Tglinkit
From SCross
Tglinkit Tribe
(Bovine, Plains) Pulledfrom the evaluation and study of the Tglinkit in the town of Highwind Point.(Intricacies are emitted, but perhaps gained as more and more trust is given).
Brief Overview: In Tglinkit culture a heavy emphasis is placed upon family and kinship with a rich tradition of oratory. Wealth and economic power are important indicators of status, but so is generosity and proper behavior. Art and spirituality are incorporated in nearly all areas of Tglinkit culture, with even everyday objects such as spoons and storage boxes decorated and imbued with spiritual and historical association. To have a ‘calling’ or an artistic way of expression is to find your own soul.
Religion: The Tglinkit and their neighbors held in common a set of beliefs about the way the human world interacted with the natural and supernatural worlds, though the Tglinkit themselves also had some profound personal differences in outlook. The shared concepts centered around curing the sick, ensuring the supply of food, and controlling or at least influencing the weather for gathering. Among the ranks of shaman were specialists whose powers were particularly effective within a selected range of tasks such as securing the outcome of major enterprises. Both genders could be shaman, but more often it was men who chose the calling. Women shaman focused more on curing illnesses and the difficulties of childbirth and, in rare cases, on power over animals and fish.
The Tglinkit see the world as a system of dualities. The most obvious is the division between the light water and the dark forest which surrounds their daily lives in the Tglinkit homeland. Water serves as a primary means of transportation, and as a source of most animalistic Tglinkit food. Its surface is flat and broad, and most dangers on the water are readily perceived by the naked eye. Light reflects brightly off the sea, and it is one of the first things that a person ka sees when they undertake 'the journey' (which is well shielded against any outsiders). Like all things, danger lurks beneath its surface, but these dangers are for the most part easily avoided with some caution and planning. For such reasons it is considered a relatively safe and reliable place, and thus represents the apparent forces of the Tglinkit world. In contrast, the dense and forbidding forest is dark and misty in even the brightest summer weather. Untold dangers from bears, falling trees, monsters, and the risk of being lost all make the forest a constantly dangerous place. Vision in the forest is poor, reliable landmarks are few, and food is scarce in comparison to the seashore. Entering the forest always means traveling uphill, often up the sides of steep mountains, and clear trails are rare to nonexistent. Thus the forest represents the hidden forces in the Tglinkit world. Another series of dichotomies in Tglinkit thought are wet versus dry, heat versus cold, and hard versus soft. A wet, cold climate causes people to seek warm, dry shelter. The traditional Tglinkit house, with its solid red-cedar construction and blazing central fireplace, represented an ideal Tglinkit conception of warmth, hardness, and dryness. Contrast the soggy forest floor that is covered with soft rotten trees and moist, squishy moss, both of which make for uncomfortable habitation. Three attributes that Tglinkits value in a person are hardness, dryness, and heat. These can be perceived in many different ways, such as the hardness of strong bones or the hardness of a firm will; the heat given off by a healthy living man, or the heat of a passionate feeling; the dryness of clean skin and hair, or the sharp dry scent of cedar.
Dialect: The Ancestral language ‘Tglinkit’ is known not only for its complex grammar and sound system but also for using certain phonemes which are not heard in almost any other language. Because of their joy of language, their own has become endangered; the mixture of Imperial and Valente that they have been exposed to has begun to infiltrate their own in lingo and catchphrases, which is slowly molding their own language into something not quite their own. Humans will often have a harder time replicating the sounds that these beings make, as their vocal cords are not suited for the enunciation that is required.
Art: In Tglinkit society many things are considered property which is not in other societies. This includes names, stories, speeches, songs, dances, landscape and artistic designs. This comes from them being rich in an artistic heritage of wood, metal and design. They use a lot of copper in their metal works and design, and their design is a very sophisticated form of abstract art based on their religious system. A good example of this can be seen in their totem poles, although they have also applied design to their body sometimes, showing complete devotion to their religion through self inflicted tattoos. The decorations on the objects they create are statements of social identity, or reminders of rights and prerogatives bestowed on their ancestors by supernatural beings, or of lessons taught to them through mythic encounters with the animals, birds, fish or other beings whose likenesses were embodied in the crests passed down through generations. Craftsmanship of the local items is seen throughout every day life. Cedar trees are used in both a textile for clothing and building material. After the bark was peeled in long strips from the trees, the outer layer was split away, and the flexible inner layer was shredded and processed. The resulting felted strips of bark were soft and could be plaited, sewn or woven into a variety of fabrics that were either dense and watertight, or soft and comfortable. Women wore skirts and capes of cedar bark, while men wore long capes of cedar bark into which some imported cloth was woven for decorative effect. An ancient form of weaving -- also called Cillcat -- continues, although with the advent of the Highpoint Village commercial cloth is slowly replacing wild caught. Fur lined outfits are also seen frequently depending on temperature and weather.
Temperance: The Tglinkit share common borders with other indigenous people but have thus far not shown themselves to be violent or war-faring people while on land. They are very helpful when asked nicely, but when asked wrong they have been known to feign ignorance or 'stupidity' to get out of bad compromises or deals. They are a very hardy people who can survive on the bare essentials that nature can provide; grains/grasses and shelter during torrential blizzards are almost all they need to live during the winter. Out of all of the native tribes, these are the people to see when it comes to survival against all odds. While on water, these people seem vastly different. Influence from their tribe spreads across the trees to the very brink of the oceans, patterned by their tell-tale religious abstract symbols that they carve into the wood on their journeys to the ocean. Carrying canoes that have been hand-crafted by individual families that could hold the entire family if need be, they rush out into the cold oceans for days on end, harvesting kelp and by some rumors and myths, whales. The canoes were filled with all members of the tribe; there was no age or gender discrimination as long as they wanted to come. Paddles during battle are armed with large stone rings that could be flung at opposing vessels or animals to stun or render them useless.
Festivals: Generally there is a great dinner whenever events in the life cycle occur which is called the Koaha. These feasts do not just have to include the local natives; they can span up across all of the natives in the area, nomad or not. Throwing these celebrations is seen as prestigious. Fish is generally consumed during these, and an exchanging of gifts according to the hierarchical structure occurs. By giving away items of importance, those who do the gifting demonstrate their prominence in showing that they do not need items of material possession. This will prompt others to reciprocate in times of need, thus insuring the survival of the tribe whenever there is a crisis.
LifeStyle: They live in large cedar-plank houses and built fifty-foot-high totem poles at the fronts of the buildings. Society is matrilineal, with a reinforced social hierarchy based on rankings of both hereditary, status and ‘wealth’. The dialects of the Tglinkit language are unrelated to any other known tongue, which is why the mixture of Valente and Imperial into it is causing disruption.
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