1493 and 1516-1582 (The Haudenosaunee)

The Haudenosaunee

1493 May 7th

After 11 months without any sight of Christopher Columbus, the Spanish monarchy are dissuaded for the time being against further circumnavigation experiments.

1516 September 3rd Juan Ponce de León along with ‘Vasco da Gama’ and ‘Vasco Núñez de Balboa’ are given approval by the Spanish Monarchy for funding to search for the western passage to the Orient and maybe the fountain of youth while they are at it. Their ships are the Sil, Mino, Deva, Grosa, Anaga, and Candido Perez. Each is the biggest yet constructed, nearly a floating town in their own right(each held about 1000 people, all men though) (it was surmised that Columbus’ crew starved to death before they reached the other side of the world and that they had preferred to press on rather than return in defeat (most likely Columbus was the only one unwilling to return in shame, although many wondered what could have stopped the crews from mutiny)).

1516 October 14th

León and the others land on the Floridian coast, León is slightly confused by having landed so quickly in India, recent scientific research showed the Earth’s circumference being almost twice as much as previously suspected. The Atlantic-Pacific Ocean was estimated almost 26 000 kilometres in width(not that kilometres existed then), but by their calculations, they have only travelled about 3000 to 4500 kilometres to this new land.

1516 October 29th

The ships found a colony of 2500 in Florida around the Miami region and split up north and south to find a way around this land, while the Candido Perez stays anchored in caution with León and de Balboa. The Sil, Deva, and Grosa go south with ‘Vasco de Gama’, while the Mino and Anaga head north under minor captains.

In the last 193 years, the Haudenosaunee have developed advanced shipwrighting, map making, currency (úwitekek) and a pseudo republic-chieftain government-among other things. It now stretches from the Pow’attan (Potomac) in the south, the Doleto (Detroit Strait) in the west, the Passawampaby (River St. John) in the North, and all the east coast in between.

1516 November 5th The Haudenosaunee patrols sight foreign sails in the distance and alert the Island of Hills Navy (there are two Haudenosaunee navies. One is the Island of Hills Navy-stationed at the Man’hattan (Manhattan Isl.- Island of Hills) shipwright with sister docks at the Masa’shuset(Massachusetts- Shore of Cliffs) and Pow’attan (Shakespeare Bay- Bay lands)  The other Navy is the Awntar’o Navy- at Doledo (Essex County), Niagara, and Manittoulin (that northern point of that south-western Ontario peninsula))

The Island of Hills fleet stationed at Pow’attan is brought out, five Montauk class corvettes to face the Mino and Anaga. Two head out to the deeper Atlantic and south out of the ships’ sight to encircle the Mino and Anaga while the other three draw their attention and meet them head-on for negotiations. Centuries of legends and myths have engrained the existence of the White Man into the Haudenosaunee, the marhuyáné (sea captains) are unsettled by this sudden arrival of a fearful legend. Perhaps overreacting a bit, the Haudenosaunee destroy the Mino and commandeer the Anaga. Months are spent interrogating and learning from the captured White Men. The Haudenosaunee linguists are able to discern the foreigners’ Spanish and additional patrols are sent out to search for other vessels.



1516 October 29th - 1517 February 8th

In this time, the Sil, Deva, and Grosa have travelled the whole coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the map makers draw out the coasts and the ships’ apothecaries and alchemists take notes on flora and fauna as well as minerals. Vasco de Gama founds colonies in Louisiana (1000), the Rio Grande (600), the Yucatan (400), and in northern Cuba (300). The Explorers now see that this is no mere island they ran into, a whole new continent has been found. The ships had also found the ruins of Columbus’ colony and they recorded everything for the people of Europe. On Feb 19th they arrive at the Miami colony where they discover that the Mino and Anaga have yet to return.

1517 February 9th

The Deva and Candido Perez with León plan to sail for 10 days and then come back, the Sil and Grosa stay watch in Miami awaiting their return.

