Civilizations in Lands of Plenty: California and the Haida

[Oba]

This is to be my TL about an indigenous rise of civilization in California in Late or Classical Antiquity, sparked by Teotihuanaco and Mississippian traders, that develops into a unique superstate by the second millennium.

Today I will focus on the Californians, as they will come before the Haida gunpowder thalassocracy, which shall arise in the 14th century.

So, without further ado, here we start off with the rise of agriculture in California.

Channel Islands, 300 CE- The Eastern Agricultural Complex had arrived centuries ago and along with native California plants it forms the basis of our society. So was told Butterfly, an 8 year old Chumash female, by the shaman-teacher at the meeting house.

The school was a mud brick building with a thatched roof of seagrass. It was filled with palm leaves, for this is what the Chumash wrote on in their logogrammic script. About 24 other students were there, to study the history and traditions of the Chumash and to learn maths, skills and how to write.

By this time, the Chumash dominated trading up the coast of as far north as the Karuk lands, trading goods from across the California coast, dentalium, fine baskets and farmed goods not available to those in the far north for local goods to bring back to the great city of Maxaphanîsymisytojo, Rainbow City, located at the mouth of the Los Angeles River. Maxaphanîsymisytojo was where their elected monarch lived in the central palace, it was where the great sweatlodge was, it was where the storehouses that backed up the supplies of all the Chumash state were and where the Great Meeting house, for rituals, ceremonies and storing palm leaf books and copying them, was located.

Timeline-

600 BCE- Agriculture arrives in southern California, causing a population explosion.
500 BCE- Chumash assimilate the Tongva into their society and develop early urban-ritual centers in the Channel Islands.
400 BCE- Chumash language becomes the basis for a signed language, ChSL, that is to be the lingua franca of the California coast.
300 BCE- Chumash develop writing for ChSL, develops true civilization and establish a class structure where the elected monarch must marry a commoner (similar to the Natchez.)
200 BCE- Chumash state establishes its military-police for the purpose of maintaining order and defending against raids from the east.
100 BCE- Chumash found Maxaphanîsymisytojo.
50 CE: Chumash establish hegemony over all of southern and Baja California as their culture expands.
100 CE- Chumash establish hegemony over the Salinans.
200 CE- Salinans become assimilated into Chumash society but retain their own language; linguistic exogamy develops
300 CE- Maxaphanîsymisytojo reaches a population of 35,000.

Well, that is all for now. If you have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to post them.

 

[9 Fanged Hummingbird]

Looking good so far. Just curious, how much do you know about the California Indians? Because I've been a little curious as well about their history and culture but don't know much at all. Also, at first I wasn't sure how plausible it'd be to have a California civilization having that many people in one city so early, but then again it is a very fertile place.

 

[Oba]

Looking good so far. Just curious, how much do you know about the California Indians? Because I've been a little curious as well about their history and culture but don't know much at all. Also, at first I wasn't sure how plausible it'd be to have a California civilization having that many people in one city so early, but then again it is a very fertile place.

Well, I assume that if Memphis could manage some 30,000 people in the Middle Bronze Age and Cahokia could have 30,000 people, it might not be too big of stretch with a combination of mariculture, land farming of maize, I will probably have the Mesoamerican Agricultural package come to the Chumash by 200 BCE, which seems reasonable, given that Texas could have it by the turn of the 1st millenium BCE.

About my knowledge of Indigenous California: Well, I have read a decent amount about them in "Ararapíkva", a book of traditional Karuk literature by Julian Lang, from this website about the Chumash Language, and the fact that I live in the Central Valley and have attended the "Language is Life Conference" in Davis, CA with this group and recently got a book from the library called "The Shasta Indians of California and their Neighbors" by Elizabeth Renfro. I have also been to Indian Grinding Rock State Park in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where I got "Ararapíkva."

