WI: Vikings interbread with Natives

Chimera0205

Banned
What if the vikings had interbred with the Inuit and the natives of New Foundland to a extensive degree. To the extent that sizable popations of natives in these areas exhibit european traits such as blonde/red hair and blue eyes and more important likely more resistant to european plagues.
 
Those European traits are pretty recessive, so even lots of mixed marriages might not produce exactly what you want. And a lot of disease resistance is not heritable, as without pressure from those diseases, it's often not a trait that sticks around.

What helped bring about a lot of mixed marriages iotl were the gender imbalances of the voyages. Norse colonialism in the other hand tended to bring along family units after initial discoveries. If you kept a Norse colony around long enough to start getting higher risk higher reward economic practices like fur trapping or (this is the Vikings we are talking about) raiding and slaving, then you'd get scenarios where many men are crammed in a boat, traveling great distances, and sowing their seed. In addition being an economic/trade hub for the region's Indians might prove both lucrative and a way to mingle with the population in a significantly less rapey/exploitative way. The Norse were above all keen tradesmen, in addition to vikings.
 
Top