Who’s in Vinland
Throughout Eivor's time in Vinland, they interact heavily and rely upon the local tribe, the Kanien'hehá. Assassin's Creed as a franchise has performed extensive research by a multicultural and diverse group of game designers. Every time players open the game, they are greeted with a disclosure of their works to unbiased and truthful depictions of history. The game's depiction of the Native Americans who interacted with the Viking explorers bases then upon the Kanien'hehá, a real tribe whose name means 'people of the flint' and that was part of the Iroquois nation. The two villages shown in the game were Karonhiaken:iate' and Kahrhakén:rat, where the player can interact with the community leaders, traders, and Olav the Unlucky.
However, within the sagas, Native Americans are depicted entirely differently. The earliest mention of natives is when the second expedition led by Thorvald, the brother of Leif, attacks nine men described as hiding under 'skin boats,' canoes made of moose hide, and killing all but one who escaped. Most interactions follow this trend as the group is attacked the next day when Thorvald is hit by an arrow and killed. Eventually, a strategized battle took place and saw many Skaelings, natives, killed with their leader supposedly picking up an axe, killing his ally, and tossing the weapon aside.
The one nonviolent interaction occurred when a new expedition party arrived, and natives arrived to trade packs full of furs for a few cups of milk from the cows brought along. This depiction shows them as less intelligent as they are shortly after, scared off by the mooing of cows.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. Version 1.7.0. For PlayStation 4, Ubisoft, 2020
Within the game, however, the local tribes are shown as caring and more spiritually intelligent than the invading Vikings. They actually know what the Piece of Eden is that Eivor finds on Gorm’s body. The villages shown are far more built up and organized than the small, barely formed landing site for the Viking ships.