User blog:Stepintime/Forgotten Fridays 3 Abya Yala

Greetings everyone,

Unexpectedly I missed the Friday which was scheduled for the third installment of this blog. Never mind, we are still sailing forth on as planned.

Today we are covering the timeline  Abya Yala  written by early alternate history wiki  user  Chlewey  in 2007. Chlewey was also the author of several other timelines.

This timeline though a single page was chosen for its premise. While several times focus on a different or surviving Pre-Columbian civilization as in the case of the featured timeline Empire  Aztec Empire  none that I have seen featured the Caribbean Sea as a major player.

In this world the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico becomes something of a Mediterranean Sea in the Americas. The diversity of islands, sea routes, landscapes and ethnicities gives rise to a maritime trade network.

How the more advanced trade network comes about is unspecified, after all historians know that a pre-Columbians traded with each other extensively. We could imagine that a native chief who otherwise used home production (making things at home) saw a profit in creating a larger enterprise to sell goods on a schedule to their neighbors. Occurring during the Iron-Axial age in the Old World- (200 B.C) this network begins to add to the technological advancement and centralized political power in the area.

The Tanio people- the group which historically the first natives seen by Christopher Columbus create an empire which is congruent with the historical Roman Empire occupying many islands including Cuba and  Hispaniola as well as the coasts of Mexico, Texas and Louisiana.

Then a major turn comes several centuries later when the Caribbean natives by accident run into the African coast and begins in an alternate Colombian exchange where the Natives on their own terms learn to domesticate many old world animals accelerating their economic growth. Though all New World peoples are hurt by a plague in the ninth century their societies do not collapse and recover in strength. Natives continue to trade primarily with Africa until the historical Norse find their way to North America will they find much more advanced societies.

From here the story becomes one of Norse discovery of Americas and their attempts to raid and attack the more advanced villages in Canada before the timeline comes to a close.

Though marked several years as being biased in favor of the Native Americans the timeline opens up important questions on just why Native American economies functioned as they did and why in some respects they were behind the Old World in travel and communication. Though natives could not have had draft animals *besides Peruvian Lamas until sustained Trans Atlantic- Contact the Tanio overcome this problem with sea travel.

<p class="MsoNormal">What Abya Yala demonstrates is that the historical key to becoming a more advanced state regardless of one’s other factors was in having some level of trade and communication. Though Natives certainly did this over long distances this still did not lead to large empires outside of Central Mexico and Peru. If ships could have carried not just products but ideas quickly then a organism like the Tanio Empire could have existed.

<p class="MsoNormal">I think in retrospect the POD is plausible, but perhaps there could be more development in this moment to see what factors might cause a Caribbean leader to invest in maritime trade beyond the existing state of affairs.

<p class="MsoNormal">Don’t forget to give this timeline a read, and if you feel so compelled please adopt! Keep in mind that because there is no adoption banner one will need to go through the adoption process before taking over. Adopting consists of first, communicating with the User and waiting for a week’s response. Then if there no reply go to Portal or Timeline talk page and announce the adoption. If no one objects than Abya Yala can be yours for free!

<p class="MsoNormal">What do you think would make Abya Yala more plausible? How would you imagine life here as an alternative Native American, or a Norse seeing North America for the first time?

Come see the next installment on Forgotten Friday's coming up shortly!

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<p style="font-weight:400;font-size:14px;">''Remember, don't forget to meditate, and breath with the nose. ''

<p style="font-weight:400;font-size:14px;">Settled calm and peace is a vritue 

<p style="font-weight:400;font-size:14px;">This week is almost halfway over, use these next days wisely,

<p style="font-weight:400;font-size:14px;">another will begin soon.

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