Culture of Canespa

Canespa has a rich and deep history and a rich and deep culture comes along with that. Canespa has one of the most unique cultures in the world thanks to its isolation and will to not convert to an Occidentalized way of life. The Canespian culture is defined by its recently corporate nature while also being deeply religious. It is often seen as weird and foreign in many areas do to the completely different culture that developed in the region. It has not only been influenced by the geography of the region but has also been influenced by the past events that occurred in the region. The Canespan people are highly resilient and their culture will likely persist for centuries. If we can understand the culture of Canespa then we can come to better understand how Canespa interacts and carries itself on the world stage. Everything Canespa does can be tied back to its culture and its way of life.

History

Early Evolution

Canespan culture only started to develop as a unique and seperate culture around the years 100 and 200. This was a time where Canespa was no different from other areas and the idea of Canespa itself was foreign. During this time the early roots of the M'acunist faith were being formed and so were the introduction of consolidated Houses and tribes. Before this point most in the area were mere hunter gatherers with no complex system of governance.

Unification

The unification of Canespa

Occidental Influence

While Canespa prides itself on its cultural identity and resistance to occidental movements the country has still inevitably been effected by occidental ways of life. For example the highly capitialistic nature of the previous Canespan buisnesses and the Canasta Company were directly caused by occidental influence despite the area of Canespa already being a fairly exportative society for many years before the occidentals arrived.

Worldview

National Sovereignty

Canespian's have a generally strong view on what a nation can do within its own borders. The people of Canespa believe that nations have a right to govern themselves and all nations are free to choose how they use their land and how they govern it. Canespa is strictly against laws that reduce what a country can control within its borders. On the contrary the people of Canespa believe that all nations should take great pride in their enviornment's and protect them at all costs. The Canespian people believe fossil fuels are horrible for the Great Oneness and mother nature and they are banned in the nation almost entirely.

Conservative Nature

Canespa can be defined throughout history due to it's unwillingness to change and mold into the spheres of other cultures. Due to this and Canespa's isolationist policies the nation has become one of the most culturally distinct places on the planet. The religion of the country has taken little bends in order to adapt to the globalization of the world. Even individual Canespans rarely switch religions or reject religion when living in foreign lands.

View on Government

Canespans often view the government as a system that is not in place to serve the rights of the people as a whole. Instead a government is there to serve the country and therefore its people alone. Canespans generally observe that governments should be willing to kill hundreds in other nations if it means saving one person within Canespa. Governments should not be moral, they should be nationalist. This belief has evolved over the centuries but it has remained mostly unchanged. From this belief has stemmed the Wasi King and many other governmental figures who detach themselves from other natures and become one with the state or people so to speak.

The Canespian Mission

The Canespian mission is a relatively new idea within Canespa. Developed by Mamallaqta Runa in 1879 it has been a defining characteristic of the Canespian worldview and culture. The Idea of the Canespian Mission is the idea that Canespa should be a counterweight to let the rest of the world develop. Instead of industrializing Canespa should make it's mission feeding the world. The idea was picked up by a young CEO of the Canasta Company and he knew that the Canasta Company would fulfill the Canespian Mission. The mission is still an integral part of how the country operates as almost all industrial infrastructure is banned within Canespa as long as it doesn't pertain to the production food.

The second Canespian mission is a vary new idea that picked up steam in the early 2020s. The idea was quite different from the mission of feeding the world in that it was localized. The second Canespian mission referred to Canespa's mission to free the Cusinaut and Northern Crona from the clutches of outside influence. This idea lead to the aggressive foreign policy that Canespa pursued in 2033 and 2034. Due to the events of the summer of 2034 the second Canespian mission is a more popular idea then ever that more then 80% of Canespan's want to pursue. This is in contrast to 40% of Canespan's believing it to be actually possible.

