The History of Mississippia is defined by various periods of cultural development that included cultural evolution to the current Mississippian culture.
The first of these cultures was the Woodland Culture, which existed in Eastern Borealia for a millennium. Then the Hopewell Culture took over for a brief period before giving way to More recently, Mississippian history is based around the period of Cahokian dominance and the more recent Mississippian Confederation.
Woodland Culture (1000 BC to 0 BC)[]
Map of three largest Woodland sub-sets
The Woodland Culture, which spanned from 1000 BC to 0 BC was a millennium that defined the emergence of a common Borealian identity, that was transform as time went on. The Woodland Culture was of extreme significance to the emergence of the Mississippian Confederation in the 16th Century.
The Woodland Culture spanned from the northern reaches of Borealia down to the Great Plains and into Florida. Over the course of the 1000 years of a common culture, the Woodland people began to diverge into three separate groups - the Algonquin, Mississippians, and Iroquois.
The Woodland people saw a continuous change in their lifestyle over the generations. Use of stone and bone tools increased, as did skills in leather crafting, textile manufacturing, farming, and engineering. The most lasting influence of this time was that the nomadic peoples of Borealia settled down into towns and organized settlements during the Woodland culture's dominance.
The Iroquois preserved most of the Woodland Culture while the other two cultures adapted to become more modernized. The Mississippians were the most successful of the Woodland people, developing huge cities.
Hopewell Culture (200 BC to 500 AD)[]
The Hopewell Culture was the successor to the Woodland Culture. Emerging ca. 200 BC, the Woodland culture encompasses the modern Mississippian, Algonquin, and Sioux cultures. The Hopewell Culture contained a number of distinguishing features that would develop further into the Mississippian Culture. The primary important figure was the mound-building, which would allow Cahokia, and by extension Mississippia, to become a regional power.
An ornate frog-shaped effigy pipe from the Hopewell Culture
The period began with a shift of many tribes to the interior of Borealia from the coastal regions. The location of the Mississippia River was extremely helpful in the development of the Hopewell Culture, as it facilitated easy trade which made the Hopewell Culture the most successful of its time - the extensive trade route covered the entirety of Eastern Borealia.
The population increase and further decline in nomadic lifestyles spurred the development of the first modern "nations" during the Hopewell Culture; tribal leaders would make treaties and agreements with other tribes just as in modern day.
By 500 AD, the splits between the Algonquin peoples of the North and the centrally-located Mississippians came to a head. The differences in language between the two began to emerge, and the geographical locations of both (Mississippians around the Mississippia River and Algonquins around Hudson's Bay) signalled the end of the common Hopewell Culture, although the contact between the two peoples remained constant since this period.
Mississippian Culture (500 AD to 1200 AD)[]
Map of Mississippian Culture, ca 1400
The Mississippian Culture was the most advanced of the three Eastern Borealian cultures of its time. The production of beans, maize, and squash in great quantities allowed for great population growth and allowed for even more settlement into cities, which formed around huge earthen-mounds.
The Mississippian Culture radiated from the central reaches of the Mississippia River, which became Middle Mississippia. Other important regions of the Mississippian Culture include the Oneota (who became the Sioux peoples), the Caddoans, and the South Appalachia region.
The use of some metals, most notably copper, by the Mississippians, helped them advance even further. Larger and larger mounds began to develop, with Middle Mississippia being the primary site for the entire culture. The rise and fall of various city-states as the main polity continued until about 1200, when Cahokia (which had been established since ca. 600 AD) became the dominant city.
Cahokian Dominance (1200 AD to 1400 AD)[]
Picture of Cahokia
Having been originally settled since ca. 600 AD, Cahokia had always been one of the largest cities of the Mississippian culture. By approximately 1200 AD, however, the ideal location of the confluence of the Missouri, Mississippia, and Illinois Rivers thrust Cahokia to the center of Mississippian culture.
By 1200 AD, it became the largest city in Borealia, rivaling even London in Europe. This large population allowed for even more economic power and growth, and soon the Chief of Cahokia began to grow more and more powerful and consolidated control over other nations and tribes in Central Mississippia.
By 1350 AD, the city of Cahokia began to decline due to issues with food and other rival Mississippian states being developed that challenged Cahokian trade dominance. This decline led into the reign of Great Alligator, who is considered to be the first Great Chief of Mississippia, and was quickly reversed as Cahokia continues to be the dominant city in the region to the present day.
Cahokian Re-Emergence (1400 AD to 1533 AD)[]
Reign of Great Alligator (1393 to 1440)[]
The reign of Great Alligator marked the end of the Cahokian decline which had slowly begun in the 1350s. Droughts throughout the surrounding regions forced many natives to search for refuge, and many found their refuge at Cahokia, along the banks of the Mississippia River.
During Great Alligator's reign, knowledge of iron became common, and the advancements that this new technology brought were astounding. Great Alligator had to deal with the Moundville civilization in the south, which he ended up taking over economically.
Great Alligator's feud with Birdman came to a head later in his life as the populace preferred Birdman, but the tribal nobility preferred Great Alligator. Due to this contention, the Florida Revolt of 1433 saw the loss of some Cahokian lands, but not until massive gains were made under the famous Great Chief.
Reign of Rektaw the Proud (1440 to 1465)[]
The reign of Rektaw the Great was noted for both its continued expansion and its significant developments in the city of Cahokia and the surrounding state.
Rektaw's first major accomplishment was to establish a school for the training of medicine men. The medicine men play an extremely large role in spreading the common culture of Mississippia, a role which would increase in importance under Galegenoh, Tah-Chee and Diwali. The school was completed by 1457.
The second great accomplishment was construction of waste water management system that enabled the continued growth of Cahokia. Technically the completion of the system was under the reign of Galegenoh, but Rektaw's support of the project was of the utmost importance.
Reign of Galegenoh (1465 to 1489)[]
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Reign of Tah-Chee (1489 to 1524)[]
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Reign of Diwali the Lame (1524 to 1533)[]
The reign of Diwali was noted for being the main period of decline in Mississippia. The first factor that triggered this decline was the spread of many different deadly diseases across Borealia. Many Mississippians died, although the medicine men did manage to prevent the utter decimation of the population.
The second factor was the arrival of Europeans along the eastern coast of Borealia, which led to greater hostility, at least for a short period of time, of the natives along the eastern coast. Raids were frequent, and Diwali was incapable of handling all of the crises that emerged on a monthly basis.
Diwali began to rely more and more on the Grand Council, which eventually decided that Diwali was to be the last of the House of Rektaw. By Diwali's death under suspicious circumstances in 1533, the Grand Council had chosen Antinanco as the next Great Chief of Mississippia.
Mississippian Confederation (1533 AD to Present)[]
Mississippia in 1575
Reign of Antinanco the Restorer (1533 to 1558)[]
The reign of Antinanco was notable for reversing the trend of decline that had begun late into the reign of Tah-Chee and progressed steadily worse under Diwali. Although very little actual growth in terms of territory took place, the cultural consolidation under Antinanco proved invaluable during the reign of his son, Christophe.
The reign of Antinanco also saw the first real contact made by European nations, notably France. The increased trade that this connection brought led to the growth of both population and national wealth.
Antinanco also led the construction of the navy in the Gichigumi (Great Lakes) which would be expanded upon by his son. Farming under Antinanco also grew significantly to feed the larger population and as a result of the new technology learned from the French.
Reign of Christophe the Christian (1558 to 1578)[]
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Reign of Zacharie (1578 to 1583)[]
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Footnotes[]
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