tyranny of the no-good British. Among the Native American tribes within the United States territory interest was also very high, a nation of their people that was not only populous and had resisted encroachment of the Europeans? The old tales of a far-away nation of millions of natives was not just an old fairy tale it seemed. What could they learn from their far-off cousins and could they use them as leverage against the settlers encroaching on their own territory?
Plans were made to extend an embassy, an expedition to meet and establish relations with not only the Onallan but the Confederacy of the Californians. One would go by sea and the other by land, however there were heavy concerns which delayed these expeditions. The heartland of the continent was owned by the Spanish who were still hostile to the peoples of the West Coast thus any overland expedition would be poorly received. Likewise, a sea expedition had its own dangers, the Spanish navy was still a fairly strong presence in the middle Atlantic and would be a threat. So, while the logistics of the expeditions were planned out they were also halted until a time when the Americans could act without angering the Spanish. This opportunity came in 1804 with the Louisiana Purchase.
This is somewhat after Lewis & Clark, but I'd be interested in seeing how Manifest Destiny plays a part in Onallan and the CC. The word itself hasn't been coined yet but the concept had been forming since the first American colonies.
How intense is the trade relationship between Europeans and Onallan? It's been a while since I read this. How much European social and material culture is making inroads into these regions?
Will we see the U.S attempt to subjugate the rest of California? I mean it seems they already have the south.
Settling the Snake River Part 1: Onallan Conquest
Through the 1850s most travel by Europeans to Onallan was by sea, as the vast and largely un-mapped regions of North America made travel difficult for transfer of large amounts of goods to and from the empire by overland routes. Though as the decades wound on more and more travelers, mostly fur trappers, would come into contact with the eastern sentries of the Onallan. The general impression though was not lost that the White man was cutting their way westward which was concerning for the future of the Onallan peoples. Especially further south, as the Confederacy annexed large portions of the New Mexico territory and began bringing order to the various tribes they encountered Spanish and Mexican settlers that did not recognize their authority and rose up in armed insurrection. Raven Emperor Tuluth’Sumac not to be outdone by the Californians and on advisal from his council (which included the Famous British diplomat Sir Walter Dormer) Sumac began the process of creating what would be a buffer for his people.
His father Xuniiie’Tuluth had following the American purchase of the Louisiana Territory (and again prompt of Sir Dormer) by 1810 negotiated an official boundary between the Onallan Empire and the American Republic, putting it around the 110-degree longitude point, generally “granting” the Americans the bottom of the eastern slopes of the Rockies. Most of the area was arid and mountainous, but there was one significant river running through a good portion of the territory, known as the “Snake” river by most Europeans it is called by the Onallan the “Ne’ind’an” or “Water of the Ne”, the Sohsooni and Nimi’ipuu people who lived along the banks of the river usually called it the “Kiimonim” river after a type of herb that grows along the banks.
To the Onallan the Sohsooni and Nimi’ipuu were “Ne” barbarian people so in their texts their version of the name usually won out but due to the journals of Merriweather Clark the “Snake Indian” river has largely won outside of Onallan.
Similar to the Californians the pre-Columbian people of the Snake River were influenced by the Totem Potato of the Kal’llan. Due to the arid nature of the area surrounding the Snake River however the plant was grown in small areas leading to few and small urban centers developing, eventually a variety of the Totem was developed to become marginally better suited for the arid region but even still its cultivation was not comparable to their western neighbors. A series of small city-states developed along the Snake River, splitting the “River Sohsooni” and the “Desert Sohsooni”, when the Kal’llan Empire expanded east of the Cascades and settled the Columbian Plateau making tributaries of the Nimi’ipuu who lived close to the area some thought the Snake river area was the next to be incorporated by the coming of the Little Ice Age and the Falling Sun Epoch dashed that course. However, the Snake river city-states would eventually be felled by the introduction of Smallpox and such diseases introduced by European contact the majority becoming abandoned following 1589 and the region struggled for the next two hundred years to recover from it.
This was known to Sumac and in this case the Europeans had provided an answer, namely in the form of Andean Potatoes and Wheat. Unlike the fairly wet dependent varieties of the Totem Potato these new plants introduced by the Europeans (one of which was amusingly a transplant from further down the Pacific Coast) were much, much more resistant to conditions of drought and could be grown in large amounts in arid regions with less complex forms of irrigation. His father had already tested implementation of the plants in the Yakima area to success (despite misgivings among the locals) and now Sumac was prepared to do the same along the Snake River, earning himself the title of the “Planter King” among the locals.
The late 1820s were spent incorporating the region into direct rule. An army under the newly invested District Chief Xuulu’Tahwani of the Snake River District left from Onallan proper with a force of some few thousand soldiers and settlers, portaging down the Columbia river and crossing through the Nimi’ipuu lands to begin the campaign. Tahwani was part of an old stock Mal’llan family that had been clan elders and landowners around the Malingish Sound since the first years of the Raven Emperors, the honor of being the Emperor’s commanding voice over one of the largest districts of the Empire was a great honor. Getting supplies from the Nimi’ipuu city-states and tribes that already were incorporated into the Onallan network of vassals he negotiated the tributary status of the remaining Nimi’ipuu in the area before moving southwest into the Snake River proper. In lieu of sending their taxes directly to Onallan they would instead send them to Tahwani’s expedition at a somewhat reduced amount.
