Bimodæv's Rebellion

Bimodæv's Rebellion
Part of Colonization of Lyngaard
Illustration of the Battle of Gulkirke
Date 12 November 1672 – 19 June 1676 (3 years and 220 days) Location Lyngaard Result Colonist Victory The Colonial Commonwealth of St. Vilhelm's Bay is incorporated into the Kingdom of Lyngaard Treaty of Førstekirke in 1676 Instrument of Settlement signed in 1678 most native peoples within the Medøxnej River Basin forcibly relocated
Belligerents
Kingdom of Lyngaard Colonial Commonwealth of St. Vilhelm's Bay	Nøjibveh Migmav'ki Uge-Kenå
Commanders and leaders
King Gustav I Jacob Nicolaisen Gov. Ludvig Undset Cpt. Rafael Wergeland	Bimodæv (Jan Filip) Otitahgos Hans Cakhipasis Otihkomes
Strength
~2,500	~4,000
Casualties and losses
900	2,500
~7,000 civilians killed in raids ~10,000 killed by disease ~13,000 Indiginous peoples killed during the Purge of the Medøxnej

Bimodæv's Rebellion (sometimes called St. Vilhelm's Bay War, or the First Native War) was an armed conflict fought between 1672 and 1676 between Lyngaardian Colonists and Indigenous People, mostly the Nøjibveh and Migmav'ki people. The War was named after the Nøjibveh farmer Bimodæv (alternately transcribed as Pimodew) who worked as a lease farmer on colonist owned land in Gulkirke. A Bedende Indfødt, he worked a patch of land owned by Sten Tåhoved, then a general in the Commonwealth Militia and a diplomate between the Commonwealth and the Kingdom of Lyngaard, he was also the cousin of the King, Gustav I. Bimodæv's lease on the land became an issue for Jacobus the Elder, who sought to buy the land from Tåhoved. Tåhoved would run his cows through Bimodæv's fields, causing him to miss a lease payment, thus commonwealth authorities confiscated the land. In the process of the eviction, Bimodæv's Wife and Infant daughter were killed, returning to his home village he organized a raiding party who would attack the town during the Battle of Gulkirke.

The relationship between the tribes and colonial governments were complex and mostly dependent on local rapport and goodwill. The Monarchy in Regnhavn had a far more antagonistic relationship with the Indigenous tribes. whereas the Commonwealth had more complex trade and social links to Indigenous communities. These relationships ebbed between peaceful to hostile, but were mostly down to the township level. Many of the colonies practiced Land Leaseback schemes where Natives would sell land to colonists, and the colonists would lease the land back to the previous Indigenous owners in exchange for rent, based off production or profits made. These were a common source of friction between communities.

Initially many Indigenous bands were opposed to conflict, however Bimodæv's cause had sparked many, mostly young people of the warrior castes into action. Many like Otihkomes of the Uge-Kenå People saw this conflict as a way to push out colonist which had greatly affected his people's traditional way of life. While Hans Cakhipasis who would later join the cause, felt the war was foolish and perpetuated without a clear goal. Ultimately many local leaders became involved do to the conflict initial popular support, or because they were targeted by Colonial Militias during the conflict. Bimodæv's forces would fight a string of battle against the Commonwealth, winning battles at Æblemark, Kongekirkens Bakke, and Torskevig. The Royal Army under the command of King Gustav I and Jacob Nicolaisen would ultimately absorb much of the commonwealth militia while Lyngaard exerted more control over the fringe colonial settlements. Under royal leadership the Indigenous peoples were fought back. Nicolaisen ordered and commanded the forced removal of Indigenous people's from the Medøxnej River Basin which led to thousands of deaths and is general thought of as the start of the Genocide of Indigenous People in Lyngaard. Bimodæv would be captured after his army was defeated at the Battle of Sihtakvikiy, He was forced, alongside several other Indigenous leaders to sign the Treaty of Førstekirke, later that year he was executed by Cpt. Jacobus the Younger.

The conflict is seen as one of the most devastating of the early colonial period. in the course of 3 years nearly 17 towns had been destroyed, the entire Medøxnej River Basin was depopulated, nearly 1/10th of all military aged men in the colonies would die, and the economy of the Commonwealth would be destroyed as it lost access to lucrative timber and fur sources during the war. This coupled with the political and military domination of the Commonwealth in the later stages of the war led to its eventual incorporation into the Kingdom of Lyngaard in 1679, effectively tripling the kingdom's size. This conflict solidified Lyngaards emergence as an actual nation-state, whereas before it had been regarded as a Colonial Pseudostate.

