Opdamsland: Difference between revisions

During the Spanish-Dutch war of 1850, the area of land that is currently Opdamsland was lost by Dutch Tussenland and gained by the Spanish crown colony of New Spain. In 1855 the Spanish started calling the region T''erritorioTerritorio de Acansa''. During Spanish rule, Indian tribes that were relocated from Tussenland were mostly left to their own devices. In the 1860's the Spanish founded the cities of San Pedro (modern day Sint Pietersdorp) and San Sebastian and settled 22 families from the Canary islands and Galicia in the territory. Additionally a substantial number of non-relocated Indian tribes from Tussenland migrated into the territory voluntary between 1850 and 1895 in order to escape enclosure, land cessions and unequal treaties made by Dutch settlers.

In 1936 a Cherokee politician and orator named [[John White Owl]] was elected as the chief representative of the Cherokee and preceded to use the latent anti-Dutch sentiment to build a populist movement to replace the tribal council with a democratically elected chief executive of Opdamsland. By 1938 John White Owl was in control of a militia larger than the Opdamsland military and had complete political control of the Cherokee tribe (the largest and richest tribe in Opdamsland at the time) as well as strong allies in the Sioux and Choctaw tribes. That fall John White Owl forced the tribal council to step down and appointed himself the 1st president of the Confederation of Opdamsland. The coup of the tribal council government caught Tussenland off guard and after some saber rattling and threats to invade Opdamsland the government of Tussenland reluctantly recognized the new Opdamsland government (it has theorized that fears of a second war with Mexico who might intervene on the side of John White Owl's government). John White Owl's new government immediately nationalized the oil industry and enacted a series of political and cultural changes policies that sought to build up Opdamsland's military and remove economic and cultural influence of Tussenland. During the Opdamsland government, all cities were given an 'Indian name' and all education and administration was conducted exclusively in Cherokee, Sioux, Choctaw or any native language of a recognized tribe of Opdamsland. The cultural reforms went so far that in 1942 the government announced that the nation would be looking to rename itself, this never materialized due to lack of popular interest and the inability to find a name that didn't favor one tribe over another. Opdamsland under John White Owl was criticized by other nations in North America for corruption in its elections and the fact that John White Owl won 75%+ of the vote for each of his three terms. During this period relations with Mexico and South Tussenland improved and a long standing agreement between Opdamsland and South Tussenland to allow Opdamsland to ship oil from S. Tussenland's ports. In 1949 John White Owl was found dead under suspicious circumstances in his Utrecht (Ayuhwa) home.