The Priest Kings brought the planet Gor into our solar system at some unspecified point in time. They then brought humans from Earth to Gor, and allowed them to carry on or recreate their Earth cutures. Thus in
Marauders of Gor, Tarl Cabot journeys among Vikings, and in
Tribesmen of Gor, among Arabs. My favorite example of this pollination is the Native Americans who are given a territory similar to the North American Great Plains.
These "Gorean Indians" are presented in the two-part story told in
Savages of Gor and
Blood Brothers of Gor. Tarl Cabot travels to their lands, known as The Barrens, on a quest to locate the Kurii military leader Zarendargar (Kurii are highly intelligent beasts, a bit like a meaner version of Chewbacca, who seek to conquer Gor and Earth). A Kurii death squad has been sent to Gor to eliminate Zarendargar for his failure to complete an important mission in the book
Beasts of Gor. Cabot decides to try to warn his old foe, since they became friendly during the course of that book. Thus the series retains an element of science fiction, even as Cabot travels, more or less, into the Old West.
The Priest Kings forbid advanced weaponry on Gor, so the Gorean Indians have a weapons parity with the mainstream culture of the planet. This allows them to hold onto their lands with no real threat of being defeated and overrun. But the tribes know this happened to them in the past, on Earth, so they collectively maintain what is known as "The Memory," even as they raid and fight each other. The Memory dictates that Whites are to be viewed with suspicion, and can only enter the Barrens in small groups with two Kaiila per man (Kaiila are the equivalent of horses).
Cabot enters the Barrens in the company of a respected trader, known as Grunt. Cabot had earlier encountered a mercenary company of 1000 men, hired by the Kurii death squad to escort them into the Barrens. This was near a border town, and word in the town is that a foolish group of settlers had entered the Barrens in search of free land. In the event, the soldiers and Kurii overtook the settlers, and the combined force was attacked by a coalition of tribes, setting aside their differences to remove this white invasion of their lands. This happens off scene, but Cabot and Grunt are able to establish that roughly 400 soldiers were able to fight their way free and escape.
Gor author John Norman wrote the book
Ghost Dance around the same time he wrote the earliest Gor novels, many years before the Gorean Indian volumes. Ghost Dance is set in 1890 during the Ghost Dance troubles on the Pine Ridge Lakota reservation in South Dakota. His research was carried forward for these Gorean books, because the Indains Cabot and Grunt deal with speak authentic Sioux. The Dust Legs tribe they first encounter speak Santee Dakota, while the Kaiila tribe, related to the Dust Legs, speak Teton Lakota (Dakota and Lakota are very similar, with certain words, like the tribal names being spelled alternately with a "d" or "l" so that the color red is "duta" in Dakota, as in the Wapikute renegade Inkpaduta (Scarlet Plume, or Red-on-top), but is "luta" in Lakota, as in the Oglala war leader Mahpiyaluta (Red Cloud)).
Savages of Gor sets the story up, but events only get going full-swing in
Blood Brothers of Gor. Cabot and Grunt spend that novel in the company of Kaiila tribe, and aid them in a time of great trouble. This includes the soldiers appearing again, but Cabot helps to orchestrate their defeat. Thus, he gets to be the lone white man who helps the Indians beat the evil soldiers once and for all. This may not mean much to some readers, but I know from talking with friends that I'm not alone in usually rooting for the Indians in various fictional and non-fictional stories from history. So it is a vicarious thrill to be part of an eventual decisive Indian victory, and I imagine that Norman was pleased to be able to tell such a story.
Of course, these are Gor novels, so these books won't be for everyone. Many who find the idea of the Indians as good guys to be attractive will be turned off by the constant presence of slave girls and master-slave philosophy. But these sections can easily be skipped with a bit of judicious skimming, leaving a rip-roaring story of adventure in the Gorean Old West. I'm a fan for sure, and read these books, or sections at least every few years. Maybe I should seek out some alternate universe fiction where the Indians also win here on Earth!