 

[Oba]

Note: My ad hoc constructed sign language, ChSl, has its glosses in all caps with hyphens between morphemes; this is partially because of the dearth of Chumash (or any other southern Californian language) material as well as the fact that their state, Kuxox, “[Place of] the People of the Water”, though having its name in Chumash, writes exclusively in ChSl. Nevertheless, I shall try to write as much as I can in actual spoken languages as possible.
8th Century CE: By this time most of California and Baja California were united into a federal superstate with its capitol at Maxaphanîsymisytojo. It had a fine system of roads and canals and free public education giving it the highest literacy rate in the world.

Spring, 720 CE- Wot' Xalkhelmesxarok'oj, King Jumps like a Dolphin, presided over his court of KEEP-STRAIGHT, his court of governors. There were 2 to 8 governors for each of the peoples of Kuxox; the Salinans got 4, the Chumash got 8, the Yumans got 6, the Pomo got 8, the Ohlone got 6, the Wintu got 4, the Maidu 2, the Karuk 3, the Miwok 7, the Yana 2, the Shasta 2 and the Yokuts 3.

The topic of discussion today were the strange peoples from the south. They had sent a large expedition to the lands to the south of the Kuxox and some were demanding tribute. They were armed with giant obsidian boomerangs and spears, so the local Kuxox blockhouse was taken by them. Rumors even had it that they had built a great city of stone to the south and wished to conquer the world.

The court came to the conclusion that the southerners should be greeted by a large envoy with gifts, armed with the boomerangs, spears and decurve bows of the Kuxox self-defense force in case of any hostilities. And so the expedition of 60,000 soldiers set off to the south in their sailing tomols, plank canoes, loaded with soldiers, fine baskets and dentalium shells and other valuables.

Summer, 720 CE- After marching through the deserts of the Seri for a while, the Kuxox interpretors learned from the Seri that the land to the south was that of the P'urhépecha (I decided to make the Teotihuacanos become dominated by the P'urhépecha, as we do not know what language(s) they spoke nor their ethnicity) and their city was called Teotihuacan (yes, I know Teotihuacan is a Classical Nahuatl name, but we do not know the original name of the city.)

The Seri also warned that Teotihuacano trade routes historically passed through their region (Aridoamerica) but that the Caconzi (again, a P'urhépecha name) wished to establish dominance over them. And they had established a fortress nearby several years ago since the Caconzi had learned more directly about the rich and powerful state of Kuxox (previously having known it only as a semi mythical land, much as the Medieval Europeans knew of China.)

Just then, an expedition of what clearly must have been the strangers was spotted and the Kuxox expedition went to meet them.

“The Caconzi of mighty Teotihuacan sent me to take this land for him; what is your purpose of being here?” said the general of the Teotihuacano party.

“We bring gifts and come in peace; your Caconzi should like these” said the leader of the Kuxox expedition as he took out some exquisite baskets and handed them to the general.

“Ah! These should be good indeed” said the Teotihuacano general with a smile.

“Now!” cried the general.

A the entire party attacked the shocked Kuxox. But the Kuxox fought back and crushed the Teotihuacanos with their superior numbers.

As Teotihuacan was on the decline, Kuxox was enjoying a period of great prosperity. But soon there would be another great civilization, one that the Kuxox would develop important trade links with and that would allow them to dominate all of Mesoamerica: The Tarascans.

Timeline:

490-Most of California united under the Wot' (Ruler) of Kuxox.
570- Pueblo peoples adopt writing while the Kuxox adopt ceramics from them on a small scale (baskets still dominate.)
610- Crab's claw sail introduced by shipwrecked Hawaiian sailors and rapidly comes into widespread use.
700- Earliest mention of what is certainly Teotihuacan in Kuxox records.

 

[Oba]

Note: I am not going to deal with the Haida becoming a thalassocracy in precolumbian times due to the complications that would be necessary for them to take on the great sailing tomols of this TL's Kuxox...sorry to those who are disappointed.

