Post by Kizmet on Jun 20, 2011 0:24:52 GMT -5
HISTORY
The Nisga split away from the other Haida tribes over 1000 years ago, taking to the forest because of its rich and seemingly limitless supply of food and cover. Though all Haida are notoriously resistant to change, the Nisga are some of the most resistant. They come into very little contact with any outsiders except the Ahatna and the Yakima along the farther eastern border, though this is a rare occasion, and the Messinians along the northern border. Rarest of all is encountering Ivera’l’Haida along the southern border. The Nisga and the Messinians wage a bitter war and have for centuries. Messina is a small country, and their population and their ability to maintain their population has been straining more and more as the centuries pass. To combat this, they have been slowly pushing in to what is traditionally Nisga territory in an effort to claim more land, and more importantly, more trees. The Nisga regard their plant-life as sacred and meant only for they themselves, the Nisga, who handle it with care and take only what is needed, unlike the Messinians, who plunder the forest and take enormous amounts of wood away. These two beliefs and interests clash in a deadly and bitter battle to the death between the Nisga and the Messinians. This rivalry has led to a belief that the northern Nisga’l’Haida are more hostile than their southern counterparts, though this is in reality not true. The northern Nisga merely must fight for their lives more often.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Nisga’l’Haida have reddish-tanned skin with hair of nearly an identical shade of reddish-brown. Most are long-limbed and lithe, strong but without an exceptionally muscular build. Like all Haida, the Nisga have the characteristic brilliant cerulean blue eyes. Most keep their faces clean shaven, and both men and women have a tendency towards very long hair.
POSSESSIONS
The Nisga’l’Haidan do not keep possessions of their own, but each tribe shares in resources. Most Nisga do carry a stone or bone knife on their person at all times for practical multi-purpose uses, and each family has a variety of items used for fishing, hunting, gathering, etc. Such as baskets, fishing hooks, lines, rods, nets, bows and arrows, darts and dart guns, etc. But these items, like most others, are freely shared amongst one another. Most Nisga are also widely pierced, and thus have on their person a fairly large collection of jewelry at all times.
LIVING QUARTERS
Nisga’l’Haidans live in grass and wood shacks. Some live in naturally hollowed trees, or naturally occurring caves and enclosures. These are mainly places to keep tools and the such, as most Nisga eat on the run as they are exploring their territory, and unless it is raining heavily they will sleep underneath the stars, the thick canopy above providing plenty of shelter. Some Nisga will climb high into the trees and sleep amongst the thick branches. In the few largest cities a different, more civilized way of life is beginning to develop. Here gigantic stone structures are built, and there is a great temple/castle in the center of the town. Most of the Nisga here live in man-made stone dwellings.
SOCIAL SKILLS
The Nisga are the most war-like of the Haidan peoples, mostly due to their history of bad blood with Messina. They will most often attack first and ask questions later. Anyone caught trespassing in Nisga’l’Haida territory is likely in for a terrorizing experience, and if they are unable to communicate in the Haidan tongue they are likely in for a long imprisonment, and may very well find their misadventure to have fatal consequences. Once an outsider is able to befriend a Nisgan tribe however, they will find that they will be treated as family, and will have no truer friends or allies.
DIET
The Nisga’l’Haida have perhaps the most varied diet of any people in Lamavia. They will eat literally anything they find while out foraging. Animals, Fruits, Vegetables, Insects, Grains, Grasses, Trees, Flowers, Spiders, Fish, Birds… They will try anything. There are persistent rumors that some Nisga tribes, especially the most remote of them, practice cannibalism, but these rumors are so far unsubstantiated.
FASHION AND DRESS
The Nisga wear feathers, leaves, animal skins, tree bark, flowers. Some Nisga go completely naked, some wear only body paint. Very few Nisga, if any, male or female, wear any clothing under the age of about 10. The adults, even the women, rarely wear anything more than a short skirt used to cover their loins. Very few Nisga are completely bare however. Most wear a combination of feathers or leaves, paint, tattoos and piercings to decorate their bodies and cover the plainness of them. The most common garments are teffas worn around the waist that are made of vines, skins, feathers, and/or leaves. Teffas are a type of skirt worn traditionally by the Haidan peoples, predominately the Ivera and the Nisga, consisting of strips of animal skin, feathers and leaves. One strip is wrapped about the waist and tied in the back. The other strips, all about 12 inches long, are tied to the waist strip and left to dangle down about 10 inches. The Nisgan teffas usually consist of a vine tied about the waist with large ornate feathers left to dangle down, or large palm fronds.
