Shadowrun General > General Discussion

How do the NAN countries work?

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MrSmiley:
Has this ever been clarified in canon? The NAN rules a good chunk of what was the western United States and Canada. They've split into their own countries, even: Ute, Sioux, Pueblo and so forth.

But, as of real life 2013, there are only a few million native americans in the United States and Canada. The overwhelming bulk of the population of the western United States and Canada, in the vast majority of areas, is non-native american. Does this mean there were mass expulsions of whites and hispanics and blacks and so forth? Did the non-native populations remain but become second class citizens? Or do they remain and enjoy nominally equal rights despite being ruled by a tiny minority of the population?

If there were expulsions, I can only imagine that the vast majority of major cities in the area are now virtual ghost towns and the populations of the NAN countries are extremely low. If there weren't expulsions, then I can't imagine how the NAN countries function without basically having an apartheid situation, with native americans enjoying vast privileges compared to non-natives.

I'm sure this has been clarified somewhere.

Ramid:
Not all the NAN states were equally adamant about driving out the Anglos.

Some such as The Salish Sidhe and the Pueplo Corporate council allowed anglos living in the territories seceded to them
by the Treaty to remain if they could proove any Amerindian blood what so ever, and or allowed non Amerinds to form their own tribes,

Also many of the NAN states opened their doors to immigration by metahumans expecially Salish Sidhe that allowed a mass Influx of
Elves no matter what their heritage.

Others such as the Sioux nation were much more hardline in their actions removing almost everyone who could not proove
full Blood Sioux Heritage.

I do remember that the NAN books did discuss this that many areas were much more wild and uninhabited than they are today.
While other areas expecially important Cities such as Vancouver Las Vegas etc, are little different than the Ucas sprawls you
can find.

Also decades have passed since the Nan States came into being so their population would have risen due to childbirths
and Immigration.


You can probably get Scans of the Original Native American States books I and II from Battleshop or driverhoughrp.com
Both books go into the details.

Sahadir:
The Native American Nations are highly recommanded if you do run a campaign in NAN (I think vol. 1 covers the area of interest you) - they contain the history of those events (such as the forced immigration of Anglos from the Ute Nation, and the massacres of remianin Anglos by mobs), including the Anglos legal status in the various nations.

Crimsondude:
Ramid's post explains most of it.

The most recent and direct coverage of this question was in Shadows of North America. It also mentioned that since Aztlan was a member of the Sovereign Tribal Council at the time the Treaty of Denver was signed that anyone of Mexican descent would have also been grandfathered in under the NAN. That is to say that there should have been a lot of empty space, but there is already a lot of empty space in the states and provinces comprising the NAN. The PCC only took over southern California in 2061.

But for the most part it's just something that demands a heavy dose of suspension of disbelief.

Wakshaani:
Covered above, but, yeah, first is that bit that Latinos got grandfathered in, so a surprisingly large chunk of the population isn't what people think of when they hear 'Native American". There were also many people that were kept, or that moved in, that were "1/64th Cherokee" or the like, whiteboys who the NAN government looked the other way for due to their having some aspect, such as being a big scientist or having mojo.

"Hey, I want to apply for membership. I don't know what tribe."
"Do you have any documentation?"
"Well, no, but..."
"Denied."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"Well, I figure I gotta be part Indian. I mean, I can do this." *hands start to glow*
"Ahh. Clearly a Shaman of the, uhm. Let's go with Chickasaw. Take this letter down the hall and go to the green door. Welcome to the Nations, brother."

The assorted NAN nations had different levels of "Purity!" cries, with teh Ute being the most expulsion-happy, then the Sioux, muttermutter, and the PCC being the least trigger-happy. In some areas, people wouldn't, or couldn't, move, so the NAN allowed some to stay on by adopting them into tribes, or by letting them form new tribes, while others were set up on reservations, so that they could live in relative peace and follow their native customs, like cookouts and the Chicken Dance, and to maintain their own language in the wake of a general reculturization.

What you wind up with is a sort of blood-segregation, where those who have the most Native blood 'naturally' rise to the top, getting most positions of power and wealth, mixed-blood sorts who make up the majority of the population, and then people with no Native or Latino blood pooling arond the bottom rungs of society, if they even participate at all. When moving through the former Wyoming, for instance, you'll stumble onto the rare reservation with a couple hundred white people, living in ramshackle trailerhomes, growing crops and living off the land, trying not to cause any trouble.

The cities are still around, and filled with people (Vancouver! Las Vegas! Boise!) but the population was considerably lower than before. Mind you, it's been 60 years, and that, combined with the NAN being accepting of Meta immigration for a while, has boosted their numbers a bit. (They also tend to lie about thier population numbers, which the NAN books reported as fact, which resulted in much derision.)

Heck, a few weeks ago, I had a blue-eyed, blonde-haired Mr. Johnson to give the team a job. They figured he was Ares, but he was actually working for a NAN member. It's fun to play with perception. :)

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