"I'm Fine!" (hiatus/rewrite/changes)

Hi, all -

I had some real life stuff to do that consumed all my time for the last month or so, which is why I haven't updated this blog.

I'm going to be rewriting a fair bit of this stuff in the next little while, as several discussions about culture and its implications have caused us to rethink the Desertborn culture to some extent. In particular, we've decided to jettison the clan system, since it tends to lock a culture into rigidity - cultures with that kind of system have tended to adapt more slowly than others.

So stay tuned, and don't worry!

Love,
Sam

Cultural Notes

(This will be expanded as the culture is developed.)

1.  We walk single file when we travel, to conceal our numbers. The last person in a line of travelling Desert Born will usually be someone chosen for his or her powers of observation: that person's task is to ensure that no traces such as footprints, threads of clothing, etc. that could betray our presence are left behind when we pass.

2.  We meditate or perform ceremonies at sunrise and sunset. Note that Desert Born notions about day and night are reversed from most offworlders': day represents danger, due to heat and the risk of strangers seeing what they should not see, whereas night represents coolness and safety.

3.  We share water, coffee or tea with friends, but not with enemies.

4.  We have two names: a soft, or secret, name we use in-seeq; a hard, or public, name we use outside the seeq. This custom is beginning to fall into disuse to some extent, but you should be aware of it.

5.  Whenever the word slave or any of its derivatives is said in our presence, we ward off by putting our right hand to our throat with the palm outward. This is sometimes referred to as "blocking the collar." It is critically important to be aware that, as escaped slaves by origin, the Desert Born have a visceral hatred for the institution of slavery.

6.  We use "this" for friends, "that" for enemies. ("This is Joe Smith" vs. "that is John Rodgers, a very important person.")

7.  We protect our secrets from offworlders. This includes our population size, how well we can fight, the extent of our technological expertise and anything else that might render us vulnerable.

8. More traditional Desert Born will sometimes spit on the ground in front of another person. This is a sign of respect, due to the value of water on Araxes.

9. We rarely if ever take prisoners, since prisoners require resources and manpower to guard and maintain. In general, those captured by the Desert Born can expect to be adopted if they are found worthy (which is not common) or killed.

Property

The Desert Born notion of property is different from what is generally understood as property among offworlders, and is a frequent source of often-deadly misunderstandings.

Land rights, in particular, revolve not around specific boundaries or tracts of land but rather around rights to collect resources found at a particular location, and these rights belong to the clan as a whole rather than to specific persons. In theory, all resources on the planet are considered to belong to one Desert Born clan or another; in practice, given the military strength and political power of offworlders, the Desert Born tend to accept infringement on resources like oases, cactus groves (valued for the water they contain) and spice patches, etc., as "the price of doing business." In general, the closer a resource is to a seeq, the more likely it is to be aggressively defended.

Cultural property such as inherited names, the right to display certain crests, perform certain ceremonies, etc., is also held within the clan, or sometimes within a specific House of that clan. 

Side, Clan, House

Desert Born society is divided into two "sides" (moieties in anthropology lingo) called Sand and Stone. Each side is divided into clans, which are matrilineal, meaning that you inherit your clan from your mother rather than your father. It is traditionally considered incestuous to marry anyone from any clan on your own side, although of late this is breaking down somewhat; even very liberal Desert Born, however, will avoid marrying someone from their own clan, and it is also not well-regarded to marry someone of your father's clan.

Clans of the Sand are the Cactus, Eagle, Fox and Hawk; clans of the Stone are Lion, Lizard, Moon and Star. [OOC memory aid: in alphabetical order, the first four clans are Sand side and the last four are Stone side.] As with the Navajo of Ancient Terra, the Desert born express clan membership as being born to one's mother's clan and for one's father's clan.

Beneath or within the clan is the House, mirroring the offworld Great Houses and Lesser Houses although, again, matrilineally based. The House is the closest equivalent to the offworld concept of "family."

A child's primary male "parental" figure is not the father, as in most offworld societies, but the mother's brother, since he belongs to the same clan. Most Desert Born remember their father in childhood as generous and playful, whereas the mother's brother was a figure of discipline. 

Traditionally marriages are arranged, although this too is breaking down. The ideal traditional marriage is between a man and a woman of the man's father's clan, since the children can then inherit their paternal grandfather's privileges, names and other property.

Although the mother's clan is of course primary, a person's father's clan also has certain specific duties, particularly at funerals (the dead person's own clan is considered to be incapable of managing funeral arrangements due to grief and spiritual pollution), and can also play an important role in mediating feuds: the Desert Born have many stories involving one clan appealing to another for assistance, only to be turned down because a father's child was among the enemies.

Women are the primary authority in matters of the clan, particularly the Khaliifa or Clan Mother of a given seeq (modelled on the Dune sietch), whose word is essentially law. In dealing with outworlders, the Clan Mother in consultation with other senior women of the clan (known generally as Sheikha) will appoint a man to represent the seeq in a manner conforming to most offworld cultures.

This man will generally be called the Naib, which is normally taken to mean something like "chief" or "headman" by offworlders but actually means "delegate" or "representative" - not something that the Desert Born have any interest in clarifying. In rare cases the consort or husband of the Clan Mother will be chosen for this role, even though he does not belong to the clan by birth, if he displays exceptional military or organizational skill.

Who Are We? (in role-play)

A Desert Born is a member of a communal, semi-militaristic society on a world that has become the only source of a quasi-mineral that can be used for medical, military and commercial plastic systems. This mineral is also used as a base for addictive drugs.

Given the galactic demand for this substance, the Desert Born are the richest people in the Galaxy. However, since they choose an isolationist lifestyle, hidden on and below the surface of Araxes, few outsiders have proof of this wealth.

The Desert Born are the survivors of a ruthless and relentless process of culling the weak or unsuitable since they colonized Araxes three thousand years ago. The culture is traditional, conservative and ecologically aware. They are non-consumers, making and using only what they need. However, this traditionally limited ownership has encouraged a high level of craftmanship and expertise in everything they manufacture (including explosives).

The culture is organized into two "sides," called moieties in anthropological jargon, consisting of four clans each (more about that later). Clan membership is inherited through both father and mother, so that every Desert Born is a member of two clans, although the mother's clan is by far the more important of the two.

Welcome!

The "Desert Born" are a faction on a group of role-play sims of Second Life, somewhat modelled on the Fremen of Frank Herbert's Dune series - although not too closely, due to copyright issues - mixed with some features common to various indigenous cultures. For more information about the role-play of the sims as a whole, you can go to the Splintered Rock ning.

This blog is envisioned as a clearinghouse of sorts for the various pieces of role-play canon developed by the role-players of the Desert Born. I hope this will be of use! If you wish to email me regarding a post, or to make a suggestion, please do so at yazirasam (at) gmail (dot) com.

A note regarding cultural appropriation: I'm aware that to some I may be walking a very fine line here. I wish to note that I very carefully do not include any cultural specifics from any one culture - the features I include are known from various cultures and I have incorporated them at an underlying or schematic level. For example, clan systems like that of the Desert Born are known from various cultures, but I have incorporated only the format, not the specifics. I make this note because members of some indigenous cultures are rightfully angered by ongoing appropriation and misuse of private or sacred artifacts and practices by outsiders - see the Declaration of War Against Exploiters of Lakota Spirituality for an example - and I do not wish to be placed in that group.