Dwarfism in Kiravia

Dwarfism in Kiravia is documented from ancient times. In Kiravia's hierarchical and deeply segmented society, persons with dwarfism in Kiravia have in most cases been treated differently than people with normal stature of the same background, sometimes for the sake of their own welfare, but also as a form of discrimination and exploitation. People with dwarfism have made notable contributions to Kiravian society and Coscivian civilisation, and have come to enjoy greater equality and opportunity in the modern era, but many continue to suffer from various social ills on account of their stature.

Nomenclature

Dwarves or midgets are called by various terms in the various languages of Kiravia. The currently accepted formal Kiravic term used in academia and newer government sources is mùgorikuv or mùgorihan (lit. "pygmy" or "pygmy human") mirroring zoological and botanical usage of the term for congenitally smaller variants of wider species or clades. Older formal terms include dundrikuv (lit. “stunted one”), which now properly refers to persons whose growth has been stunted by nutritional/ environmental factors or infectious disease, but remains the most widespread polite term in the common parlance and in older sources. Dwarves may consider dundrikuv and dundrix mildly offensive, depending on the context. The National Association of Very-Very Short Kiravians prefers isnidalix isnidalikuv (”very, very short”) in Standard Kiravic and biþnidalix, biþnidalikuv (”deeply short”) in Literary Kiravic, but also deems mùgorix/mùgorikuv acceptable.

Terms analogous to “little people”, considered politically correct in the Occident, are considered inappropriate in Kiravia, as they more commonly refer to færies and other beings common in Kiravian folklore by infusions from its Celtic analogue.

History

Essentially nothing is known about dwarfism during Kiravian dark history or prehistory. The oldest human skeleton exhibiting signs of dwarfism yet discovered in Great Kirav was found inside Orixalkuv Cave in Livangebra County, South Metrea, and dates to the Society I period ([DATE RANGE]), though not in the presence of Society I artifacts, suggesting that this prehistoric dwarf was born into a more primitive inland hunter-gatherer band that coëxisted with the archetypal sedentary food collectors of Society I. In the absence of direct evidence, it is assumed that persons with dwarfism in early agricultural Kirav before the rise of the Lawful Commonwealth would not have survived long, even compared to the very short average life expectancy of the time, as they would have been disproportionately impacted by the scarcity of resources, widespread infanticide, and endemic warfare that characterised Kiravian tribal societies at the time.

At least by the time that the Middle Coscivian Mode of Production coälesced, the view that midgets were not fit to live among the normal peasantry and should instead constitute their own communities became common. This was based on the premise that the tuva is an endogamous group, and that marriage between dwarves and persons of normal size is improper, therefore it is more appropriate for dwarves to marry other dwarves born into different tuva Outcastification of dwarves was most commonly practiced among the majority lowland agricultural tuva (such as the South Coscivians and the Kir people) living on cleared plains and river valleys. Non-agricultural castes, minority groups, and silvicultural and silvopastoral communities did not share this practice. Midgets born into peasant households might be bonded into the village menial caste to secure a livelihood for them, sent to live among the harsitem (as was often done to children born with other deformities), or placed in midget colonies to live in peace among their own kind. Colonisation of midgets became the preferred practice over time, especially after Christianisation, though oblation to monasteries also emerged as an alternative to sequestration with the harsitem or bonding into village menial status. Colonisation would later become state policy (when, and more on this???)

Midget colonies can still be found in many parts of Kiravia. Most are found in remote or secluded areas to avoid harrassment. The densest concentration of midget colonies is found in the pinelands of South Niyaska.