Traveling south along the Snake River he incorporated his first headquarters at the site of what would be the future Shua'Tseilu the City of Three Walls (Ontario, Oregon). Using this site as his staging ground Tahwani began a multi-year campaign of expanding and enforcing Onallan rule down the length of the river, alternating between tactics of negotiation and brutally crushing resistance among the Sohsooni. He quickly gained the allegiance of the River Sohsooni but bringing the full number of the Desert Sohsooni into compliance faced a few notable issues. Primarily, the length of the Snake River and surrounding arid and desert areas had been vastly underestimated by Tahwani and court officials in Shua’leama, the territory they wished to govern was much larger than anticipated. With their mastery over the river itself the Onallan could handily control the entire river’s course but there was not enough Onallan interested in settling the area. Even giving land allotments to his soldiers the Onallan Tahwani attracted to the area were largely only interested in settling along the lower reaches of the Payette and Boise rivers. Even the Sohsooni population was too small in number to cover and exploit the full extent of the territory the Onallan had laid claim to.
More settlers were needed. The answer to this problem would come from the Americans.
His father Xuniiie’Tuluth had following the American purchase of the Louisiana Territory (and again prompt of Sir Dormer) by 1810 negotiated an official boundary between the Onallan Empire and the American Republic, putting it around the 110-degree longitude point, generally “granting” the Americans the bottom of the eastern slopes of the Rockies. Most of the area was arid and mountainous, but there was one significant river running through a good portion of the territory, known as the “Snake” river by most Europeans it is called by the Onallan the “Ne’ind’an” or “Water of the Ne”, the Sohsooni and Nimi’ipuu people who lived along the banks of the river usually called it the “Kiimonim” river after a type of herb that grows along the banks.
To the Onallan the Sohsooni and Nimi’ipuu were “Ne” barbarian people so in their texts their version of the name usually won out but due to the journals of Merriweather Clark the “Snake Indian” river has largely won outside of Onallan.
Similar to the Californians the pre-Columbian people of the Snake River were influenced by the Totem Potato of the Kal’llan. Due to the arid nature of the area surrounding the Snake River however the plant was grown in small areas leading to few and small urban centers developing, eventually a variety of the Totem was developed to become marginally better suited for the arid region but even still its cultivation was not comparable to their western neighbors. A series of small city-states developed along the Snake River, splitting the “River Sohsooni” and the “Desert Sohsooni”, when the Kal’llan Empire expanded east of the Cascades and settled the Columbian Plateau making tributaries of the Nimi’ipuu who lived close to the area some thought the Snake river area was the next to be incorporated by the coming of the Little Ice Age and the Falling Sun Epoch dashed that course. However, the Snake river city-states would eventually be felled by the introduction of Smallpox and such diseases introduced by European contact the majority becoming abandoned following 1589 and the region struggled for the next two hundred years to recover from it.
This was known to Sumac and in this case the Europeans had provided an answer, namely in the form of Andean Potatoes and Wheat. Unlike the fairly wet dependent varieties of the Totem Potato these new plants introduced by the Europeans (one of which was amusingly a transplant from further down the Pacific Coast) were much, much more resistant to conditions of drought and could be grown in large amounts in arid regions with less complex forms of irrigation. His father had already tested implementation of the plants in the Yakima area to success (despite misgivings among the locals) and now Sumac was prepared to do the same along the Snake River, earning himself the title of the “Planter King” among the locals.
The late 1820s were spent incorporating the region into direct rule. An army under the newly invested District Chief Xuulu’Tahwani of the Snake River District left from Onallan proper with a force of some few thousand soldiers and settlers, portaging down the Columbia river and crossing through the Nimi’ipuu lands to begin the campaign. Tahwani was part of an old stock Mal’llan family that had been clan elders and landowners around the Malingish Sound since the first years of the Raven Emperors, the honor of being the Emperor’s commanding voice over one of the largest districts of the Empire was a great honor. Getting supplies from the Nimi’ipuu city-states and tribes that already were incorporated into the Onallan network of vassals he negotiated the tributary status of the remaining Nimi’ipuu in the area before moving southwest into the Snake River proper. In lieu of sending their taxes directly to Onallan they would instead send them to Tahwani’s expedition at a somewhat reduced amount.