EDUCATION
The vast majority of Nisga’l’Haidan receive no education whatsoever apart from foraging skills that are learned on the fly from their parents. In the largest cities however, the new, more civilized places, all Nisga learn sciences and astronomy and mathematics, and are able to write using a primitive form of hieroglyphs and carved pictures.
COMMUNICATION
Almost all Nisga’l’Haida speak only the Haidan Language, but along the very outer edges you might be able to find someone who can manage a little bit of the Trader’s Tongue, though not exactly reliably.
PROFESSIONS
There are no real professions, except in the largest civilized cities where you will find scholars in each of the subjects. There is also a chief of each village and a shaman in each village.?
MEDICINE
They use natural medicines and very little healing magicks, but are lucky to be surrounded by a multitude of natural healing compounds, so usually the healing is effective.
RELIGION
The Nisga’l’Haida, like all Haidans, believe in The Ancient Ones, a race of Gods and Goddesses who control nature and can either help or hinder the mortals living in Lamavia. They are known as 'Ashu Ashee' in the Native Tongue. The Cycles of the Sun and Moon as well as the Seasons and the Weather are celebrated by all Haidan Tribes, each embodied by a specific God or Goddess. The Nisga believe everything has a spirit, every plant, every animal, every thing. They work with these as well as their ancestors. They find a little divinity to be within everything, and many forces of nature are embodied within Gods and Goddesses.
PROTECTION
The Nisga protect themselves using magicks, hand-to-hand combat, knives, arrows and darts made of stone, teeth, bones, horns, antlers, etc. They use bow and arrows and blow darts, spears, and a multitude of other random weapons. They wear armor made of thick tree bark to battles.
The Nisga split away from the other Haida tribes over 1000 years ago, taking to the forest because of its rich and seemingly limitless supply of food and cover. Though all Haida are notoriously resistant to change, the Nisga are some of the most resistant. They come into very little contact with any outsiders except the Ahatna and the Yakima along the farther eastern border, though this is a rare occasion, and the Messinians along the northern border. Rarest of all is encountering Ivera’l’Haida along the southern border. The Nisga and the Messinians wage a bitter war and have for centuries. Messina is a small country, and their population and their ability to maintain their population has been straining more and more as the centuries pass. To combat this, they have been slowly pushing in to what is traditionally Nisga territory in an effort to claim more land, and more importantly, more trees. The Nisga regard their plant-life as sacred and meant only for they themselves, the Nisga, who handle it with care and take only what is needed, unlike the Messinians, who plunder the forest and take enormous amounts of wood away. These two beliefs and interests clash in a deadly and bitter battle to the death between the Nisga and the Messinians. This rivalry has led to a belief that the northern Nisga’l’Haida are more hostile than their southern counterparts, though this is in reality not true. The northern Nisga merely must fight for their lives more often.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
The Nisga’l’Haida have reddish-tanned skin with hair of nearly an identical shade of reddish-brown. Most are long-limbed and lithe, strong but without an exceptionally muscular build. Like all Haida, the Nisga have the characteristic brilliant cerulean blue eyes. Most keep their faces clean shaven, and both men and women have a tendency towards very long hair.
POSSESSIONS
The Nisga’l’Haidan do not keep possessions of their own, but each tribe shares in resources. Most Nisga do carry a stone or bone knife on their person at all times for practical multi-purpose uses, and each family has a variety of items used for fishing, hunting, gathering, etc. Such as baskets, fishing hooks, lines, rods, nets, bows and arrows, darts and dart guns, etc. But these items, like most others, are freely shared amongst one another. Most Nisga are also widely pierced, and thus have on their person a fairly large collection of jewelry at all times.