 

[Cuāuhtemōc]

I'm liking it so far. Please continue. We always need to have more timelines concentrated around the Amerindian civilizations.

 

[Sandmannius]

This is a very interesting topic and well done, I'm subscribed.

 

[Oba]

This portion of the TL will look at what is going on in the world known to the Kuxox at the time, social developments and technological developments in 1 of 3 short narratives I plan to write about the Kuxox heartland in RIVER.AUG-OCEAN-CITY (“City where the Ocean meets the Big River), in OTL Oakland; one set in the COAST.SHORE-CUIUI.AUG (“[Place of the] Shores of Abundant Cui-ui”), an trading and mining town in the Kuxox “far east”; and finally one set in Thipiscunihapunda (“Market along the Ocean”), a P'urhépecha term I coined for the Isla Marías Madre. This narrative will deal with RIVER.AUG-OCEAN-CITY in the winter.

I am going to keep the Teotihuacanos around as P'urhépechas, being that the Teotihuacanos were probably more widely respected than the widely hated Mexica of OTL.

Winter, 805 CE- A Look at the World of the Kuxox- It was the 4th lunar year (the Kuxox use a lunar calendar) of Wot' Íxipánaach, Queen Flying Crow.

RIVER.AUG-OCEAN-CITY cold, but not too cold, and most families were inside meeting houses, sweat lodges and their homes playing games, telling stories and reading stories.

Though RIVER.AUG-OCEAN-CITY had a plurality of Ohlone, it was a diverse city, with people from across Kuxox. So diverse was the city that most people greeted each other in ChSL instead of by speaking.

Scrub Jay was a young man with an Ohlone mother and a Yokuts father who was trilingual in Yokuts, Ohlone and ChSL. Like most Kuxox, he is a literate commoner.

He works in one of the main smokehouses of RIVER.AUG-OCEAN-CITY curing abalone, chiton, fish, crab, quail and other meats. He works with several other people in unloading the great reed rafts carrying the catch of fisherpeople from the waters of the fecund bay and its numerous farms of oysters, abalone and various fishes.

His wife, Harvests the Good Quality Acorns, whose mother is Pomo and whose father is Salinan, weaves clothing, tunics and loincloths mostly, on a vertical loom (such as used by the people of the PNW coast in both this TL and in OTL) out of milkweed fiber which she spins into yarn and weaves to make her monthly quota for the state storehouses which redistribute them to the people.

After working from dawn to just after noon, the family, everyone on Harvests the Good Quality Acorns' side (the Kuxox use the Crow Kinship system) meets up with their many children, their elders and their in laws to go to the fishing festival, a winter festival that developed in the Bay Area to ask the Great Spirit (the Kuxox, like most California peoples of OTL, are panetheistic) for a good harvest and to give thanks for the harvest that has already occurred.

At the central meeting house of RIVER.AUG-OCEAN-CITY, while the dancers clad with ritual paraphernalia, masks, shrouds and the like, chant prayers in ChSL to the Great Spirit, the people enjoying the show, and usually themselves praying, enjoy the acorn mush, the quail, the dried yellow jacket larvae from summer's harvest and for desert have trailing blackberries and thimbleberries and play games while they also sing songs. It is a fine day for, despite the cold air outside, there is the warmth of friends, family and community inside the meeting house.

 

[jabberwoky]

this is cool, my mom is from L.A.

 

[Oba]

Spring, 837: COAST.SHORE-CUIUI.AUG- It is a pleasant morning for Maneuvers about upward like a Butterfly, an young adult of a Wappo mother and a Paiute father.

Maneuvers about upward like a Butterfly is headed from the fishpens in Pyramid Lake doing her job harvesting Cui-ui for the storehouse to get a midday meal with her friends, as per usual.

She asked the storehouse keeper to withdraw some of her voucher for some roasted sunroot mush with some prickely pear syrup and a bowl of amaranth tea.

