Nation: The Inuit-Yukonian Confederacy
Location: Northern Canada (Though their power is currently centred on Whitehorse, they claim dominion over all northern tribes and peoples North, East, and West of Great Slave Lake, as far west as the Rocky Mountains in Yukon, and as far east as the northern edge of Hudson's Bay, technically.) 
Icon:[img] http://www.clker.com/cliparts/X/1/j/b/R/H/yukon-territories-emblem.svg[/img]
History: (Includes leadership) Although only officially formed as a political entity in 2170, the Inuit-Yukon Confederacy has existed unofficially almost since the end of the Great War, with its foundations being laid during the American occupation. 

The annexation of Canada by the United States in 2072 in order to secure the Alaskan Pipeline to the Anchorage Front Line, and utilize the vast material wealth of the nation for the diminishing supplies of the Americans had bred no small measure of resentment and hatred among thousands of Canadians across the country. Under General Buzz Babcock, the US military cracked down publicly upon the occupied people, shooting protestors and rioters with little regard for human life in order to protect their material interests, and even utilizing power armour-equipped troops in some of the first domestic disputes between the military and civilians within American territories. 

Yukon became a central base of American power in the far north during the annexation. For unlike the other originally Canadian territories, though sparsely populated, it was rich in both mineral and timber wealth compared to the other two eastern territories whose wealth was simply mineral. Diamonds, Lead, Zinc, Gold, Copper, and hydroelectric power stations were among some of the assets seized by the US, and its proximity to Alaska prompted the creation of several military installations being constructed with rotating tours of garrisons in order to both bolster the military infrastructure to the Anchorage Front Line, and ensure the security of the seized assets from the Canadians and Inuit of the north.

At first, the Americans thought it to be a complete waste of resources to build several forts and outposts in the north, even if the Canadians rose up in the Yukon, it was so sparsely populated there that it would take almost no effort to reclaim control of the area. Whitehorse itself, when the Americans arrived, contained half of the territory's official population within its city limits, and the rest were scattered throughout the sparse and rugged landscape, with the other territories being little better equipped to resist in terms of population.

This changed quite dramatically following the breakout of the war in 2077. Tens of Thousands of Canadians and even some American deserters of all kinds who couldn't buy their way into Vaults and feared the bombs fled as far north from the border and coastlines as they could with everything they could carry, and soon the territories were flooded with migrants from the provinces. The US Military forces garrisoned in the north, now cut off from their superiors for thousands of miles, and having little desire to move to the bombarded south, the American annexation and occupation force in the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut openly deserted from the US Army, and assumed the title of the Free States of Hyperborea in 2080 under former US Lieutenant Abrams Boyd, now taking the title of Governor.

But the more things changed, the more things stayed the same for the Canadians, American Deserters, and Inuit tribes. Many were offered service into the newly formed Arctic Division, with families of troops promised food, materials, and land, all of which were at a premium with so many displaced people in the provinces. Many enlisted, but not enough to satisfy Boyd's need for troops to control and police the wide swathe of territory between the outposts and forts in the north which he claimed sovereignty over, and many more protested the fact that he should have the power he wielded at all, namely those of the Yukon and Inuit who had lived through the annexation, and saw an opportunity for something new and better than what was simply an American occupation under a new name.

These defiant Yukon Canadians and Inuit made a deal between themselves, a partnership to support one another against the new government which they saw as just as illegitimate as before the bombs started falling, calling themselves the Arctic Council. They spread out across the north, organizing Inuit and Canadians outside of the Yukon territory as well as within and spreading dissent among the more recently arrived Canadians and Deserters, winning sympathizers and becoming powerful. Abrams took notice, and sent his troops to try and crack down on those he saw as troublemakers, at first arresting and conscripting into workforces, and eventually publicly executing some, their bodies hung from the walls of Fort Hyperborean just outside of Whitehorse.

But these measures did little but to insight more anger and bitterness from the populace, and as it became clearer that returning south at this time was not an option due to the massive amount of bombs being dropped, and with many still homeless, landless, and starving, the American occupiers's list of enemies grew, both in numbers and boldness. Thefts from Arctic Division stockpiles and armouries, arson of informers' and sympathizer's land or houses, and assaults on lone or small patrols of Division soldiers increased over the years, until by 2094 when Governor Abrams and his troops had finally had enough. They swept through Whitehorse in a house to house purge of the city, searching for any trace of Arctic Council sympathies on anyone before dragging them out to be shot, in a night known as The Bleeding of Whitehorse. Hundreds died, and those resistors who could fled the city, warning their fellows as Abrams' men spread out across the Yukon territory in kill-teams to eliminate any nest of Arctic Council Members they could find in the wilderness or smaller townships.