Education/Childhood

Early School

Early Canespan schooling is vary similar to the occidental form of schooling in that the people which part to it are taught a little bit of the basics of everything. The purpose of early Canespan schooling is to one, identify interests of individual students and help bring out these interests, and two, to set a base level of knowledge that all students can use for the rest of their lives. Early schooling goes from the start of the summer months to the end of winter with spring being used as a break period over summer. This is in sharp contrast to other areas where break is in the warmer months. This change in break is mostly due to spring being the most demanding for farms and the extra labor is often needed. Kids starts school when they reach the age of five and end school upon the year of there 12th birthday. During this time these focus on building leadership skills and building up basic subjects. Curriculums are often influenced by occidental teachings during these early years but religious values are also vary common in the early curriculum despite Canespa being a secular state by law.

Religion

Influence on People

M'acunism has had a large influence on Canespa and its people. The people of Canespa's political beliefs, social beliefs, obviously religious beliefs, and even their economical beliefs are due to M'acunism.

Influence on Law

Canespian law, while secular, is vary heavily influenced by M'acunism. Fossil fuels are completely illegal under almost all circumstances. The only exception to this being in the defense of the country or in defense of the food Canespa exports. In addition to this the religion impacts the law around M'acunist religious sites and details that only followers of M'acunist ideas may enter and worship within these sites.

The Plant School

Through Canespian isolation up until the 16th and 17th centuries Canespa developed a religious identity separate from the rest of the M'acunism religion. Whilst there are members from all of the schools of M'acunism within Canespa the majority of Canespians are part of a separate school known as the Plant School. This unique school first developed in and around the Papa river in central Canespa around the year 500. Since then it has spread to most parts of Canespa with the exception of the Cuenca River area. The Plant School, similar to the Nature School recognizes the equality of all living things. But is different to the Nature School in that it recognizes plant life as being above the rest. Similar to the other schools the Plant school is loose religion and is not centrialized. The Plant School believes in the Great Oneness but in a slightly different way. The Plant School believes that the Great Oneness and Makuahine are one in the same. They additionally believe that the Great Oneness manifests itself as plant life within the grounds of Earth and that all spiritual energy is connected to the Earth. With this cycle the Great Oneness feeds into the living and the living feeds back through death.

Ancestral worship takes a much different form when applied to the Plant School. Instead of doing simple practices the Plant School believes that ancestors manifest within plants. It has such become a tradition to plant some type of edible plant, usually a potato above the grave of a loved one. Instead of a funeral the family of this person will then eat whatever they grew above the grave of the dead. This signifies the passing of the Great Oneness onto a new generation and the continued living of past ancestors. This form of ancestral worship began over a millennium ago.

The Plant School has historically been the second largest sect of M'acunism being behind the Man School in popularity, due to the nation confined reality of the plant school. In recent times ideas from the Plant School have been borrowed by the new sect known as the Nature School. The Nature School is a relatively new sect that is vary popular within the territories of House Kanchi. This sect is relatively small but is growing. The Plant School is expected to become the number one sect within M'acunism as the Man School has been on the decline since the arrival of occidental nations. While the Man School's popularity is only decreasing the popularity of the Plant School is rising fast as Canespa is holding vary strongly against the cultural influences of Levantia. In addition to this Canespa's population is only growing which is naturally causing the popularity of its religion to grow.

Sports

Lacrosse

Canespa’s largest sport is Lacrosse as the nation has a national league and an international league. The Canespian Lacrosse League or the CLL is made up of 12 teams that play across the nation. These teams play 15 games across their season starting in January. The top 4 teams out of the 12 are put into a bracket following the 15 games and the winner of the bracket are proclaimed the sporting champion’s of Canespa, the entire team gets to enjoy a ceremonial feast with the Wasiexu and is given slightly more funding for next year's season.

