Chapter 21: Timeskipe 5/?

The United States Great Plain States are filled with various tribes and natives that dot the regions, from it being their natural lands or being forced there by Indian removal acts.

The conditions they were forced to live in by the government and the lack of citizenship again forced by the government on them heavily restricted their opportunities.

But even with this the native peoples of America had fought heavily in the Great War proving themselves at every opportunity and still were being forced into "education" centers to stop the continuation of their cultures.

That is where the Czarian and her crew found themselves, flying over middle America heading to various tribes and notable native people.

Major among them are Francis Pegahmagabow and Joseph Oklahombi while Francis is Canadian they both are decorated war hero's and have been using their fame to help the natives In the Americas

In advance Ana had sent one of her men to convince Francis to take a train to Oklahoma to join her in discussion with Joseph.

The Czarina stopped and interviewed as many tribes as she could in each location, from the Shoshone of the Great Basin to the Comanche each time meeting with tribal elders and starting official relations.

But the meeting in Oklahoma was special as she presented both men the equivalent of a Medal of Honor of the Russian government as they both deserved them.

———February, 20th 1925——-

The Oklahoma of the 1920s was rough living even for the whites that lived here much of it was desert or scrub land lending it to ranch lands.

So when the Natives from across the US were forced here they were "given" the worst land and barely any supplies to survive but they survived.

When the Great War started in Europe they still volunteered to fight and prove to the US government they deserved more rights and recognition in the government.

They had even higher volunteers per capita than any other minority in the USA, but they were still not given their most basic rights and even refused their medals.

So the tribes were reluctant to trust the Czarina and her supposed words of friendship, so they gathered some money and sent a trustworthy person to Imperial Russia to see how they treated the natives of that land.

When they returned they told the councils of the projects the Czarina established to protect native communities no matter the size.

They brought with them reams of film that were interviews and demonstrations from the tribe shown, the council was awed the natives shown in the film were not shown as savages or played as a joke but were treated with respect and dignity.

With their proof the council gathered the men in the letter sent by the Czarina and all wore traditional ceremonial wear and met the Czarina in one of the nicer reservation homes.

The Czarina arrived not in her motorcade but on horseback wearing her military uniform that displayed no rank as she had never actively served, but with her were a small group of knights and her fiancé.

The two groups met all dismounted, "Greeting tribe Elders and Chiefs of the Five Tribes I ask we meet and equal terms and positions, if you are willing may my men record this meeting for those that come after us." She spoke in Cherokee, the largest group of natives present in Oklahoma.

She gave them a polite bow which they returned, the oldest of the Elders, a woman over 90 years old motioned (with some help) for them all to sit around a small table and have a nod in agreement for them to record the meeting.

"Welcome to the reservation Czarina, I am Tsula. I wish to thank you for the visit and thank you for recognizing the efforts of our young men in the War." Tsula spoke with wisdom beyond anything the Czarian had heard and felt the weight of a dying people behind her.

"It is what they deserve nothing less, nothing more, their stories deserve to be spread and recognized as their bravery. So I ask if I may present them with Medals of Bravery and Honor for their deeds In the Great War." Tsula gave her agreement and a group of seven men one from each of the five tribes and two from Canada some in there Blues from the military others in traditional war gear store and saluted the Czarina which she returned.

"Each of you fought in a war that is now called the war to end all wars by many, you fought in the bloodiest conflict ever known to man to prove your strength to your nation and to the world. These medals are proof of your strength in the eyes of the Russian people and her allies like all of those who received this medal: you are given a Scholarship to any Russian college, a position in the war academy, and lastly a plot of a 100 Acres in Imperial Russian lands."

They were all struck silent at the announcement most of all Lt.C he like many veterans of the Great War were not very happy with the government as they had not been paying many of the soldiers pensions but to be given all of this none could understand it.

"Due to certain laws, only Imperial Russians may own land so I offer Dual citizenship between Imperial Russia and the USA or a lump sum of $1,000 US dollars." That sucked the air out of the room as only just recently had the Native American been given citizenship in the US and many were still restricted from voting.

Only two took the duel citizenship as they had no family left in the USA and would be traveling to Russia permanently while the rest would be golfing for education but the money would be invested into their communities.

The recipients were dismissed and returned to their families to celebrate while the elders and the Czarina reconvened.

"I'm sure you have heard of the programs I have in my nation to preserve and catalog the various tribes and communities that make up Russia.

If you are willing I would like to have my people come and interview and document your tribes, you and anyone in the documentary will be paid along with residuals, I would also like to open an airport here to allow easier travel and allow tourists if you are willing."

The talks continued from there and a deal was struck for the Czarian to pay rent on a large section of the tribal land to build an airport and to allow a small amount of Russian tourists per month to come, in addition a camera crew would be arriving in the coming months to document as much as they can.

———February, 25th 1925——-

The Czarina spent almost a week in the Native reservation finding a location for her airport and sending a telegram to begin construction as soon as possible employing the locals but using Imperial goods.

She also spoke with Tsula multiple times hearing her story as with woman was to see old enough and remembered the trail of tears which she gave an interview on with the Czarina personally interviewing her.

Lt.C not the most welcome face on the reservation, stayed with the Russian guards and spoke with some fellow Great War veterans.

After spending time among the tribes the Czarina travels to Tulsa, another somber trip as not more than four years ago was the massacre that destroyed a prosperous black community that was still being rebuilt and many were still homeless.

————-

Flying over Tulsa the Czarina could see the areas damaged in the riots not three years earlier, an entire section of the city was gone and burned into nothingness and the areas rebuilt were being stolen by the local government.