Maneuvers about upward like a Butterfly sat down with her friends from work and her maternal grandfather, Strong Bear, while a messenger squatted on the mat where the group was eating and asked if anyone would like to hear of news from Maxaphanîsymisytojo. They eagerly agreed.

“Wot' Íxipánaach recently received some strange gifts from the Teotihuacanos, gifts of tool heads but not of wood nor stone nor shell but of a hard, red metal” said the messenger.

“The messengers denied any knowledge of where these tool head came from, but stated that there are plenty more if the Wot''s troops are not withdrawn soon.” she continued, referring to the recent escalation in skirmishes in Aridoamerica between Kuxox and Teotihuacan since the Seri had been conquered by the latter.

“I thought that Seri neutrality was respected by the Teotihuacanos; why do they desire more conflict?” asked Strong Bear as he sipped his amaranth tea from his polychrome earthenware bowl.

“They do have a cult of warfare; I have heard that their great spirit demands that human beings die for the world to continue” Maneuvers about upward like a Butterfly replied with her best guess. And then a shocked look on the group's other member's faces was ended by a reply from one of Maneuvers about upward like a Butterfly's friends.

“I hear that Teotihuacano children do not learn anything in school beyond how to fight or support war parties by providing supplies” said the friend.

“Well, let us just be thankful that we live in a happy and prosperous society” said Maneuvers about upward like a Butterfly.

(BTW, in Kuxox ethnicity is matrallineal while one learns both one's mother's native language, one's father's native language and ChSL.)

Some Developments of the 9th Century- In society, Maxaphanîsymisytojo has grown to 300,000 people and has began to rival Teotihuacan in size. By the way, the Paiute and Washoe joined the Kuxox in the late 8th century and get 1 and 3 seats in the court of the Wot', respectively.

In politics, conflicts are rapidly reaching crisis levels in Seri territory, with constant skirmishes between Teotihuacano and Kuxox forces, though the aging Wot' Íxipánaach is still trying to reach a peaceful settlement. Redwood longbows have replaced decurve bows in the Kuxox army by this point, leaving the decurve bow only in hunting, as it is illegal to have a longbow as a civilian.

In technology and learning, ceramics are becoming widespread across Kuxox, replacing some of the roles baskets once had, though far from all of them. Āmatl is becoming widely used in Kuxox, especially beyond the subtropical southern California and Baja coasts, leading to the adoption of the reed pen-stylus, a device capable of writing on both palm leaves and āmatl without damaging itself or the writing surface.

In economics, Kuxox's redistribution-planned economy continues to thrive and regular trade begins to reach the Mississippian Civilization.

 

[Oba]

Autumn, 843: The First Lunar Year of the Reign of Wot' Lïtïɂna (“Stings For [Good of the People]”; Miwok), Southern Gulf of California Coast- The Kuxox expeditionary party disembarks from their tomols and heads inland to find and take down Exerahpenichupiri, Fort of Fire, the stronghold of the Teotihuacanos in the region.

They have come well prepared: 70,000 people, including 20,000 soldiers armed with fire hardened wooden non-returning boomerangs, spears and military forks of wood with a bone tip, staff slings or longbows of dogwood whose arrows have a fire hardened tip, wearing skullcaps of milkweed fiber died various colors to identify them in combat, porters carrying food, supplies and water, several interpretors and several officers, all with the intent to stop the Teotihuacano advance northward and to defend the cities of Oasisamerica by establishing a Seri buffer land.

“Exerahpenichupiri must be near!” said the one of the party's generals as they walked inland onto a squad of Teotihuacano guards. The guards ran to alert their fortress but they were chased down by a few dozen Kuxox soldiers, who fired upon them with staff slings and longbows. All the guards were killed.

As the Kuxox walked inland as noon neared, they knew they were approaching the mesa where the Teotihuacanos had built Exerahpenichupiri. But the sun was high, and thus the Kuxox generals ordered their warriors to wait until the evening. The porters and interpretors would stay in an adjacent cave.

