Part I, Chapter I: The First People

Table of Contents
Introduction: "A Bright North Star For All"

The History of the North Star Republic
1554 - 2013
Part I: Early Beginnings
Chapter I: The First People[/center]

The discovery of the North American continent in 1492 by the expedition lead by Christopher Columbus had sparked an impressive trade of both goods, plants, cultures, communicable diseases and human demographics. The scope and size of the continent remained a mystery, and although by 1554 colonization attempts had remained fruitless and impractical, a few token traders had began to move inland in search of rare and valuable goods. The eventual breeding ground and starting point of the Thirteen Colonies in the Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia was still 100 years in the making, but the curiosity of human nature was in full swing. Explorers from Spain, Great Britain and France had begun to search for areas best suited for their future desires, but also broadly negotiated and communicated with Native American cultures during their tenures in the New World. This lead to not only a wide exchange of goods, but also lead to rapid displacement and migration westward of many Natives. Many of the Native cultures feared that the "pale men" would eventually arrive in numbers greater than the means they had at their disposal to control, and as such the eastern coast of the American continent saw its population base drop dramatically during the 16th century in preparation for the inevitable. One of these populations were the Sioux and Ojibwa nations, who began to move far west in an attempt to escape the inevitable threat of colonization by Europeans. Already a small minority had been exposed to European disease through trade with Europeans, and this threat alone was enough to begin their long travel from their homelands in the Southeast and Northeast to a new home farther west.



The Sioux had originated in present day Carolina on the footsteps of the Appalachians, and their migration westward was in direct response to threat of European intervention. Although at first unwelcome to the idea, by the end of the 15th century almost no trace of the Sioux's former existence along the east coast remained, and the entire Nation had relocated to the Great Plains. Being driven by force from the Mississippi by hostile tribes, they instead settled in the Dakotas, while the Ojibwa nations had made a similarly long trek from the eastern shores of Canada and Maine to Lake Superior decades later, settling in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan. The nations would reside in these new regions permanently throughout their existence, which had formerly been devoid of human habitation for almost 2,000 years. A hunter-gatherer society began to take shape, and whereas their prior habitation of the East Coast had been primarily agrarian, the Natives displayed their unique ability to adapt for the sake of continued existence, and hunting for survival became widespread throughout the Native cultures in the Upper Midwest. Yet the shortcomings of being unable to develop new and more effective ways to gather a larger amount of food in order to sustain a growing population stunted the growth of both cultures, and as a result they remained stagnant, but not nomadic.



By the 17th century, the English, Dutch, French and Spanish had successfully launched their colonization programs of North America. The Chesapeake Bay area of Virginia, New York, Florida and the eastern shores of Canada all saw a rapid influx of European colonists throughout the 1600's. Their efforts to tame the wild lands of the New World, however, did not come without conflict. Hundreds of thousands of Natives began to make the trek west due to threat of disease and persecution, and by 1700 these Native populations had ballooned due to an astounding number both on the Great Plains all the way south to present Louisiana. These new tribes that had not made the trek as early as their Sioux and Ojibwa cousins also brought with them the effects of European commerce, the most important being a new four legged animal unseen to North America and a new weapon of Old World origin. The horse and the firearm in many ways changed North American Native culture just as the railroad changed Europe - if not more. The rapid influx and breeding programs used by Natives in order to ensure the survival of horses during the 1600's lead to a new spark in population, and the Sioux and Ojibwa traded with these westward bound Native tribes in order to obtain an advantage on the Plains in order to sustain their growing populations. The introduction of the horse to Native culture on the Plains had dramatically expanded the Natives' ability to control their populations and provide for them.



As the colonists on the eastern seaboard began to move further west, however, the idea of peaceful negotiation and trade also began to take root. In the late 1650s, French traders, lead by Pierre Espirit Raddison and Medard des Groseilliers, had explored the southern shore of Lake Superior, and had made first contact with the Dakota tribe of the Sioux nation. News of land west of the Appalachians abundant in trade traveled quickly throughout the European Colonies, and by the 1670's, an influx of traders began to appear throughout Native lands on the northern Plains, most significantly Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut in 1671, who successfully negotiated a peace between the Ojibwa and Sioux who prior to his arrival had been on hostile terms just short of open warfare. Explorers and expeditions also began to search this new frontier, and although the Ojibwa and Sioux peoples greeted some with disdain, open hostilities had yet to be started between the nations and European travelers. This opened the way for religious missions as well, the most important lead by Louis Hennepin in the late 1670's.



In 1680, however, Father Hennepin's expedition had come to a close and he was captured by the Dakota Sioux due to his religious capacity, of which the Sioux regarded as hostile. Du Lhut, who by this time had become a well established trader and European that was held in high regard by Natives due to his negotiation between the Ojibwa and Sioux, successfully negotiated for his release. During his captivity, however, the Father had mapped an astounding portion of Minnesota. His efforts would ultimately lead to many eventual settlements across the Upper Midwest - and unintentionally, his capture under the Dakota would ultimately lead to the end of Native sovereignty over the Plains.



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