Background

Governor Ludvid Undset

The Kingdom of Lyngaard was established in 1622 with the founding of Regnhavn by King Christian Magnus I. The status of the Kingdom was ambiguous, Claiming to have founded his city on Virgin Land, then unclaimed by any colonial power. However the reach of the Kingdom was limited and as settlement grew many people took to moving outside the confines of the Kingdom and of Regnhavn itself. This became the start of the Colonial Commonwealth of St. Vilhelms Bay. A loose collection of communities who organized for collective defense and trade as they existed outside the control and protection of the Kingdom. Colonialist progressively expanded through many Abnekhanoan-Speaking communities, leading to conflict between the Commonwealth and Indigenous communities. Colonialists would push Indigenous people's out of traditional lands, like the Uge-Kenå who were forced out of their coastal territory and forced further inland. These communities did not have the traditional knowledge of hunting in the dense northern forests as they had traditionally used subsistence fishing and Foraging to meet their needs. Colonialists would then partake in limited trade with these communities in order to maintain a form of economic dependency, selling items like food and gunpowder in limited quantities to ensure that Indigenous communities could not maintain a food surplus. With the Commonwealth Land Act of 1641 it became legal to lease land to Indigenous peoples. This usually took the form of Land Leaseback schemes where Indigenous communities would be forced off their land and the land would be leased back to them so that they could cultivate and develop the land. These leases would have strict renting guidelines which usually took the form of a share of the land's product, or as a direct rent from the profit of the land's yield. This practice was mostly alien to the Indigenous communities of the area, who if they had been agriculturalist only did so at a subsistence basis.

By 1657 nearly 1/3rd of all farmland in the Commonwealth was cultivated by Indigenous lease holders. Many would lease the land under the name of their chief and the whole community would work the land as a way to finance other activities for those who were not actively working on the farm.Many communities rejected this practice and instead refused to engage with colonists. the most prominent of these being the Jabævajabakinas Band of Nøjibveh who were in continuous conflict with the colonial settlement of Roggvirsø near Elgkæbesø Lake, with incremental raiding by both sides throughout much of the colonies history.

The Commonwealth had negotiated a treaty between themselves and the Migmav'ki under the leadership of Otitahgos in 1664. The Treaty was a strategic alliance between the Migmav'ki and the Commonwealth against the Nøjibveh who had become increasingly hostile to colonial settlement in the lower Medøxnej river basin. Commonwealth Governor Ludvig Undset had maintained good relations with the Migmav'ki while he was Lord-Mayor of Frelserenshaven Colony. However tensions grew between the two as it became clear colonists did not intend to stop settling in Indigenous territory, or establishing churches and religious convents in Indigenous territory. The establishment of "Bedende Indfødte" (Indigenous people who converted to christianity), and "Vilde Indfødte" (those who retained traditional religious practices) was also a source of tension between tthe Indigenous Community and Colonist. Bedende's were offered greater access to colonial resources and greateer economic opertunities within the Commonwealth, however both groups were subject to extreme racial discrimination.

Eviction of Bimodæv

Bimodæv, known to local Colonists as Jan Filip was a converted indigenous man, a member of the Avaumpeg. He had leased a small plot of land near the town of Gulkirke, owned by Gen. Sten Tåhoved. Jan Filips tenure over the land was generally seen as successful for the small community of 73 people. Jan would regularly give out food he'd had left over to the town church. He was well liked according to the accounts of townsfolk, but he had a reputation as an angry drunk. In 1667 Jan married Prudence Blyth, an Alben Beaconer originally from the Colony of Providence who had 2 children from a previous marriage. Starting in 1670 Tåhoved and Jan Filip had come into disagreement about his leasing contract, in which Tåhoved took Filip to court, where the Colonial Court of Gulkirke ruled in favor of Filip as he had maintained his contractual obligations. Jacobus the Elder a local colonial officer had contacted Tåhoved to buy the land, Jacobus the Elder even went on to talk with Jan Filip about buying him out of his lease, which was not set to end until 1680. Jacobus the Elder had already sold the land to a family intent on moving to the colonies by the summer of 1673. Jacobus and Tåhoved planned to force Jan Filip off the land. In the Winter 1762 Jacobus would convince a local farmer to pass his cattle through a field owned by Filip. The damage caused by this rendered his spring crop destroyed.

Tåhoved would bring Filip back to court, claiming he failed to hold up the proper upkeep clause. Judge Carolus Iohannes Cocceius found that Filip had failed in his tenant duties. Giving Tåhoved right to evict Filip.