Traveling south along the Snake River he incorporated his first headquarters at the site of what would be the future Shua'Tseilu the City of Three Walls (Ontario, Oregon). Using this site as his staging ground Tahwani began a multi-year campaign of expanding and enforcing Onallan rule down the length of the river, alternating between tactics of negotiation and brutally crushing resistance among the Sohsooni. He quickly gained the allegiance of the River Sohsooni but bringing the full number of the Desert Sohsooni into compliance faced a few notable issues. Primarily, the length of the Snake River and surrounding arid and desert areas had been vastly underestimated by Tahwani and court officials in Shua’leama, the territory they wished to govern was much larger than anticipated. With their mastery over the river itself the Onallan could handily control the entire river’s course but there was not enough Onallan interested in settling the area. Even giving land allotments to his soldiers the Onallan Tahwani attracted to the area were largely only interested in settling along the lower reaches of the Payette and Boise rivers. Even the Sohsooni population was too small in number to cover and exploit the full extent of the territory the Onallan had laid claim to.
More settlers were needed. The answer to this problem would come from the Americans.
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I hope he means other Native Americans and not actual Americans. Look at what happened to Texas when Mexico allowed Anglo settlers to arrived, they lost a large chunk of their state. America's going through that rabid Manifest Destiny stage, best not to tempt the Americans with free land.
Settling the Snake River Part 2: Blue Hare's Delegation
The Legacy of the so called “Indian Removal” policies of the United States government is often cited as part of a cycle of growth and greed. As the freed former colonists moved from the shores of the Atlantic, they looked inward toward the heart of North America, but standing in their way were dozens of Native American tribes, so that had lived in their lands for thousands of years and others that had migrated within the last few hundred years due to being kicked out by the ancestors of the Americans. These tribes were defeated, their sovereignty stripped from them and either assimilated into the country or were forced westward-into the arms of the Onallan Empire and the California Confederacy.
There is a distinct pattern though when comparing the campaigns of the Ohio Wars for control of the land of the Ohio Valley in the North and the Black Belt (named for the rich soil) Wars for control over what would become the Deep South. The Ohio Valley’s pattern of settlement was heavily influenced by immigrant settlers from beyond the original 13 colonies, with in particular German and Irish immigrants alongside those American ones from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. These immigrants left a legacy of small farms and pietism that would see the region tied economically to the industrialized north of the country. In contrast however, the motivations of the advance through the Black Belt was more politically motivated by the planation elite of the southern states, forebearers of the Bahamian style of mass-slavery. Large tracts of land were claimed by plantation families leading to the dastardly importation of African slaves. There was an impact eventually on the Five Civilized Nations of the American Southeast as those villages that were less isolated and had European blood would eventually take on aspects of Southern culture and economy, namely buying slaves and taking slaves themselves. In the Matrilineal cultures of these tribes the children of many slaves raped or prostituted by their owners inherited the status of slave themselves.
All of this was unknown to the Raven Emperor, Clan Elders, District Chiefs and so forth of the Onallan (be they Kal’llan, Mal’llan, or Ne peoples).
It was in the summer of 1826 when Tahwani received a visit from several curious visitors. They had been walked up to one of the Onallan forts on the upper course of the river and had asked-in English- to speak with their chieftain of authority. Receiving the visitors Tahwani realized that his visitors had a shade of skin and look not too dissimilar than his own-they were also Natives. However, his visitors dressed in a curious fashion-many had buckskin clothing not too dissimilar to his own but they wore jackets made of sheep wool-commodities that were only circulating among the landed chiefs- and they also wore clothing made of cotton but their style was much different as they wore them as plain white shirts. They did not wear an Auno hat made of otter fur like himself and lacked a Hadiki kilt made from leather and goat wool. Tahwani had embraided into his clothing raven feathers, to mark his belonging to the Raven clan.
Their leader stepped forward and in English introduced himself as Blue Hare, otherwise known as John Blue Hare to the white men. He introduced his tribe as what the white men referred to as “Shawnee” and said he represented some 400 people from Shawnee, Miami, Mingo, and Delaware who wished to re-locate to be under Onallan protection.
Blue Hare related to Tahwani the story of his people, how they had once lived much farther eastward than their current camps along the Missouri river. They had been forced westward from the Appalachian mountains into the Ohio Valley and steadily been pushed further and further westward by the English colonists, the Americans and rival tribes. He related the Northwest War fought just a little over a decade ago that had seen many of their people pushed further westward (excepting those who could prove they owned land or otherwise assimilated into the fold of the settlers). How once again now Federal officials from the United States were putting pressure again to move the Shawnee of his band, other bands and their allies to move once again. He spoke of some of his people looking to move south into Mexican Tejas but with the Comanchero taking on the Mexicans, Californians, and even the Americans who entered the area the prospect of bloodshed was discouraging. So, he and his fellows had decided to seek help from the Raven Emperor, for their people were tired of moving and wanted to find a place where they could be protected. They had traveled westward along the Missouri river, following routes taken by the Lewis and Clarke expedition and had negotiated guides from tribes they had met along the way.