“Warriors, you are strong!” said one general as she began to give her speech.

“Yet many of you are to die; such is the nature of battle. But know this: Your deeds and bravery will live on in the memory of the Kuxox state as those who took a stand against the Teotihuacanos.”

Many battle hardened warriors began to cry at the beauty of her speech. Though they feared death or torture at the hands of the Teotihuacanos, they knew that they were doing what they were for the greater good.

Evening approached. The warriors are ordered further inland towards the mesa where Exerahpenichupiri is, with the help of a few maps in the hands of the generals.

The Kuxox warriors marched in groups of 64 (the Chumash used base 8) further inland. Then they saw Exerahpenichupiri.

It was a mud brick and sandstone building of post and lintel construction, as was typical of both Teotihuacano and Kuxox outposts in this region. From inside the narrow windows for firing on the enemy came the glow of lamps.

Marching slowly for a while, the warriors then heard the order.

“Charge!” cried a general.

The Kuxox mêlée soldiers ran towards the fortress; shortly after they began the Teotihuacanos saw them in the distance and sent several hundred warriors to meet them.

The Kuxox ranged weapon soldiers approached more slowly attempting to stay out of the way of their Teotihuacano counterparts while being able to provide support to their comrades.

A great battle began between the Kuxox and the Teotihuacanos: War picks clashed against macuahuitin, non-returning boomerangs against tepoztopilli, Kuxox against Teotihuacanos as arrows, sling stones and spears pierced the bodies of warriors. Skulls were smashed, limbs knocked off, bodies impaled, blood flowed like a small creek and bodies lay in agony or in death.

But the Kuxox advanced and soon surrounded the Exerahpenichupiri. As the Kuxox laid siege to the fortress, atlatin fired their last rounds of spears, but they could not stop the storming of the fortress atop the mesa.

In the end, 9,000 or so Teotihuacanos died, 17,000 Kuxox died and some 2,000 of the former were taken captive.

It was the beginning of the end of Teotihuacano presence in Aridoamerica, for though many smaller battles would be fought in this land, the Teotihuacanos would be forced into a retreat and the Seri would regain control over the area, which was to be the buffer region between the two great states.

 

[Oba]

Note: I finally got a Samala Chumash-English Dictionary from the library. It is very good and it will help me come up with names for people in this TL.

902: The Second Lunar Year of the Reign of Wot' Xaliksyqilkxîlîlî (“Giver of Clean Water”) The Great Council of Thipiscunihapunda- By the begginning of the 10th century, the Teotihuacanos and the Kuxox had both reluctantly agreed to leave western Aridoamerica alone to the Seri. Both states were simply to powerful to have a major war, the skirmishes were futile and about as large scale a war that they could have without causing an economic depression for each other. At the same time, however, both wanted to know more of each other's societies and cultures and to trade goods and ideas.

The ambassadors of Caconzi Tzinxungapequa, Caconzi Green Hummingbird, of Teotihuacan and those of the Wot' Xaliksyqilkxîlîlîof Kuxox met on the rapidly growing trading post of Thipiscunihapunda.

Arriving on Thipiscunihapunda, the ambassadors met in the great plastered volcanic stone palace somewhat inland. Neither knew the other that well and there were many misconceptions.

They discussed the conflict in Aridoamerica first. The Teotihuacanos accused the Kuxox of desiring to set up an enemy stronghold in the Seri territory; the Kuxox were shocked, stating that they only wanted to prevent conflict between their 2 states.

The Teotihuacano ambassador then asked why they destroyed their state's fortress. The Kuxox ambassador replied that they were weary of a Teotihuacano invasion of Oasisamerica, a part of Kuxox. The Teotihuacano ambassadors then stated emphatically that they thought that the Kuxox were trying to strangle Teotihuacan's trade routes to the east of Oasisamerica (to the Southeast.) The Kuxox quickly replied that they had no such intention to do so and that they also traded for buffalo hides and soapstone with the east. Then it became apparent to both sides that there was a grave misunderstanding.

