Historical Inconsistency in 'Merganser'

Historical Inconsistency in 'Merganser' is an important topic; it is mostly affected by two factors.


 * 1) The fact that native North Americans, especially in the places depicted in 'Merganser,' have traditionally been very nomadic.
 * 2) The fact that some demographic situations closer to the modern era are more interesting than some demographic situations further in the past, at least to the author. An example of this is that the banding together of the Arikara, Mandan and Hidatsa is roughly a consequence of the post-contact strengthening of the Lakota people, while the presence of the Winnebago on the shores of Lake Michigan was a state of affairs that ended pretty shortly after first contact with the French. In other words, the placement of the Winnebago or Hocak is consistent with pre-contact, while the placement of the "Fort Berthold tribes" is consistent with a later stage of indigenous American history.