Tahwani was sympathetic to Blue Hare and his people, but also realized that perhaps this was also a solution to his own problems. He had thus far struggled to populate the upper reaches of the Snake river, but perhaps Blue Hare’s band-as well as other immigrants being chased westward could help with that. Tahwani sent word westward to Shua’leama and sat down with Blue Hare to negotiate the immigration of his people to the Snake River. Blue Hare had not known that the Onallan were trying to settle the Snake River which would become something of a happy accident, but he was skeptical of having his band resettle along the river as it was much more arid than they were used to. The two parties traveled to the Twin Falls area and after back and forth agreement the two sides came to an agreement. Blue Hare’s band would be granted the territory in Twin Falls to resettle his people where they would take up a mostly agricultural role, growing wheat and Andean potatoes. The area had at one point hosted a River Sohsooni settlement but had collapsed with the introduction of Smallpox. They would recognize the authority of the Raven Emperor in exchange for their tribal sovereignty being incorporated. Tahwani would provide supplies and begin working on a settlement to be made ready for the immigrants once they arrived.
Blue Hare and his delegation returned eastward to his band of would-be-migrants and announced the terms of their migration into Onallan territory. In 1827 they announced to American Federal authorities they would sell their land to them but instead of accepting land in their would be “Indian Territory” they would instead migrate to the Onallan Empire. This news electrified not just Americans but also other Natives dispersed across the United States. The Americans for their part welcomed the news, as it would avoid bloodshed but opened new possibilities. Among the Natives though the prospect was much more mixed. Some turned their attention toward Blue Hare’s band and were curious to see if it was a success. If so they would possibly follow in their footsteps, this coming from the bands and tribes that preached peace and nonviolence with the Settlers. Among the less peace inclined however they accused Blue Hare of putting the rest of them in jeopardy and labeled them as cowards. Among the Five Civilized Tribes the response was more along the lines of the latter, but rather being because they wanted to resist with force of arms they were concerned it would see them removed all the same.
Their concerns became almost prophetic when in 1833 President Wyatt Berkshire signed the “Indian Relocation Act”.
The Shawnee, Miami, Mingo, and Delaware under Blue Hare left their lands in 1828 and traveled westward to the Snake River along the course they lost around 20 settlers from a combination of the travel, old age, and disease but the majority survived thanks to the organized efforts made by the band. Arriving at the site of Twin Falls they were greeted by a small, walled township that had not been there the previous year. Tahwani had kept his end of the agreement using engineers from his army to construct a settlement for the immigrants in part from a previous Onallan fort that had covered the entrance to the Snake River canyon. Settling into the area was not easy, unfamiliar with the terrain they stumbled dividing the land between tribes and families. They did come into conflict with the Desert Sohsooni who in once instance kidnapped a Miami family but were brought to heel by a show of force by Tahwani which lead to their return. The Desert Sohsooni around the area complained of being forced off of their traditional lands and being made to starve by Tahwani and his forced. The Twin Falls nation as Blue Hare’s band were gradually calling themselves provided a form of help to the Desert Sohsooni, they introduced an animal they had acquired from the white men: Sheep. They could be milked and were tasty to eat, but they also produced the sheep wool which they had bred to be superior to the Bighorner variety. The Desert Sohsooni accepted the peace offering from the Twin Falls nation and in time would see them prosper.
Blue Hare’s success eventually spread back across the Rockies to the other bands of the Shawnee and their allies. Those who saw the writing on the wall sent delegations to Onallan and began negotiations with the American government to sell their land for compensation. This made worse the tension between those who decided to move and those who wished to keep their lands. Among the most adamant against relocation were among the Five Nations who sent delegations to Washington D.C. to get formal recognition for their sovereignty of their lands and prevent further land grabs by settlers. However, the election of President Wyatt Berkshire in 1828 was not seen as favorable toward their efforts, and eventually culminated in the Choctaw Nation, one of the Five Nations, announcing that they would begin negotiation with the Onallan and American governments for resettlement. Not long after this the Indian Relocation Act, a motion that would mandate the nullification of the sovereignty of the Native nations within their borders and authorize the negotiation with the Californian and Onallan governments to see their removal, was put into law.
There is a distinct pattern though when comparing the campaigns of the Ohio Wars for control of the land of the Ohio Valley in the North and the Black Belt (named for the rich soil) Wars for control over what would become the Deep South. The Ohio Valley’s pattern of settlement was heavily influenced by immigrant settlers from beyond the original 13 colonies, with in particular German and Irish immigrants alongside those American ones from the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions. These immigrants left a legacy of small farms and pietism that would see the region tied economically to the industrialized north of the country. In contrast however, the motivations of the advance through the Black Belt was more politically motivated by the planation elite of the southern states, forebearers of the Bahamian style of mass-slavery. Large tracts of land were claimed by plantation families leading to the dastardly importation of African slaves. There was an impact eventually on the Five Civilized Nations of the American Southeast as those villages that were less isolated and had European blood would eventually take on aspects of Southern culture and economy, namely buying slaves and taking slaves themselves. In the Matrilineal cultures of these tribes the children of many slaves raped or prostituted by their owners inherited the status of slave themselves.