For decades they had fought over Aridoamerica for fear of the other's expansion into their territory when neither side had any desire to destroy the other. After they both realized this, they traded gifts.

Teotihuacano copper and bronze goods, quetzal feathers, thin orange ware ceramics and jade were given to the Kuxox ambassador who in return gave the finest Kuxox baskets, turquoise and dentalium.

The ambassadors and their accompanying diplomats debated about philosophy, discussed the customs of their civilization, many of which were alien or appalling to the other side but were still tolerated, and of course discussed the potential of more direct trade routes between Teotihuacan and Kuxox overland and by sea.

In the 34 lunar years of the reign of Wot' Xaliksyqilkxîlîlî since the meeting, the Teotihuacanos modified and adopted Kuxox style writing, the sail and plank tomols of the Kuxox while the Kuxox learned to smelt copper, bronze and brass, replacing many wooden, stone and bone tools (though not completely by a long shot) and to learned to mold ceramics from the Teotihuacanos. Important religious and philosophical texts were translated between the 2 great civilizations and trade thrived. The adoption of Teotihuacan's minimalist aesthetics on a large scale by the Kuxox was fused with traditional stylized and geometric basketry designs in the newly mass produced ceramics from molds, while the Teotihuacanos adopted the bow for the first time on a large scale.

Though there were conflicts and disputes, such as when the Teotihuacanos sacrificed some Kuxox criminals instead of turning them over to their embassy or when the Kuxox wanted to keep part of Seri territory as a buffer state while Teotihuacan wanted to split it into a Kuxox and Teotihuacano sphere, the relationship between the 2 great civilizations was mostly mutualistic and would become a key to their survival through the ages.

 

[Oba]

I was wondering how my TL is going so far; I am particularly interested in suggestions or comments on how realistic it is and the developments are. Thank you!

 

[Oba]

1043: The 8th Lunar Year of Wot' Kilik (Sparrow Hawk)- When Wot' Kilik was elected to power, he seemed a reasonable choice: Educated, thoughtful and benevolent. Yet just 14 months after his election, a terrible event happened: The Taos representative in his court hit him in the head with a war pick.

This was not unpredictable: The Kuxox were facing troubles in keeping Oasisamerica and far northern California as their state expanded and they became ever more militant and forceful in keeping the peoples beyond their heartland in central and southern California from demanding independence from Kuxox law and the centralized Kuxox compulsory education system. Revolts were happening everywhere beyond the Ohlone lands in the north, the Washo lands in the northeast and the Yuman lands in the southeast as news of the now mildly mentally handicapped Wot' Kilik spread.

The federal system that had kept Kuxox intact and prevented its members and subjects from feeling oppressed was collapsing from nationalistic revolts declaring independence, which the federally organized Kuxox armed forces were almost powerless to stop, spending about as much time fighting among themselves as they were against the rebellions.

By the mid 11th century, Kuxox's days seemed numbered. Yet a new order would emerge from this chaos, led by a small group of Teotihuacano military experts that the court of the Wot', now dominated by the loyalists due to the succession of many member nations, would eagerly embrace.

The Wot''s death helped; for the first time in many years, the Kuxox had a capable head of government.

When Wot' Xalsukek, Planter of Seeds, came to the throne, she completely reorganized the military so as to be one unified fighting force. She punished any dissenters with long sentences of hard labor. She made Chumash Sign Language the sole official language of government, education and services. Perhaps most importantly, she made Kuxox into a regional state, no longer a federation, where all its citizens would be treated as equal before national law without regard for any other national affiliation; she also regrouped the old national boundaries into regional boundaries to further solidify her goals.

By the dawn of the 12th century, when Wot' Xalsukek was in her last years, Kuxox was unified as never before in a new system based not on nationality but on duty and loyalty to the state.