Lacrosse has had a long and complex history in Canespa with the first evidence of the game being noted in 493. Before the 17th century the game was played as a peace game. It was either played as an alternative to war if two houses thought better then fighting but it was also used to heal. Ceremonial games would be called to heal the sick in a village. There were no referees and the wooden stick was made from a hickory tree. The stick was supposed to represent all plant life and the ball represented human desires. Furthermore the goal represented desires being fulfilled. The game was supposed to show the Earth that it was appreciated, and that its help has been recognized and respected. Some notable games include the game between House Kanchi and House Papa in 783 over a religious dispute between the tribes over the proper way to construct pyramids. The game was won by House Kanchi with a game winning shot at the end. The score was 19-18. Another game is the Extranjero game in which the natives of Extranjero challenged the Burgundii sailors who attempted to raise prices through a misleading use of language. Unsurprisingly the natives of Extranjero crushed the Burgundii sailors who had been given a quick tutorial on how to play. The final score was 25-0. Lacrosse was officially recognized by the Wasi King upon his ascension to the throne and lacrosse matches were used to settle disputes between unruly subjects. Lacrosse as a normal passtime started in 1389 with the addition of a new rule set for non- ceremonial games in order to recognize the importance of the ceremonial game. The next major addition to the history of lacrosse was the beginning of the CLL in 1878. The first league featured 3 teams, all of which were from the Cuenca river area. The league quickly spread and was endorsed by the Wasi King in 1897. The league was officially bought out by the Canasta Company in 1906 following a few boring seasons. After the Canasta Company purchased the league the sport grew quickly to 10 teams by 1940. The addition of a two point line was also made during this time. In 1989 two more teams were added to represent areas that were previously underpopulated. No teams have been added since then but there are proposals for new teams. One notable proposal is for a foreign team that would represent all Levantine minorities in Canespa. While picking up traction the proposal is currently being buried by other paperwork. Overall the sport of Lacrosse is greatly important to Canespian society and it will likely continue to be for centuries to come. From being a tool for war and healing to being a common pastime to being a professional sport Lacrosse has gone through many eras.

The Director of Sports and Competition in Canespa has said on many accounts that Lacrosse is the most important sport to Canespa in both a cultural and playing sense.

Football

Canespa's third largest traditional sport is Football. The Canespian Football league, made up of 10 teams is currently the second largest sports organization within Canespa. The league was founded in 1978 so it is relatively new. Influenced by the league in ____ the Canespian Football league is split into two divisions. The southern division and northern division. The two divisions each have matches between themselves in a three month long season before each division sends two teams to a final bracket. The first match of the bracket is the semi-finals where the true winner from each division is chosen. After the conclusion of the semi-finals which occur on a Sunday and Friday the Final begins. The final is one of the most attented to sporting events in Canespa as it draws in attention second only to Lacrosse within Canespa. The Final features a 50 million dollar cash prize that will go to funding the winning teams stadium and training equipment. Along with this the winners of the match are celebrated across the nation.

Soccer

Soccer is a relatively new sport in Canespa only being introduced in 1985. Canespa does not have an national league but does operate an international team. The international team was created in 2001 and eventually put on hold due to the events in the rest of Crona. Eventually it was reinstated back in 2007 and has remained since. The team does not currently have an major victories but it has been participating in the 2034 WAFF world cup where it has seen one win and one tie.

Family Structure

Rural Family

The rural style family of Canespa is much more open to concepts like Polygamy and is much more open to large clan style families. These clan style families have been around since the beginning of Canespan history and have made their way into the modern culture through the rural side of Canespa. Within rural style clan families there is usually one dominant male figure who has many wives within the rest of the clan, there might be a few other men with multiple wives but there is always one dominant male who is obviously the most responsible member of the clan. Along with this there are also men less responsible for the safety of the clan and the ongoings of it. But they tend to have one to no marriages and are less connected to the clan as a whole. Clans are not limited units that are separate from each other either. Clans are complex and there are hierarchical levels to every clan that eventually form the Houses that Canespa has today.

Urban Family

Urban families tend to resemble the occidental version of a family much more closely with Polygamy being much more rare especially in the northern cities. This does not mean however that the families do not resemble a clan type of family instead of a single unit. There is still a vary strong connection between family members and there is often a head of the house at many different levels. There is the head of the family unit, then the head of an extended family unit. This keeps going up until you get the House Heads. These are individuals who are heads over the entirety of a House. For example House Kanchi has a House Head who is responsible for house related matters, political matters, and house events. This creates a clan style family structure where each family has a close bond with other families in order to form one large family. Unlike the rural style family the urban families tend to have an equal amount of males and females in a clan.