All of this was unknown to the Raven Emperor, Clan Elders, District Chiefs and so forth of the Onallan (be they Kal’llan, Mal’llan, or Ne peoples).
It was in the summer of 1826 when Tahwani received a visit from several curious visitors. They had been walked up to one of the Onallan forts on the upper course of the river and had asked-in English- to speak with their chieftain of authority. Receiving the visitors Tahwani realized that his visitors had a shade of skin and look not too dissimilar than his own-they were also Natives. However, his visitors dressed in a curious fashion-many had buckskin clothing not too dissimilar to his own but they wore jackets made of sheep wool-commodities that were only circulating among the landed chiefs- and they also wore clothing made of cotton but their style was much different as they wore them as plain white shirts. They did not wear an Auno hat made of otter fur like himself and lacked a Hadiki kilt made from leather and goat wool. Tahwani had embraided into his clothing raven feathers, to mark his belonging to the Raven clan.
Their leader stepped forward and in English introduced himself as Blue Hare, otherwise known as John Blue Hare to the white men. He introduced his tribe as what the white men referred to as “Shawnee” and said he represented some 400 people from Shawnee, Miami, Mingo, and Delaware who wished to re-locate to be under Onallan protection.
Blue Hare related to Tahwani the story of his people, how they had once lived much farther eastward than their current camps along the Missouri river. They had been forced westward from the Appalachian mountains into the Ohio Valley and steadily been pushed further and further westward by the English colonists, the Americans and rival tribes. He related the Northwest War fought just a little over a decade ago that had seen many of their people pushed further westward (excepting those who could prove they owned land or otherwise assimilated into the fold of the settlers). How once again now Federal officials from the United States were putting pressure again to move the Shawnee of his band, other bands and their allies to move once again. He spoke of some of his people looking to move south into Mexican Tejas but with the Comanchero taking on the Mexicans, Californians, and even the Americans who entered the area the prospect of bloodshed was discouraging. So, he and his fellows had decided to seek help from the Raven Emperor, for their people were tired of moving and wanted to find a place where they could be protected. They had traveled westward along the Missouri river, following routes taken by the Lewis and Clarke expedition and had negotiated guides from tribes they had met along the way.
Tahwani was sympathetic to Blue Hare and his people, but also realized that perhaps this was also a solution to his own problems. He had thus far struggled to populate the upper reaches of the Snake river, but perhaps Blue Hare’s band-as well as other immigrants being chased westward could help with that. Tahwani sent word westward to Shua’leama and sat down with Blue Hare to negotiate the immigration of his people to the Snake River. Blue Hare had not known that the Onallan were trying to settle the Snake River which would become something of a happy accident, but he was skeptical of having his band resettle along the river as it was much more arid than they were used to. The two parties traveled to the Twin Falls area and after back and forth agreement the two sides came to an agreement. Blue Hare’s band would be granted the territory in Twin Falls to resettle his people where they would take up a mostly agricultural role, growing wheat and Andean potatoes. The area had at one point hosted a River Sohsooni settlement but had collapsed with the introduction of Smallpox. They would recognize the authority of the Raven Emperor in exchange for their tribal sovereignty being incorporated. Tahwani would provide supplies and begin working on a settlement to be made ready for the immigrants once they arrived.
Blue Hare and his delegation returned eastward to his band of would-be-migrants and announced the terms of their migration into Onallan territory. In 1827 they announced to American Federal authorities they would sell their land to them but instead of accepting land in their would be “Indian Territory” they would instead migrate to the Onallan Empire. This news electrified not just Americans but also other Natives dispersed across the United States. The Americans for their part welcomed the news, as it would avoid bloodshed but opened new possibilities. Among the Natives though the prospect was much more mixed. Some turned their attention toward Blue Hare’s band and were curious to see if it was a success. If so they would possibly follow in their footsteps, this coming from the bands and tribes that preached peace and nonviolence with the Settlers. Among the less peace inclined however they accused Blue Hare of putting the rest of them in jeopardy and labeled them as cowards. Among the Five Civilized Tribes the response was more along the lines of the latter, but rather being because they wanted to resist with force of arms they were concerned it would see them removed all the same.
Their concerns became almost prophetic when in 1833 President Wyatt Berkshire signed the “Indian Relocation Act”.