1517 March 1st (the next leap year is in 1520)

after twenty days the Sil and Grosa see the Deva’s sails on the northern horizon. It’s communication flags send emergency warning that a hostile fleet is arriving. The Candido Perez has been sunk with few survivors, 'Juan Ponce de León' (who was the Candido Perez’s commander) was also killed. The reported fleet is 15 corvette type ships with 5 Man of Wars (these are what they looked like to the Spanish). The Deva is heavily damaged and the fleet was last seen heading slowly toward their position!

1517 March 2nd

‘Vasco da Gama’ and ‘Vasco Núñez de Balboa' can see no way to defeat the fleet on the sea so the Sil, Deva and Grosa give the Miami colony most of their cannons, ammunition, swords, firearms, et cetera. The Sil and Grosa with ‘de Gama’ will depart in the morning for Spain to ensure the news of this New World is received. The Deva unloads most of its crew and all other supplies as well and 'Núñez' has the Deva loaded with as much explosives they have on hand. The cannons are positioned on the shore behind barricades to fire on the enemy fleet and the other 2100 colonists hid in the nearby forest awaiting ambush (there are a total of 4000 in this operation).

1517 March 3rd The Sil and Grosa leave before sunrise, bidding their comrades farewell and good luck.

1517 March 10th

The enemy fleet comes into sight and advances toward the Miami colony, encircling it. The Deva heads for the larges clump of ships and the coastal cannons open fire. The Haudenosaunee back off after loosing 5 ships of their 30 to the explosion of the Deva. A Montauk corvette is sent back to Pow’attan to report, the marhuyáné have a plan to invade the colony from the interior. A large expeditionary force of 3500 will be sent from the barracks in Pow’attan south while the ships draw fire.

1517 April 5th

The Pow’attan force arrives in the forested lands outside the Miami colony. In the night the Haudenosaunee force moves silently to the positions of the Spanish ambushers and they are slain or captured. In the ensuing chaos, 'Núñez' is captured along with 2500 other Spaniards. Before dawn the ships move in and many objects of the Spaniards are taken for research.

1517 April to May Most of the captured Spaniards are sent to the Confederacy as slave labour while 'Núñez' and the other ship captains are interrogated, the Haudenosaunee having learned basic Spanish. Neither 'Núñez' or any of his men are rescued, and only a couple escape into the deep wilderness. A defence colony of 500 called the Unenö'keteka'tæætö (South Fort) replaces Miami and the Haudenosaunee develop their first stone citadels.

The information gathered from the captains and 'Núñez' worries the Haudenosaunee leaders. A continent of super powered countries, each with millions of inhabitants is a nightmare giver, the whole confederacy only containing about 205 000 in its 27 member tribes. Baby bonus policies soon installed raise the population increase rate from about 2% to 3.8%. The Haudenosaunee get as much military information about the Spanish strategies and tactics as possible to devise a defence. The citadels are used extensively on the coast and Katyus Káôwö (battleships) cannons are advanced into extreme long range, Canistered shots containing explosive pellets or inextinguishable incendiaries become the main weapons against the Spanish wooden fleet. Some cruisers are given thin metal sheeting on the decks and above-water areas. More ships are built and the demand for wood increases. The Haudenosaunee see the possibility of environmental damage and so start trying to breed faster growing trees grown on farms to use in ship building. This also leads to a new industry of scientifically adapting useful plants and animals to be ‘more better’. More mines are dug and trade grows, although it is not a huge increase since the Confederacy is the only civilization in 500 kilometres. Diplomacy expands and more tribes join the Confederacy in interests of self preservation (brief showings of the strange white creatures that invaded had a great value in negotiations). The way the Haudenosaunee Confederacy expand chiefly resides in the willing admittance of neighbouring tribes. This voluntary joining gives the government added stability and all member tribes have the same rights. The official language of Mingo is taught in the schools run by the Confederacy's government but all cultures and languages are accepted and encouraged. As the Confederacy expands, some tribes become surrounded and are given separate enclaves as a protectorate, some eventually join also.

