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Escal Isles: Difference between revisions
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By the mid-12th century, the Sivumawai were constructing large, elegant watercraft, with rigged sails called ''{{wpl|Drua|ikekou}}'' and exporting them to neighboring villages and island city-states. Sivumawains also developed a distinctive style of village architecture, including communal and individual ''wpl|Bure_(Fiji)|HoʻOlah'' and ''VoʻOlah'' housing, and an advanced system of ramparts and moats that were usually constructed around the more important settlements. Pigs were domesticated for food, and a variety of agricultural plantations, such as banana plantations, existed from an early stage. Villages were supplied with water brought in by constructed wooden aqueducts. Sivumawains lived in societies led by chiefs, elders, and notable warriors. Spiritual leaders often called ''Buharapaata'', were also important cultural figures, and the production and consumption of ''{{wpl|Kava|setah}}'' was part of their ceremonial and community rites. The Sivumawai developed a monetary system where the polished teeth of the sperm whale, called ''dupon'', became an active currency. A type of writing existed which can be seen today in various petroglyphs around the islands. | By the mid-12th century, the Sivumawai were constructing large, elegant watercraft, with rigged sails called ''{{wpl|Drua|ikekou}}'' and exporting them to neighboring villages and island city-states. Sivumawains also developed a distinctive style of village architecture, including communal and individual ''wpl|Bure_(Fiji)|HoʻOlah'' and ''VoʻOlah'' housing, and an advanced system of ramparts and moats that were usually constructed around the more important settlements. Pigs were domesticated for food, and a variety of agricultural plantations, such as banana plantations, existed from an early stage. Villages were supplied with water brought in by constructed wooden aqueducts. Sivumawains lived in societies led by chiefs, elders, and notable warriors. Spiritual leaders often called ''Buharapaata'', were also important cultural figures, and the production and consumption of ''{{wpl|Kava|setah}}'' was part of their ceremonial and community rites. The Sivumawai developed a monetary system where the polished teeth of the sperm whale, called ''dupon'', became an active currency. A type of writing existed which can be seen today in various petroglyphs around the islands. | ||
The Sivumawai developed a refined {{wpl|Tapa cloth|Cahi cloth}} textile industry | The Sivumawai developed a refined {{wpl|Tapa cloth|Cahi cloth}} textile industry and used the cloth they produced to make sails and clothes such as the ''ikekou'' and the ''liku''. As with most other ancient human civilizations, warfare or preparation for warfare was an important part of everyday life in the Sivumawai community and were noted for their distinctive use of weapons, especially war clubs. | ||
The richness of the natural resources in the islands made them important trading ports. {{wpl|Gold}}, {{wpl|camphor}}, tortoise shells, {{wpl|hornbill ivory}}, {{wpl|Crane (bird)|crane crest}}, {{wpl|beeswax}}, {{wpl|lakawood}} (a scented heartwood and root wood of a thick {{wpl|liana}} | The richness of the natural resources in the islands made them important trading ports. {{wpl|Gold}}, {{wpl|camphor}}, tortoise shells, {{wpl|hornbill ivory}}, {{wpl|Crane (bird)|crane crest}}, {{wpl|beeswax}}, {{wpl|lakawood}} (a scented heartwood and root wood of a thick {{wpl|liana}}, {{wpl|dragon's blood}}, {{wpl|rattan}}, edible {{wpl|bird's nest soup|bird's nests}} and various spices were described as among the most valuable items from the archipelago. This however, led to a rapid rise in conflict in the region. Numerous wars and probably also overexploitation of natural resources may have drastically reduced the population even before the arrival of the Occidentals. | ||
According to tradition, in 1307 King Anéhaiki VI suffered a traumatic brain injury in the middle of a battle that left him in a permanently vegetative state. Instead of coming together to support their comatose ruler, the Sivumawai elite selfishly fought for the throne and civil war broke out. The civil war lasted three years and wreaked havoc on the civilian population. A mysterious and esoteric ''buharapaata'' (shaman) named Tiketigaraneira emerged from obscurity and began preaching to the public that the reason why they were suffering was | According to tradition, in 1307 King Anéhaiki VI suffered a traumatic brain injury in the middle of a battle that left him in a permanently vegetative state. Instead of coming together to support their comatose ruler, the Sivumawai elite selfishly fought for the throne and civil war broke out. The civil war lasted three years and wreaked havoc on the civilian population. A mysterious and esoteric ''buharapaata'' (shaman) named Tiketigaraneira emerged from obscurity and began preaching to the public that the reason why they were suffering was that their ''kakekao'' (life force) had been taken by the gods. He said that King Anéhaiki VI, who was still alive (albeit in a coma) would only open his eyes once they all had purified their ''kakekao.'' | ||