LIVING QUARTERS
Nisga’l’Haidans live in grass and wood shacks. Some live in naturally hollowed trees, or naturally occurring caves and enclosures. These are mainly places to keep tools and the such, as most Nisga eat on the run as they are exploring their territory, and unless it is raining heavily they will sleep underneath the stars, the thick canopy above providing plenty of shelter. Some Nisga will climb high into the trees and sleep amongst the thick branches. In the few largest cities a different, more civilized way of life is beginning to develop. Here gigantic stone structures are built, and there is a great temple/castle in the center of the town. Most of the Nisga here live in man-made stone dwellings.
SOCIAL SKILLS
The Nisga are the most war-like of the Haidan peoples, mostly due to their history of bad blood with Messina. They will most often attack first and ask questions later. Anyone caught trespassing in Nisga’l’Haida territory is likely in for a terrorizing experience, and if they are unable to communicate in the Haidan tongue they are likely in for a long imprisonment, and may very well find their misadventure to have fatal consequences. Once an outsider is able to befriend a Nisgan tribe however, they will find that they will be treated as family, and will have no truer friends or allies.
DIET
The Nisga’l’Haida have perhaps the most varied diet of any people in Lamavia. They will eat literally anything they find while out foraging. Animals, Fruits, Vegetables, Insects, Grains, Grasses, Trees, Flowers, Spiders, Fish, Birds… They will try anything. There are persistent rumors that some Nisga tribes, especially the most remote of them, practice cannibalism, but these rumors are so far unsubstantiated.
FASHION AND DRESS
The Nisga wear feathers, leaves, animal skins, tree bark, flowers. Some Nisga go completely naked, some wear only body paint. Very few Nisga, if any, male or female, wear any clothing under the age of about 10. The adults, even the women, rarely wear anything more than a short skirt used to cover their loins. Very few Nisga are completely bare however. Most wear a combination of feathers or leaves, paint, tattoos and piercings to decorate their bodies and cover the plainness of them. The most common garments are teffas worn around the waist that are made of vines, skins, feathers, and/or leaves. Teffas are a type of skirt worn traditionally by the Haidan peoples, predominately the Ivera and the Nisga, consisting of strips of animal skin, feathers and leaves. One strip is wrapped about the waist and tied in the back. The other strips, all about 12 inches long, are tied to the waist strip and left to dangle down about 10 inches. The Nisgan teffas usually consist of a vine tied about the waist with large ornate feathers left to dangle down, or large palm fronds.
EDUCATION
The vast majority of Nisga’l’Haidan receive no education whatsoever apart from foraging skills that are learned on the fly from their parents. In the largest cities however, the new, more civilized places, all Nisga learn sciences and astronomy and mathematics, and are able to write using a primitive form of hieroglyphs and carved pictures.
COMMUNICATION
Almost all Nisga’l’Haida speak only the Haidan Language, but along the very outer edges you might be able to find someone who can manage a little bit of the Trader’s Tongue, though not exactly reliably.
PROFESSIONS
There are no real professions, except in the largest civilized cities where you will find scholars in each of the subjects. There is also a chief of each village and a shaman in each village.?
MEDICINE
They use natural medicines and very little healing magicks, but are lucky to be surrounded by a multitude of natural healing compounds, so usually the healing is effective.
RELIGION
The Nisga’l’Haida, like all Haidans, believe in The Ancient Ones, a race of Gods and Goddesses who control nature and can either help or hinder the mortals living in Lamavia. They are known as 'Ashu Ashee' in the Native Tongue. The Cycles of the Sun and Moon as well as the Seasons and the Weather are celebrated by all Haidan Tribes, each embodied by a specific God or Goddess. The Nisga believe everything has a spirit, every plant, every animal, every thing. They work with these as well as their ancestors. They find a little divinity to be within everything, and many forces of nature are embodied within Gods and Goddesses.
PROTECTION
The Nisga protect themselves using magicks, hand-to-hand combat, knives, arrows and darts made of stone, teeth, bones, horns, antlers, etc. They use bow and arrows and blow darts, spears, and a multitude of other random weapons. They wear armor made of thick tree bark to battles.