The Czarina was heartbroken at her previous homeland to see segregation and the KKK so prevalent in the US was horrifying and only reaffirmed her wish to make Imperial Russia a Beacon of Liberty.

"Your Majesty, as your guide and I would like to think, friend please do not walk the streets of Tulsa the KKK has been attacking any non white and non-straight on sight over the past year." Lt.C practically begged the Czarina the visit to the USA had not been going well as she toured rougher areas of America and the last thing he needed was for the last Romanov to die on his watch.

The Czarina rolled her eyes, "I WILL be helping those people Lt. I will not let such injustice continue. If anything I will offer all 8,000 people who were affected by the event to live in Russia. We need business knowledge." Lt thought to himself that the idea wasn't that bad as it would make both parties pretty happy.

"*sigh* I know your majesty but please be safe and personally I truly hope you can help these people. What happened here is an affront to God." Lt was exhausted and the day hadn't even started yet, Nikolai felt the same and they were traveling in the armored cars and having the more fancy weapons on hand.

The Czarian and her future wife rode in the middle vehicle into the damaged area towards the few remaining meeting areas for the local black community.

Of course they were at first panicked but they soon saw the Russian flag on the cars and soldiers and calmed slightly as they had heard about the Czarina and her interesting personality.

The local leader is a young black preacher that goes by Preacher John who with the help of the other churches in the state have found housing and food for most of the people in the area.

He was the first to greet her and her entourage, "Your Majesty I'm Preacher John, I apologize for the mess but we have a lot of mouths to feed and more to keep warm." He said in his deep Mississippi accent that he hadn't lost or would.

The Czarina gave him a big smile as did her fiancée who the preacher greeted kindly as well no matter his personal opinion.

"I understand Preacher, I am also used to dealing with similar situations as I had many lost souls dealing after the war. May we go somewhere private to talk for a moment. I'll have my men stay out here if that makes everyone more comfortable." Nikolai went to abject but a look from his Queen quickly stopped it.

John calmed slightly and let out a breath he didn't know he had, "Thank you our majesty, please follow me into my office and please watch where you step. I have a lot of people sleeping in the church right now."

Stepping into the church he gave a whistle and those in the room turned to the preacher, some worried and others scared, "Attention everyone we were a surprise and important guest joining us for morning service then a private meeting, I would like to present Czarina Anastasia and her Fiancé." The room, which was filled with people of all ages, all had the same idea of what a Russian queen was doing in their church.

The Czarina gave them all a queenly wave and a smile, "Thank you for having me and my future wife here today everyone you all probably have many questions and I'll answer them after the meeting and service." The Czarina followed behind the preacher and went to the front of the pews and took a seat by a younger girl around 13 whose eyes went wide.

—————

Anastasia thought the service was nice, as she in her previous life had been a southern baptist had enjoyed but most of the service was hour various job opportunities and homes available in the surrounding towns.

The rest of the congregation including Olena who knew her fiancé was raised Russian Orthodox was very surprised with her knowledge of hymns and American ones at that.

As the services ended food was brought out and those who relied on the church for food due to the riots ate as Anastasia joined the preacher in his office while Olena talent scouted.

"I'm sorry to do that to you, your majesty but with the times many of these people rely on faith and community to survive, you joining helped bring a distraction to their lives." Preacher did feel bad but it was also a small test on his part in hopes of getting a better idea of Anastasia's personality.

She waved his concern away, "It is fine preacher it has been some time since I have been to a Christian service and my first Baptist one at that and With the large variety of faiths in Imperial Russia I rarely join in on Christian services."

The preacher ignored the last part and gave a smile, "Understandable Your majesty you must be a very busy woman so I hope this isn't going too far but why have you come to Tulsa?"

He liked the Czarina but the last thing he needed was disaster tourism and rubberneckers coming here.

"Ah straight to the point, what has happened to your community was a disaster and an atrocity, So I would like to help in any way I can." The Czarina gave him her best politician smile which the preacher had seen before and ignored it.

"What do you get out of this your majesty, helping a bunch of colored folk that it is." The Czarina didn't flinch at the jab and continued.

"Three things, international prestige as my nation is being known as a beacon of liberty for all oppressed people who have been flocking into my nation, two we are in need of educated business people to open in my nation and lastly I do truthfully want to help your community.

So I, the Czarina of Russia, offer all those negatively affected by the massacre on certain conditions citizenship and land to start your own communities in Russia." She raised her hand and used her queen voice to make the deal official.

"What conditions?" The preacher leaned forward and read the Imperial constitution while very much a nondemocratic nation the freedoms offered in Russia were great.

"You will all learn (from free classes) to read and write Russian, respect the laws of Russia, and give up citizenship in the USA. All children and future children so long as they are born in Imperial lands are Russian citizens.

A plot of land on Lake Hulun in Northern Manchuria has been chosen and if enough people agree to come a community will be built for your people."

The Czarina leaned back and let the preacher think, on the deal and the deal was very good and he knew he personally would take it but he would need to talk to some other to get a lot of people to join.

"I will talk with some of the other community leaders and have a decision ready by tomorrow but if not everyone decides immediately can they come later." He knew some would want to wait and hear from their own people that this place was real.

"Yes and no, if their children want to come then when they are grown they may come but after that the next generation must go through the normal immigration process like everyone else."

The two exited the room and joined the breakfast and the preacher sent a runner to the other groups, the Czarina mingled and spoke to everyone and spoke about being a princess to the younger girls.

She told the preacher where to find her when they decided.