American: Native Empire

Chapter 4: Entering Indigenous Society (2)

Kiwoo could only speak fluently in Korean or English. He didn’t have the time nor the obligation to learn other languages back then. 

Still, it was imperative to learn the language of the natives to quickly assimilate to their society in order to survive and achieve his goals.

“This is where we live, Wakan Tanka,” Tree, the tribal chief’s son smiled broadly as he introduces Kiwoo to his home. Tree’s smile was too pure—like a child seeking praises.

Kiwoo turned around. Body language was universal and he could somewhat understand what Tree was trying to convey.

‘Is this where they live?’

Kiwoo was slightly surprised. The place was much bigger than he expected. If he had anything to compare it to, it was like a city-state. 

Anyways, it wasn’t as bad as he thought.

 

“We’ll call for a meeting. Tree, Sharp Stone, and Big Rock Face will guide you in our village, Wakan Tanka.”

Kiwoo nodded. 

The rest of the group grumbled amongst themselves and disappeared into the village. 

Meanwhile, Kiwoo was guided by three men, Tree included, and showed him around the village.

Most of the houses were crude—built straight out of the soils of the earth, stones, and branches. The residential area was proof that people lived here. It seemed like a large settlement too.

Walking around the village, Kiwoo noticed the eyes of many native men and women eyeing him. 

Then, the man in front of him shouted something he could not understand before bringing him to the tribal chief.

‘I think I understand.’

 

Iron was rare. The strongest weapon he saw was a black stone spear. Their clothing wasn’t made from cotton but crude leather. 

It would also seem that farming techniques haven’t developed much. Though they did secure food mainly through group hunting. In general, the society of the village was that farming was done by women and men going out to hunt and gather.

‘Hooo… there’s actually some decorations made out of copper, gold, and silver.’

But it was only a few in numbers. After looking around the village, he came to the conclusion that there were no signs of metal processing. Maybe it came from another settlement? Kiwoo thought that perhaps there existed a language barrier from other settlements.

All Kiwoo could see all around the village were crude materials. He also saw something similar to paper, but it seemed to have been imported from outside and the material wasn’t very good. 

With what he saw, Kiwoo came to the conclusion that the village were hunter-gatherers and a neolithic village that developed along the river.

‘Sigh… I’ve got a lot of work cut out for me.’

He wondered if he’d be able to advance a neolithic civilization without outside help. It would be impossible for an ordinary person, but for Kiwoo, it was possible. His long life expectancy was his only consolation. In his timeline, his body had been treated to suppress aging, thus solving the problems of death. If one suddenly stopped taking anti-aging treatments, that person would die of old age one day. 

For Kiwoo, his body had at least four hundred to five hundred years left.

‘That amount of time should be good enough… hopefully.’

The problem is… 

‘Have the Europeans already arrived?’

Kiwoo sighed. He wished he could know exactly what year it was. 

The discovery of the New World will only lead to the slaughter of the aborigines through force and the spread of diseases, causing the death of countless natives. According to one theory, over ninety percent of aborigines died within a short period of time.

Kiwoo had already been vaccinated against smallpox and other variant diseases before traveling to this timeline. At the least, the epidemic won’t kill him.

‘Fortunately, there’s no signs of the outbreak. Yet.’

Ever since Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World, infectious diseases like smallpox spread like a wildfire all over North America and Latin America. If the disease hadn’t spread yet, it was highly likely that it was before the 16th Century.

In other words, there was at least a hundred years or so till the Europeans explored the New World.

While thinking of this and that, the day finally ended and it was already night. Kiwoo suddenly came to a conclusion.

‘I’m somewhere in North America.’

Kiwoo had enough training with constellations to guess his approximate location. 

He was certain that he was in North America.

‘Is this a good or bad thing?’

North America and Latin America had their own strengths and weaknesses. Before the spread of the diseases Europeans brought over, Latin America’s population overwhelmed the North American population.

“Wakan Tanka left us breathless dancing in the sun.”

“Haha… it made me remember something…”

The tribal chief laughed and pointed to the wound on his forearm. It was a scar of glory, proving itself to have been soaked in the sacred earthen soil.

After that, the tribal meetings continued.

The meeting was more like a direct democracy in which the young and the brave and respected adults of the tribe expressed their opinions together. All decisions within the tribe were decided by a majority during the tribal meeting.

And Kiwoo, whom they call the Holy Spirit or Wakan Tanka, was also present at the meeting.

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“Then I’ll appoint Wakan Tanka as the tribe’s chief spirit,” said the tribal chief, voice cheerful.

No one opposed the tribal chief’s words. Kiwoo was deemed to be a sacred spirit. It would be impossible for Kiwoo to be labeled an ordinary tribesman.

Of course, the chief spirit was a completely different concept from the rank of the aristocrats and kings. For the natives, the tribal chief was more of a civil servant.

Meanwhile, they saw Kiwoo as no human but as a sacred spirit.

Inside the meeting, decisions were made and they were absolute. It was the principle of the tribe and their way of life.