The Shawnee, Miami, Mingo, and Delaware under Blue Hare left their lands in 1828 and traveled westward to the Snake River along the course they lost around 20 settlers from a combination of the travel, old age, and disease but the majority survived thanks to the organized efforts made by the band. Arriving at the site of Twin Falls they were greeted by a small, walled township that had not been there the previous year. Tahwani had kept his end of the agreement using engineers from his army to construct a settlement for the immigrants in part from a previous Onallan fort that had covered the entrance to the Snake River canyon. Settling into the area was not easy, unfamiliar with the terrain they stumbled dividing the land between tribes and families. They did come into conflict with the Desert Sohsooni who in once instance kidnapped a Miami family but were brought to heel by a show of force by Tahwani which lead to their return. The Desert Sohsooni around the area complained of being forced off of their traditional lands and being made to starve by Tahwani and his forced. The Twin Falls nation as Blue Hare’s band were gradually calling themselves provided a form of help to the Desert Sohsooni, they introduced an animal they had acquired from the white men: Sheep. They could be milked and were tasty to eat, but they also produced the sheep wool which they had bred to be superior to the Bighorner variety. The Desert Sohsooni accepted the peace offering from the Twin Falls nation and in time would see them prosper.
Blue Hare’s success eventually spread back across the Rockies to the other bands of the Shawnee and their allies. Those who saw the writing on the wall sent delegations to Onallan and began negotiations with the American government to sell their land for compensation. This made worse the tension between those who decided to move and those who wished to keep their lands. Among the most adamant against relocation were among the Five Nations who sent delegations to Washington D.C. to get formal recognition for their sovereignty of their lands and prevent further land grabs by settlers. However, the election of President Wyatt Berkshire in 1828 was not seen as favorable toward their efforts, and eventually culminated in the Choctaw Nation, one of the Five Nations, announcing that they would begin negotiation with the Onallan and American governments for resettlement. Not long after this the Indian Relocation Act, a motion that would mandate the nullification of the sovereignty of the Native nations within their borders and authorize the negotiation with the Californian and Onallan governments to see their removal, was put into law.
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Dang, even though more tribes were able to avoid casualties, it's still kind of disheartening seeing the Native's now being forced to relocate to Onellian land, whether they want to or not.
Now that sheep has been introduced to the Pacific Southwest, how about cattle ranching?
Now that sheep has been introduced to the Pacific Southwest, how about cattle ranching?
True, I just want to take a moment to day fuck Andrew Jackson for doing the whole forced removal. Hopefully these refugees will be able to make their stories known and spread.
Still, these new wave of refugees will be a boom to Onellian society. They'll bring new technology, tools, etc.
Although things would probably turn alright. I wonder if the religious differences between the Onellian and the new arrivals won't cause friction and eventually rebellion due to in this time period faith itself was a very powerful force and they are under the sovereignty of a "pagan" king. Not now of course but later down the line.
Of course if this was later on, religion might play a big role. The thing is if I remember correctly, many indigenous tribes in the Great Plains were followers of their indigenous faith, while those near the east coast were split between old faith and syncretized Native Christianity. Of course these arrivals might feel alienated being under a paganisitic ruler, the alternative would be death marches to shitty land. They're might be conflict between Native Chrisitian pastors and Onellian priests, expect the pastors to be enjoying a trip up to Alaska ala Stalin style.
Shua’Leama: From the Journals of American Explorers
Shua’Leama: From the Journals of American Explorers
Perhaps shortly after their return to the United States the journals of Clark, Lewis, and Washburn became some of the most widely read literature in the United States. Their descriptions of the Onallan people, their cities, and culture became avidly read.
Washburn’s passages about Shua’leama described a “Venice of the Americas”.
“Upon coming upon the capital of the Indian Empire we were treated to a sight one could scarcely think lay on the same savage continent of our birth. A city made of islands of stone and wood straddling the course of two mighty rivers rose up before me as our barge traveled down the Ohleetellian [O’lietallan] River and their Ohahllian [Ona’llan] River. For our entire course traveling the river from the sea we had seen great pillars of stone but this we did not expect! Truly they were a civilization akin to the people of Mexico before Cortes’ invasion or even the Egyptians of the Old World.”
Washburn and Clark in their journals noted many stone pillars of various sizes that dotted the course of the rivers they traveled once reaching Onallan proper. Some had been laid over a thousand years ago, but many were placed within the last five hundred years, as the course of the rivers shifted some of the more ancient pillars sank so that only portions of them could be seen while others were delibertly removed over time. The Kal’llan pillar sculpting tradition had continued since ancient times, these pillars marking the boundaries of settlements, others were placed by past Emperors extoling their achievements, some were religious monuments to the gods, while others were funerary pyres. It would only be with the arrival of Lord Dormer that the intricacies of Onallan culture would be unraveled but perhaps it was the mystery of these edifices that alighted the curiosity of Americans and Europeans.
“We saw many hundreds of stone and wooden islands as we sailed into the city. Our guide, Utomoni [Youtoom’kne] described as he could in his bastard English what we saw before our eyes”
In the thousands of years, the Kal’llan had lived in Shua’leama they had slowly perfected the art of making their riverside dwelling inhabitable. Shua’leama’s first incarnation was a village of wooden stockades between the rivers but overtime developed into an archipelago as the Kal’llan first developed unique irrigation for their crops which first split up sections of the small peninsula the city originally sat upon. First, they used dirt and rocks to build their mound islands but again these developed into new forms as stone and wood were mastered but also as the course of the rivers changed. Shua’leama was very comparable to Tenochtitlan in Mexico before Lake Texcoco dried up as much of the city’s lay out was built on stone or in poorer sections wooden stilts.