In mid April the Sil and Grosa returned to Spain. The stories were told and all the crewmen debriefed. The news of a new continent in the middle of the Atlantic-Pacific swept Europe and colonization became the new fad of the century. Millions of Pounds, Francs, and Pesetas are spent. The Spanish, honouring the lost commanders of their latest sea voyage (after months, they assumed they had died), name the continent: “Leónúñez” or “Leonez” as it is later called. The Spanish coastal maps circulate through western Europe and many voyages are proposed. The story of the enemy fleet is distorted and warped until tales of huge brown whales that shoot silver and gold scaled fish out of their eyes are believed. Only the few survivors of the Deva and Candido Perez know any of the true story.

The Spanish decide to try further south to reconnect to their lost colonies in the Mexican Gulf (it didn’t really have any name at the time, I’m just calling it this for ease of reference). Portugal is also interested with southern exploration. The French want to explore both the gulf and further north; and the British plan to concentrate on the northern, unexplored coasts. Only Britain really believes in a westward passage to India anymore.

1517-1582 Over the next 45 years Many Spanish colonies on the shores of the now called the Mezican Gulf and on the Pacific side of the Mezican territory flourish and are bound together into the Nueva España colonies in 1525 (actual OTL) with a viceroy appointed by the Spanish monarchy (the first was Antonio de Mendoza, who arrived in 1531 (OTL he arrived 1535, appointed 1530, the viceroy list was very similar to OLT)). In 1547 Spanish explorers find the Incan empire, crush it, and in the process, discover another continent, the discoverer of this newer land and conqueror of the Inca is named Francisco Pizzaro (in the OTL he did conquer the Inca except it was in 1532, ‘South America’ was also visited in 1502 by him in the OTL but in this TL the cutbacks had limited the exploration greatly). Pizzaro names the continent “Tierra Francisco”, later it became known as “Tifransisco”.

The French conquer the Louisiana colony from the Spanish and continue their continental expansion. By this time, the Haudenosaunee Confederation has expanded to the Mik’maq region (Nova Scotia). The French call the whole area 'Acadia' and proceed to try and invade and settle the land though coercion and force but the Haudenosaunee akwashë (local councillors) have been learnéd in the ways of diplomacy and are not fooled, also, as a traditional akwashë requirement, all akwashë and marhuyáné(sea captains remember?) must the highest tolerance for alcohol in their kanötayë (town or city).

The French and British strategy to bedrunken the tribes’ leaders fail and the Europeans are angered by this; however limited cultural exchanges occur, although Christianity is blatantly rejected (especially with the mindset that women were inferior to men in any way) which soon lead to constant wars.

The Haudenosaunee are able to move quicker on the fields than the Europeans, both because of their personal training and the selectively bred Tekiya'kö (bison) which are able to carry their heavy equipment to free up people for scouting and other strategic actions. Specialised Utháyôni Tsíyæ (Wolf Dogs (original breeds are called Native American Indian Dogs in OTL)) who were already a fast and healthy breed help both in scouting and in attacks. Trained packs of 6 to 40 may be unleashed in an open battlefield or in the deep forest. The Utháyôni Tsíyæ are stronger, faster, more agile, and darker furred than unadapted breeds. By 1582 the British and French only have a couple small self-sufficient colonies in Labrador and Nova Scotia. The British colonies are the most successful because of Britain’s technique of sending whole families to new colonies on the first try, this allows their colonies to establish themselves much faster and are better defended with the interest of protecting the family involved.

In many of the Haudenosaunee raids and captures, children as young as six are given to adoptive families where they are taught to be ashamed of their silly religion of Christianity and are forced to forget their native language, names, families, and culture. Children six and a half to 12 are put in boarding houses until they’re 20 where they are taught the same thing, only more assertive because children that age sometimes don’t listen properly. Captives above twelve are usually put in labour forces (slaves). The French begin to call the Haudenosaunee ‘Haudenois’ which becomes popular and the Haudenosaunee are from then on called the Haudenois (pronounced ‘hawdena’)by the Europeans. The Europeans denounce these raids and the treatment of prisoners and continue attempts to push into the deep wilderness but are picked off by Haudenois Kökahkënye's Ka'wëthwahsö (assassins) and are eventually scared into fleeing. The French try burning down the forests but Haudenois patrols quickly cut down other trees to stop the flame’s advance and for each tree burned three are planted somewhere else.

The Haudenosaunee