Kolakoskem

Kolakoskem or Kotakoskem (Æonaran Coscivian: Śallekoskmed, Kiravic calque: Kūlakoskem, Cape Coscivian: Wordhere, Paulastran: Colachad, Ænglish: Kolakoskans or Kotakoskans), from the Maritime Coscivian kolakośė, a compound of kola/kota (“[dry] land”, cf. Kiravic kūla, 'Earth') + kośė ('Coscivians'), is an ethno-social category in Coscivian Crona that encompasses people of mixed indigenous Cronite and Coscivian settler ancestry, as well as culturally Coscivised people of full indigenous ancestry.

The term translates literally as 'Land Coscivians' and contrasts with Farakoskem (lit. 'Sea Coscivians'), which refers to Coscivians without native admixture, whether born in Crona or overseas. It originates from the Maritime Coscivian dakolakośė or dakotakośė ('Coscivians ashore'), used in the early colonial period by mariners to refer to permanent settlers in the colonial ports they called upon, as opposed to the more temporary population of sailors, soldiers, merchants, and bureaucrats. The expression diffused into other languages, such as Æonaran Coscivian, and its meaning shifted; first to Cronan-born “full-blooded” Coscivians, and then later to being a polite term for socially Coscivian people with visible Cronan heritage.

The Kolakoskem/Farakoskem concept enjoyed strong official sanction during the 20th century AD as Kiravian authorities worked to foster social cohesion and political stability in the Cronan colonies after the Capetian War of Independence and especially during the Sunderance. In 1916 N.S. Eneralvor, Secretary of the Sea (then responsible for colonial affairs), wrote a circular to Æonaran governors praising the terms’ usefulness as a unifying way to speak about a sometimes controversial social reality. Eneralvor liked that both terms had positive connotations, with “Land Coscivians” conjuring notions of rootedness, rustic virility, and property ownership; and “Sea Coscivians” recalling the proud Kiravian maritime tradition and the oceangoing commerce upon which the colonial economies relied, suggesting a “pleasant symmetry and symbiosis”.

Related Terms

An analogous term, [TERM], is used in Sarolasta and Seváronsa to refer to socially Coscivian people of full or partial Austronesian descent. Previously scantly attested in writing, use of the term surged after the passage of the Sarolasta Reform Act during the Sunderance, under which a large number of Austronesian communities were reclassified as [TERM].

In some scholarly works, the adjective koskiritix encompasses both the Kolakoskix and Farakoskix populations of Coscivian Crona together.

Variations and Contemporary Usage

Persons qualifying as Kolakoskem under the modern definition account for a substantial share of the populations of the Cape, Paulastra, Æonara, and Sarolasta. Visible populations also exist in the Copacaban Republic and Chappaqua, with smaller numbers in other Cronan/Polynesian countries and territories. Kolakoskem in diaspora have migrated to other parts of the Kiravian Federacy and further abroad.

Kiravia

The Kotakoskix-Farakoskix distinction remains familiar to contemporary Æonarans, but has faded from social salience in recent decades, superseded in most respects by the distinction between the established Æonaran Coscivian, Umcaran Coscivian, and Empire Loyalist communities (representing a mix of Land Coscivians and Sea Coscivians) on one hand and the "Mainlander" community of Sunderance and post-reunification immigrants (overwhelmingly Sea Coscivians) on the other. In daily life, the Æonaran variant, Śallekoskmed is mostly used by Æonaran Coscivians to describe the appearance and provenance of subgroups, clans, and villages among their own people, which they may place on a spectrum of being śadlāx ('more land') or pvaralāx ('more sea').

Some anti-assimilation activists adhering to the controversial 'Sinyolan' identity in Æonara or belonging to Reform Act tribes in Sarolasta have criticised Kolakoskikor as an instrument of cultural erasure.

In a non-Cronan context, the Kiravic calque kūlakoskem (“Earth Coscivian”, “Terrestrial Coscivian”) is occasionally used by upper-caste Coscivians to refer to all other, lower castes, alluding to Coscivian origin myths positing that the Euv people were delivered to Great Kirav from the Moon or the Shadow Realm.