Marriage/Polygamy

Separated from the world for so long. Canespa developed traditions differently and had traditions not seen else where in the world. Canespa developed an odd sense of marriage compared to traditional occidental versions. In Canespan culture the wife and husband were not considered married until they had their first child. Once a couple had a child they became as occidentals call it "married". There would be a ceremony within the family or the town depending on the size of either of them. This does create a question though. What if someone had kids with more then one person. Well in Canespan society this was not seen as a complete taboo as long as the previous wife was part of a house that allowed it in all cases or if they were ok with it. The houses that allowed it were as follows, House Papa, House Espada, and House Wasi. This group of houses are often referred to as the Southern Houses and are culturally similar. This was also one of the cultural differences that developed between North Canespa and South Canespa. Men with multiple wives or in rare cases woman with multiple husbands are referred to as Achka. Achka are expected to be in charge of the security of both families along with keeping them close. A big taboo in Canespan culture is trying to abandon one of your families for another and equal love is expected to be shown to both families. Divorce was not a concept founded within Canespa and the only way a separation of any kind could occur was through death. With the lack of divorce being present. People had to be vary careful of who they considered to have children with. In most houses it was and remains to be illegal to have intercourse for any reason other then to produce offspring with another individual after you have already secured a "wife". The only house where this rule is not present is in House Kanchi, probably the most distinct house culturally.

When a woman gave birth in Canespa all means necessary were used to track down the father of said child. If the father could not be determined the baby would be adopted away to another family if one could be found. In no cases was a baby allowed to be raised when only one unmarried person was available to raise them. If the mother or father died before any child within their family turned 10 then all the children within the family would be adopted off. While these practices are still around today they are loosened and if a spouse is to die then no child will be taken away. This does make single parents quite hard to come by in Canespa. If a child's father is determined then both the parents of the child would go through a ceremony in which they would have to survive within the wilderness all on their own for a week with the baby. If they all could stay alive for a week then they were determined to be parents capable of raising a child and the child was determined strong enough to grow up and live as a working member of society. If a parent died on the expedition then the child would be adopted off. If the child on the other hand died then the couple was seen as being genetically incompatible and they would not be allowed to reproduce with each other again. After the conclusion of the week long expedition a huge ceremony would occur between the families of the husband and wife. During this ceremony the wives parents would send her off to the house of the husband if they were not already part of the same house. There would be dancing and music during the ceremony and a large feast if the town was not falling behind food wise. These ceremonies were described as being a wonderful time for the village.

Diet

Home-produced

While the Potato is a vary common food and usually the most talked about cuisine within Canespa, there remain to be others often not talked of. For example the tomato is also a vary important crop within Canespa, and while it is grown less often and in small more isolated areas it remains an important crop within Canespan cuisine.

Corporate

Influence on Culture

The newfound corporate nature of Canespa has created a new type of person compared to the old culture of Canespa. Modern Canespa's culture is far more work oriented then ever before and while the Canasta Company thrived on the capitalist nature of developing Canespan economy, the company has been taking the nation on a path to restore the old ways of the economy and create a more leftist style of economy while also maintaining a conservative view on other parts of the economy. This creates a weird sense of Canespa being one of the most liberal countries on the planet while also being one of the most conservative. The influence of Corporatization on Canespa is best described by this. "Corporate Canespa can be considered a to have a centrist point of view in that it takes all extremes but those extremes are polar opposites." Not exactly the way most centrist organizations are described but its the influence corporate life has had on Canespa.

Laws

Land Ownership

Canespa is famously one of the only countries in the world where land is not owned by an individual in many cases. Land ownership was a completely foreign idea in Canespa up until the late 1800s when businesses began to streamline it. Although in the modern day there is some forms of land ownership within Canespa most areas, especially more rural ones have a system where land is owned by the whole community. In order to move into the area you need to either have permission from the Canasta Company for minimal local election rights or if you want the full rights of a local community you need to be accepted into it via the community council. Once you are a part of the community you are considered to own the land in a shared manner with your community members. Similarly, when land is traded between individuals its illegal to sell the land based off the land itself, instead the price is determined via the improvements that have been laid across the land.