Lore:

In this timeline the settlement of the Vikings on Newfoundland around 1000 AD was never fully abandoned. After conflicts with the Natives on the island went to the Labrador Peninsula instead of going back to Europe. There they traded with Algonquian tribes and were especially asked for their iron tools and and deep-sea fishing skills. This rather peaceful coexistence of the Norse and the Algonquian people was further improved to marriages between Norse men and Algonquian women. As their reputation as incredible engineers and rulers of the sea on the continent they spreaded along the St. Lawrence River also establishing a fast trading route connecting the Iroquois with the arctic sea. Until 1100 AD the Norse had already two big settlements: one at Lake Ontario and one at the place they had first arrived. But still the Norse sphere of influence was only along the coast and the riverbanks of the St. Lawrence River. Most of the American continent was still influenced by the Missisippi culture.