Loa

The Loa are a cultural and ethnic group found predominantly in Vallos, being native to the Republic of Takatta Loa. There is a large Loa diaspora, consisting largely of neighboring Vallosian and Sarpedonian nations, as well as other nations in the Coscivo-Loa Sphere such as Kiravia and Paulastra. The Loa migrated to these nations either during the Takatta Loa Civil War or during the 20th century following the political liberalization of the country and the foundation of the republic, though migration to Coscivian speaking countries also occurred during the first half of the 1900s as well due to close historical ties to Kiravia.

The term Loa refers to a very broad collection of groups unified by a general sense of Loa nationalism, language and broad cultural features. These groups include the Isi Loa who are the progenitors of Loa culture and civilisation, the Loa influenced cultures such as the various mainland Polynesians that were assimilated into the Loa and the many elements of the Loa diaspora. These groups combined constitute the Loa, though all generally recognize the Isi Loa as being the 'ethnic' Loa and the other groups considering themselves as culturally Loa.

The Loa tend to be identified by speaking Insuo Loa, which has historically been considered as a primary characteristic of being Loa, as well as matriarchal cultural elements, mystical religious practices and wet rice agriculture. The Loa themselves are considered separate but descended from the Polynesians, with a general retention of Polynesian material culture such as bark cloth and advanced sailing techniques, as well as strong social hierarchy and a close connection to nature with the view that people are tenants of the land. However, the view of mana being the guiding energy of the universe is not present in the Loa. Occidental scholars assume that the Loa idea of Me'eaala Moliae, or 'Eternal Witness' as being descended from mana, but Loa scholars rejecting this, considering Me'eaala Moliae as being their own unique cultural trait. The Loa in general have a very distinct religious tradition from most Polynesian groups, focusing on divination of the dead, entomancy and cosmic predetermination, concepts that do not have the same focus or are not even present in other Polynesian groups.

The Loa culture originates with the Isi Loa who are indigenous to the Loa Islands, who are generally thought of as having developed around 1100 CE with the pre-Loa populations undergoing a dramatic bottleneck in the 800s BCE, resulting in the circumstances that led to the rapid development of Insuo Loa and the genetically distinct Loa. In 1100 CE the population managed to recover to settle the entirety of the isles and entered a warring period until around 1550 CE when the Katu Raiakonao unified the Loa Islands. The Raia Dynasty would go on to rule for nearly 400 years, collapsing with the abdication and eventual death of the last ruler, Raikanao'oko. Around 1670, the Loa kingdom conquered the Satana Coast, marking their entrance into wider Polynesian political dynamics. To celebrate this event, Raiatia'atiauelao adopted the tile Káámarakatu (derived from Ka'áása maraa'a Katu, or Celestial Master), which is rendered as Empress. This marks the start of the Loa Empire, called Aría kóó Raia Káámarakatu, or "Estates of the Celestial Masters of Raia".

Etymology
The etymology of Loa is almost entirely unknown due to both a lack of sensical linguistic root, the folk etymology being quite literally no etymology and the unique circumstances of Insuo Loa's development. The folk etymology states that the queen of the Loa who led their expedition decided to abandon their old name and call her people the Loa, as that had no meaning and so they would give the word a meaning. Linguistic analysis turns up no meaningful root as the word loa has many contrasting meanings in various Polynesian languages that make it difficult to ascertain which one, if any, the term loa developed from.

Ethnogenesis
The ethnogenesis of the Loa developed during the 800s BCE when a volcanic eruption on the Loa island of XXXX resulted in the death of almost the entirety of the Isles' population, with the exception of an estimated 10 families on the island of Kakurana. These ten families would go on to provide the entirety of the Loa's genetic makeup, and as a result the Loa have astonishingly low genetic diversity. This has led to recessive traits emerging in the Isi Loa, such as a near 85% of multiple birth in all pregnancies, a near universal AB- blood types and very high rates of cancer, with 90% of Loa developing cancer by the age of 65, and 66% by the age of 45. As such, the Isi Loa have a markedly distinct outlook on disease and life than mainland Loa, with their significant genetic advantages and disadvantages shaping their perception of mortality and family to be more oriented towards youth and viewing any age past 30 as a distant time. In modern times, this has led to a significant focus on both cancer research with the Isi founded Rehanji Pharmaceuticals focusing on cancer research and the view that the Isi are disadvantaged compared to other ethnic groups now that they are no longer the most prestigious or numerous group.

The circumstances of the Loa ethnogenesis also led to significant linguistic and cultural changes, with the language of Insuo Loa both retaining features that have been lost in later Polynesian languages such as 'l' and 'r' distinction, but also developing features unseen in Austronesian languages at all, like lexical and grammatical tones. This has led to significant impact as Insuo Loa was adopted and enforced across the centuries, as Polynesians have both adapted to and adapted Insuo Loa in significant ways.