I would argue that yes....it is that clear-cut, *especially* in terms of EU2. These groups ARE expressed as nations in-game. As such, they should be functional nations.
Here are some excerpts that you might find of interest (my emphasis added):
The Huron Confederacy was the first of the great Iroquian confederations in the region, and as such, probably the inspiration for the later formation of the Iroquois League. As early as 1400, the Attignawantan and Attigneenongnahac had entered into an alliance. It is believed that sometime after the formation of the Iroquois League, the Laurentian Iroquois living along the St. Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec, were forced to move west. Two groups of them, the Arendahronon (1560) and the Tahonaenrat (1570) joined the Huron Confederacy. As the most numerous group, the Attignawantan usually dominated the other members. The purpose of the Confederacy was similar to that of the Iroquois League: prevent blood feuds and fighting between its members. With a capitol at the village of Ossossane, each tribe sent representatives to a council whose purpose was to resolve internal disputes and decide matters of common concern regarding peace, war, and trade with outsiders. Otherwise each member tribe retained control of its own territory and was free to pursue its separate interests.
In like manner, each of the Huron villages managed its own internal affairs. These villages varied in size, but the larger ones were usually fortified and had populations well over 1,000. Fortification and large size probably resulted from the region's constant warfare, but the densely populated villages and large communal bark-covered longhouses (sometimes 200' long) made the Huron vulnerable to European epidemics. In most ways, the Huron lifestyle closely resembled that of the Iroquois. Beginning around 1100, the Iroquian people in this region began large-scale agriculture. A dramatic increase in population followed which, unfortunately, was accompanied by a similar increase in organized warfare.
Social organization began with extended families and a matrilineal clan system. Rather than the patrilineal descent of Europeans
Huron justice could be harsh. Convicted murderers were often tied to their victim's corpse and allowed to starve. In later times offenders were shot by firing squad.
One critical difference between the Iroquois and Huron was the birchbark canoe. Iroquois constructed their canoes from elm-wood (which made them heavy), and as a result, they usually preferred to travel on foot, but the Huron, surrounded by a network of rivers and lakes, used their canoes to travel great distances and trade their agricultural surplus with other tribes, including the Iroquois. It was this advantage in transport and trade which first aroused the interest of the French in the Huron.
the Huron had good relations with many of theirs through a pattern of trade which extended north through the Ottawa and Nipissing to the Ojibwe at Sault Ste. Marie.
No borders existed in the European sense, with most of the lands in between the relatively compact areas of occupation either being shared or disputed, depending on the circumstances.
The French alliance with the Huron and Algonkin forced the Mohawk to abandon the St. Lawrence Valley in 1610. This setback proved only temporary, since the Mohawk were soon able to trade with the Dutch on the Hudson River. Understanding the advantage in weapons the French trade gave their enemies, the Mohawk jealously guarded their trade with the Dutch. After wars with the Susquehannock (1615) and the Mahican (1624-28), they emerged as the dominant Dutch trade partner.
....Attempting to regain the advantage for his native allies, he began to supply them with firearms and limited supplies of ammunition for "hunting." Dutch and British traders responded with similar weapons for the Iroquois beginning an arms-race.
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From the above, it sounds like the guys Hardu's talking about as mindless savages who romped around and ate each other had a pretty keen understanding of what was going on. Further, they were armed and dangerous, in quantity.
-=Vel=-