“We saw what looked like locks on a canal control the entrance to the city and also protect it from the rushing current of the Ohahllian river itself. Then giant women made of stone…”
The giant women would have been the statues of Ona’llan, slabs of rock carved into the likeness of the river goddess and made to stand like the Totem Potatoes the Onallan grew and harvested, a monument to the river’s fertility but also rebirth arising from the river to begin life anew. They would be found all along the course of the Ona’llan river but were very abundantly placed in the entrance to Shua’leama which was itself a man-made lake, that way visitors would first pay respects to the river goddess before reaching the city proper.
“From the Stone Women Lake we sailed into a canal, one of many, its sides buttressed and piled with stone masonry buildings of many likes. Some were manors while others were shops or guard posts. The river traffic was filled with Indian bargemen ferrying goods and people here and there. Above us still there were more people that crossed stone bridges that crisscrossed the canal ways.”
The city was cut into over forty man-made islands of varying sizes and purposes. Some were big enough to fit a street and a few buildings while others stretched for several blocks. They were divided into several districts, the largest and most notable were the Royal District which houses the Emperor and his palace, the Temple District which honored Ona’llan and the gods, and the Governing District which housed the government offices. Between these were smaller districts, some were just for housing while others held market places. Areas for growing food or housing the city’s guard. While water travel was a major way for getting goods in and out of the city many used the city’s network of stone bridges, the city’s namesake was “The City of Bridges” after all.
As mentioned before the various districts were built on different foundations, the oldest and largest were built on solid stone that rose high above the river’s headwaters. While other sections were built on a combination of wooden poles, dirt and rocks. Virtually every part of the city was vulnerable to the rise of the rivers and their waters, so the Onallan had become expert engineers in preventing their city from being flooded. Certain sections of the city had inbuilt dams and canal locks which controlled the flow of water through many sections of the city. They had also developed man powered pumps for sending out excess water. They also had just become extremely good at raising the level of their structures as needed, the Royal Palace itself was built on top of at least one former incarnation of itself.
Clark, Lewis, and Washburn would eventually meet with several of the government caste officials of the Royal Family who delegated the negotiations with the Americans to the Raven Emperor. There was very much a fear that the Americans could potentially have smallpox or another disease, so the two parties sat in completely different rooms through the entire negotiation process.
“They were bedecked in animal furs sewn in curious ways. Most wore distinctive hats which looked much like a conch shell. You could tell the importance of their leaders by the number of bird feathers sewn into the hems of their hats. Around their necks and wrists, they wore amulets of gold and silver, but it was not this they prized the most. Always the feathers. From their shoulders they wore ponchos of cotton, leather and fur and on their waists again many worse short skirts or kilts much like the Scottish Highlanders of the British. Curiously men and women dressed the same, it was at times confusing to tell the sex of those we spoke with.”
The Americans did not gleam too closely into the gender norms of the Onallan but they would have no doubt been shocked to learn that many roles were shared by men and women similarly. As well as the status of Trans genders. Again, we see the air of mystery and wonder about the Onallan people intrigued the Americans, which would eventually be shared on the East Coast.
The opening of relations with the Americans would see traders Shua’tilich (Astoria) but unlike the explorers they would be confined as much as possible to the City of Stilts. However, with American, British, Mexican, and Russian traders entering the region importance of Shua’tilich as the main receiving center would shift northward to the Malingish Sound. Here illegal trade and smuggling would go on between the various tribes and communities of the area before eventually the government stepped in to designate a new trading center to control the flow of goods coming and going. It was also seen as some as a sign of concern in particular about growing Russian presence in the Pacific Northwest.
Perhaps shortly after their return to the United States the journals of Clark, Lewis, and Washburn became some of the most widely read literature in the United States. Their descriptions of the Onallan people, their cities, and culture became avidly read.
Washburn’s passages about Shua’leama described a “Venice of the Americas”.
“Upon coming upon the capital of the Indian Empire we were treated to a sight one could scarcely think lay on the same savage continent of our birth. A city made of islands of stone and wood straddling the course of two mighty rivers rose up before me as our barge traveled down the Ohleetellian [O’lietallan] River and their Ohahllian [Ona’llan] River. For our entire course traveling the river from the sea we had seen great pillars of stone but this we did not expect! Truly they were a civilization akin to the people of Mexico before Cortes’ invasion or even the Egyptians of the Old World.”
Washburn and Clark in their journals noted many stone pillars of various sizes that dotted the course of the rivers they traveled once reaching Onallan proper. Some had been laid over a thousand years ago, but many were placed within the last five hundred years, as the course of the rivers shifted some of the more ancient pillars sank so that only portions of them could be seen while others were delibertly removed over time. The Kal’llan pillar sculpting tradition had continued since ancient times, these pillars marking the boundaries of settlements, others were placed by past Emperors extoling their achievements, some were religious monuments to the gods, while others were funerary pyres. It would only be with the arrival of Lord Dormer that the intricacies of Onallan culture would be unraveled but perhaps it was the mystery of these edifices that alighted the curiosity of Americans and Europeans.