The survivors who were able to outrun the "butchers" fled across the old Yukon territory border, putting distance between them and the centre of power for the Free States of Hyperborea, and sending out a rallying call in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut as they travelled into the sparser east, eventually coming to a stop at the shores of Hudson's Bay, at the designated meeting place for what remained of the Arctic Council, and their awaiting sympathizers. There, the gathered nomads of the Inuit tribes met with the fled survivors from Yukon and gathered members from the other territories to decide what the next course of action should be. They determined that for their own survival, they could neither negotiate, nor wait no longer, they would fight Abrams and his Arctic Division rather than allow him to drag them out and murder them at his leisure.

So, though not as well-equipped, nor as well trained, but having greater numbers than the thin eastern garrisons, the comrades in arms began their war in Nunavut, taking several Arctic Division outposts before overwhelming the small "fort" of Eskimo, the central operations centre for the Division in Nunavut, and claiming it for the Arctic Council. Now with a fixed point for supporters to gather, many came to pledge their support for the rebels, whether as troops for their Komatik(Inuit Sled) and Infantry teams, or simply to live a better life. The Arctic Council forced nobody to work what they did not wish to work, simply putting out community initiatives and organizing people to ensure survival without crippling their landscape, the Inuit people were a big help in this initiative with their generations hunting, fishing, and foraging skills and knowledge.

Naturally, Governor Abrams could tolerate no opponents to his power, and so he began war in earnest with the Arctic Council, and Division and Council troops clashed along the Nunavut and Northwest territory borders. For twenty years, the war of attrition raged, with the better arms and defences of the Free Statesmen matching the Council's numbers and knowledge of the land, until in 2114 Governor Abrams Boyd finally died, leaving no clear successor to the title, or to his seat in Fort Hyperborean in Whitehorse. The Arctic Division splintered into multiple factions under the various Fort and Outpost commanders, all vying for control, which the Arctic Council capitalized on, as they swept into the Northwest Territories, eventually liberating Yellowknife and many of the surrounding environs before a new Governor emerged in one former Captain Lawrence Dawes in 2117.

 Lawrence feared the Arctic Council and its recent acquisitions but also of those within his own forces, and he became paranoid within his own territory, to the point of obsessing over his own troops and questioning their sympathies and loyalties. Some defected to the Arctic Council, others tried to frag their CO but failed and ended up joining the growing tally of the dead. This would continue until the united and stronger front of the Arctic Council brought matters to a head and invaded Yukon to liberate their fellow people from the occupiers. By 2118, the liberators stormed into Whitehorse after being cast out so long ago and placed Fort Hyperborean under siege. The siege lasted several months, with the Council content to let "Governor" Dawes and his remaining soldiers starve if they would not give in to their demands of his surrender to their justice. Eventually, the remaining Arctic Division soldiers in the Fort betrayed Lawrence, and after murdering their "loyalist" fellows, they capitulated the Fort, and surrendered themselves and their former Governor to the Council. Most of the traitors would be sentenced to short terms of community service in the eastern territories or to families in Whitehorse, some would be exiled from the northern territories with what they could carry, and a handful along with Governor Lawrence Dawes would be executed. 

After nearly fifty years of American occupation, northern Canada was finally free, and the Arctic Council had prevailed, but now came rebuilding what had been ruined, and forming a new effective government for the united tribes and people. There was much heated debate around this, as nobody wanted to have an opportunity for a new despot to arise. Some argued for full independence for all of the individual townships, tribes, and cities. Let everyone rule their own land and govern their own affairs in this post-apocalyptic world and let things mend before the question of governance came up, begrudgingly, this option seemed like a viable one for the present situation, though it was adjusted for practicality reasons. To ensure that the communities stayed in contact, the Arctic Council chose to remain in place, disbanding its military formally back to its own territories and lands, but keeping representatives among the tribes, towns, and cities. They would let time pass, allow the land and people to heal, and a generation from that day, they would meet again to talk about how they should organize themselves.

So, a generation passed, setting to work on stabilizing their own affairs and fully learning how to adapt to their new world and lifestyle, and in 2168, the Arctic Council's representatives met again at Whitehorse, older, calmer, and wiser for their ordeal. They began to formulate the idea of a government based on the old Inuit, and First Nations traditions of a Confederacy. The Tribes and communities would each have an equal say on the Assembly in Whitehorse, and they would come together as one to decide on matters of collective action, such as war, national crisis, environmental disaster, and national law. They would contribute to the maintenance of the new government, and pledge support based on their land's capacities. Other than that, each community would govern themselves in all matters. The tribes and communities agreed, and in 2170, the Yukon-Inuit Confederacy was officially formed. 

For a century, the Council of Elders, as they are called, have met and ruled the Confederacy from Whitehorse, utilizing the infrastructure the Americans left them, and generating a prosperous nation in the harsh north that is sustainable and fiercely independent. Disputes between the communities have arisen over the decades, though most have been resolved peacefully, and all parties have emerged stronger because of it. Men and women of all origins enjoy equal rights, and the cooperation between communities has made strong bonds between them. Now, they're ready to expand, and see what lies south after the bombs have long since fallen, and perhaps reclaim Canada for its people once again.