Tiketigaraneira's solution to purify everyone's ''kakekao'' was a series of elaborate rituals and the practice of both endocannibalism and exocannibalism. Endocannibalism had the ability to serve as a form of recognition and respect for the dead, gaining lost ''kakekao''. Exocannibalism on the other hand was part of warfare and was how the people could gain fresh ''kakekao -'' by transforming their enemies into a form of prey. The Sivumawai had very separate motives behind why they performed each of these modes of cannibalism but both forms had the same basic steps of roasting either flesh or bone and then eating it. Sivumawai warriors would kill enemies and members of enemy tribes. They viewed warfare cannibalism as a form of predation or hunting. They used exocannibalism as a means by which to label their enemies as subhuman and make their flesh as unimportant as that of any other animal that was typically killed for food. | Tiketigaraneira's solution to purify everyone's ''kakekao'' was a series of elaborate rituals and the practice of both endocannibalism and exocannibalism. Endocannibalism had the ability to serve as a form of recognition and respect for the dead, gaining lost ''kakekao''. Exocannibalism on the other hand was part of warfare and was how the people could gain fresh ''kakekao -'' by transforming their enemies into a form of prey. The Sivumawai had very separate motives behind why they performed each of these modes of cannibalism but both forms had the same basic steps of roasting either flesh or bone and then eating it. Sivumawai warriors would kill enemies and members of enemy tribes. They viewed warfare cannibalism as a form of predation or hunting. They used exocannibalism as a means by which to label their enemies as subhuman and make their flesh as unimportant as that of any other animal that was typically killed for food. | ||
On 13 March 1313, King Anéhaiki VI did in fact wake from his coma. Tiketigaraneira - who had effectively been ruling in his absence for several years, offered the freshly-cooked brain of a slave to the king to help him recover and regain his strength. Upon further discussion about what had happened during his coma however, Anéhaiki VI was brought to tears and had a violent spasm. According to tradition, moments after this happened, a sudden and massive earthquake struck the Escal Isles. The earthquake lasted about 7 minutes, and aftershocks were experienced the whole year. Avalanches of ashes, lapilli, water and sand swept away whole towns and most of the Sivumawai royalty, including both King Anéhaiki VI and Tiketigaraneira, as well as most of the aristocracy and priests were killed. | On 13 March 1313, King Anéhaiki VI did in fact wake from his coma. Tiketigaraneira - who had effectively been ruling in his absence for several years, offered the freshly-cooked brain of a slave to the king to help him recover and regain his strength. Upon further discussion about what had happened during his coma, however, Anéhaiki VI was brought to tears and had a violent spasm. According to tradition, moments after this happened, a sudden and massive earthquake struck the Escal Isles. The earthquake lasted about 7 minutes, and aftershocks were experienced the whole year. Avalanches of ashes, lapilli, water, and sand-swept away whole towns and most of the Sivumawai royalty, including both King Anéhaiki VI and Tiketigaraneira, as well as most of the aristocracy and priests were killed. | ||
The Sivumawai's practice of cannibalism made them infamous around the Australis region, and eventually, rumors would make their way to the far reaches of the Occidental world. Stories of cannibalism from a "paradise at the edge of the world" were already circulating by the 1320s; claims of "freshly killed corpses piled up for eating" and ceremonial mass human sacrifice on the construction of new houses and boats began to inspire daring individuals from the Occidental world to see this firsthand. | |||
===First arrival of Occidentals (1331-1413)=== | ===First arrival of Occidentals (1331-1413)=== | ||
===Dark Period (1413-1592)=== | ===Dark Period (1413-1592)=== | ||