“We saw many hundreds of stone and wooden islands as we sailed into the city. Our guide, Utomoni [Youtoom’kne] described as he could in his bastard English what we saw before our eyes”
In the thousands of years, the Kal’llan had lived in Shua’leama they had slowly perfected the art of making their riverside dwelling inhabitable. Shua’leama’s first incarnation was a village of wooden stockades between the rivers but overtime developed into an archipelago as the Kal’llan first developed unique irrigation for their crops which first split up sections of the small peninsula the city originally sat upon. First, they used dirt and rocks to build their mound islands but again these developed into new forms as stone and wood were mastered but also as the course of the rivers changed. Shua’leama was very comparable to Tenochtitlan in Mexico before Lake Texcoco dried up as much of the city’s lay out was built on stone or in poorer sections wooden stilts.
“We saw what looked like locks on a canal control the entrance to the city and also protect it from the rushing current of the Ohahllian river itself. Then giant women made of stone…”
The giant women would have been the statues of Ona’llan, slabs of rock carved into the likeness of the river goddess and made to stand like the Totem Potatoes the Onallan grew and harvested, a monument to the river’s fertility but also rebirth arising from the river to begin life anew. They would be found all along the course of the Ona’llan river but were very abundantly placed in the entrance to Shua’leama which was itself a man-made lake, that way visitors would first pay respects to the river goddess before reaching the city proper.
“From the Stone Women Lake we sailed into a canal, one of many, its sides buttressed and piled with stone masonry buildings of many likes. Some were manors while others were shops or guard posts. The river traffic was filled with Indian bargemen ferrying goods and people here and there. Above us still there were more people that crossed stone bridges that crisscrossed the canal ways.”
The city was cut into over forty man-made islands of varying sizes and purposes. Some were big enough to fit a street and a few buildings while others stretched for several blocks. They were divided into several districts, the largest and most notable were the Royal District which houses the Emperor and his palace, the Temple District which honored Ona’llan and the gods, and the Governing District which housed the government offices. Between these were smaller districts, some were just for housing while others held market places. Areas for growing food or housing the city’s guard. While water travel was a major way for getting goods in and out of the city many used the city’s network of stone bridges, the city’s namesake was “The City of Bridges” after all.
As mentioned before the various districts were built on different foundations, the oldest and largest were built on solid stone that rose high above the river’s headwaters. While other sections were built on a combination of wooden poles, dirt and rocks. Virtually every part of the city was vulnerable to the rise of the rivers and their waters, so the Onallan had become expert engineers in preventing their city from being flooded. Certain sections of the city had inbuilt dams and canal locks which controlled the flow of water through many sections of the city. They had also developed man powered pumps for sending out excess water. They also had just become extremely good at raising the level of their structures as needed, the Royal Palace itself was built on top of at least one former incarnation of itself.
Clark, Lewis, and Washburn would eventually meet with several of the government caste officials of the Royal Family who delegated the negotiations with the Americans to the Raven Emperor. There was very much a fear that the Americans could potentially have smallpox or another disease, so the two parties sat in completely different rooms through the entire negotiation process.
“They were bedecked in animal furs sewn in curious ways. Most wore distinctive hats which looked much like a conch shell. You could tell the importance of their leaders by the number of bird feathers sewn into the hems of their hats. Around their necks and wrists, they wore amulets of gold and silver, but it was not this they prized the most. Always the feathers. From their shoulders they wore ponchos of cotton, leather and fur and on their waists again many worse short skirts or kilts much like the Scottish Highlanders of the British. Curiously men and women dressed the same, it was at times confusing to tell the sex of those we spoke with.”
The Americans did not gleam too closely into the gender norms of the Onallan but they would have no doubt been shocked to learn that many roles were shared by men and women similarly. As well as the status of Trans genders. Again, we see the air of mystery and wonder about the Onallan people intrigued the Americans, which would eventually be shared on the East Coast.
The opening of relations with the Americans would see traders Shua’tilich (Astoria) but unlike the explorers they would be confined as much as possible to the City of Stilts. However, with American, British, Mexican, and Russian traders entering the region importance of Shua’tilich as the main receiving center would shift northward to the Malingish Sound. Here illegal trade and smuggling would go on between the various tribes and communities of the area before eventually the government stepped in to designate a new trading center to control the flow of goods coming and going. It was also seen as some as a sign of concern in particular about growing Russian presence in the Pacific Northwest.
Onallan may or may not eventually host the largest New World population of Orthodox Christians.
Though yes expect tension between religions, and also Sun Cult.
So Russians from Alaska?
Seems like the US is going to become rather aggressive in the Caribbean and Central America in order to expend.