“Prarie Gun” is just as out to lunch as Captured Howitzer. Neither of these have any basis in reality and should not be in the game full stop. Only the natives that used cannons (Inca, Hauds, Cree, Mapuche, Maya, Haida, Guarani, etc) should have access to Light Cannons or some other artillery.
The natives that never ever used artillery should be given artillery equivalents based on native technology. Doing so may stretch the plausibility of their use, but at least it wouldn’t be entirely fictional like Captured Howitzers.
Right now we have Arrow Knights and Huaracas as artillery equivalents that use native technology. Huaracs are a joke in this role. With only 12 range they get absolutely shredded on approach and don’t counter artillery at all. They’re completely unsuitable for this role, and should be more of a grenadier-skirm like Firethrowers instead of an artillery equivalent. Arrow Knights are only passable because they have an absolutely stupid range of 30. A bow capable of outranging most artillery and every single rifleman in the game takes more than a reasonable amount of suspension of disbelief.
Some solutions based on native technology should be somewhat plausible and have other strengths to make them usable without needing a fictional range.
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Range - Make their base range as low as practically possible to keep it realistic. Use new mechanics like the Skill Promotion to let them gain range after successful engagements. You could probably go as low as 24 range (27 fully promoted) and still have them be viable.
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Resiliency - They don’t necessarily need to tank a direct hit, but give them a decent amount of health and siege resistance so that they can at least shrug off some artillery splash damage. Avoiding the infantry tag and going with ranged shock infantry where reasonable would also help avoid the multipliers of most artillery.
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Lingering Damage - You don’t have to outrange your target if you can keep dishing out damage after you are gone. Lingering fire and poison damage would work very well for native artillery equivalents. When attacking buildings, they could set them ablaze to deal lingering damage just like the card Siege Archery. When attacking units, poison damage could be used to increase damage duration and bypass the massive range resistance of most artillery.
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Mobility - Having high enough mobility to be able to shoot and scoot would let you avoid the worst of artillery fire and keep your units alive longer. It would also let you make the most of lingering fire and poison damage.
With the above points in mind, I’d suggest two units to fill the artillery role for the various native civs:
Lacrosse Runner (North American Natives)
For the North American Natives, I’d give them a Lacrosse/Tewaaraton/Chanskopa Runner. At first glance, it looks like just a sport, but it was instrumental in training warriors, played a role in several sieges, and was used for hurling flaming projectiles to aid in hunting. They would make the most sense as a ranged shock infantry unit, so they’d avoid most artillery bonus damage and have high mobility.
This unit would be applicable to the Haudenosaunee, Lakota, Comanche, Cree, Muscogee, etc.
Jungle Archer (Mesoamerican & South American Natives)
For the Mesoamerican and South American Natives, I’d merge the Arrow Knight and Jungle Bowman into a more generic siege and anti-artillery “Jungle Archer” (or just keep the Jungle Bowman name). Utilizing poison damage would let it bypass artillery resistance and be an effective counter. It should also have a higher speed and more resistance, but lower range and rate of fire than current Arrow Knights.
This unit would be applicable to the Aztecs, Inca, Maya, Guarani, etc.
To replace the Jungle Bowman’s light infantry role, Otonotin Slingers could be made into a generic Slinger unit also available to Incas, Maya, etc. Huracas would also serve as more advanced light infantry.
Light Cannon (Various)
It would make sense to have this available in later ages for Inca, Hauds, Cree, Mapuche, and Maya as they all used cannons to a limited degree. Similarly, Battering Rams are also generic enough to be more widely available.
Other Artillery (Future Civs)
Carronade - The Haida captured artillery from ships so they could have a cannon with a naval background. It could also be shared with potential civs like Maori and Hawaiians.
Tacuaruzu Gun - The Guarani constructed wooden cannons out of tacuaruzu cane. They were quite makeshift and would make the most sense in a role similar to a Leather Cannon. Jungle Archers could fill the anti-artillery and siege role for Guarani.