Let me tell you some more about the three nations which belong to Kataskenaw. You might be surprised that I refer to them as nations; implying that each has a rather different manner of living than the other. I should quickly dispense of the idea that there is one "Kataskenaw" people. It is a fiction and no more than something imagined by people like you and me who come from places where we take for granted that each person is equal under the law. In reality, their "great" confederation has only held (and not always so firmly) since the turn of the twentieth century.
Now, let me make clear that the names of the Maileut, Longfoot, and Atissa all come from Mercanti and Malorian and were given to these nations by foreigners. Mostly Scalvians and other Gots, who generally left them to live in peace; yet had to give a name to them by which to know them. This relationship; where each lives apart from the other in peace, has not stood the test of time, as you will discover eventually.
Our first nation is the Maileut or
pâwanîwak¹. They are the ancestral residents of this country. Since ages long past what you or anyone else can know, they were the sole people here. They are known for growing the “three sisters” which mature favourably in the prairie-lands, which they cherish most. These "three sisters" are: corn, beanstalk, and squash. Each sister can be brought together to make a surprisingly abundant and resilient crop, with the beans using the cornstalk as a natural trellis and the squash-leaves covering the roots of each plant to conserve moisture and prevent the growth of wildflowers and stubborn grasses. Their natural acuity for agriculture is accompanied by the necessity of herding and hunting the native bison for meat, fur and fat. They gather them in groups, and have them charge off well-known ridges in order to cull them all at once. By this they came to be associated with the bison by the other nations. Though they thrive in the prairie as I have already told you, the Maileut made their homes in the southern shores and western woodlands well before the Longfoot and Atissa came and waged all sorts of dreadful wars on them.
The Longfoot or
nanamwêwak² were fantastically better in almost every way to the Maileut in the water. Their land-based warriors stood no chance against them, I dare say. They rowed from inner Ethia in their war-canoes and took the jagged shores by force. These battles ended two centuries ago from today, and I shouldn’t need to tell you that the Maileut are still sore about this victory. It was not so easy for the Maileut and the Longfoot to come to a peace. Not only were the Longfoot marvellous sailors, but they excelled in the construction of immense longhouses in pine, spruce, and cedar. Their lofty wooden monuments and houses came to dot the landscape; they were put up and painted in many colours to look like the faces of men and of fish, turtles, whales and other creatures of the sea. These days, they are almost entirely associated with turtles and tortoises which are common in the south. The Longfoot men can fish better than almost anyone else and if you ever find yourself in the town of
sâkôcihiwêwinis³, simply ask for the pit-roasted salmon that the fishwives bake in the cedars. There's a supper you will remember for the rest of your life.
Nobody is quite so certain where the Atissa or
atisonâniwak⁴ come from but they made their way into the forests east of the prairie nonetheless. It is a common belief among the Maileut (particularly in the northern parts) that their ancestors were all trees, whose bodies were made free to move about one day by the Great Manitou. The Atissa hold that they were instructed by Him to keep the forests well and safe, and they did so in battling with the Maileut over the outer groves they frequented for their stocks of wood. Sometimes the Maileut would even set fire to their precious thickets: an inhuman cruelty in the eyes of the victim. You see, these folk do not consider trees an expendable thing like the other nations do. Houses made completely of wood timber would not be considered a residence, rather these are the churches and mosques of their lands. Each tree that is felled must be done according to an old ritual. The timber is then used sparingly for the essential needs of the group: tools, tentpoles, firewood, and rifles (when firearms were made of wood). Even so, many Atissa prefer to live moving around three or four sites in harmony with the seasons, in temporary shelters constructed from animal hides. It is a way of life even the Maileut and Longfoot agree is rather backward. For peace in our age, there is now drawn a boundary where the Maileut and Longfoot cannot pass to cut their trees. By this condition of the three-nation confederation, the Maileut and Longfoot made peace with the Atissa.
These are only the first things to know about the three nations of the Confederacy. More's to come and soon.
¹This word translates to "The scrawny ones" in Mercanti.
²This word translates to "Those who stutter" in Mercanti.
³This word translates to "The little conquest" in Mercanti.
⁴This word translates to "The brown ones" or "the tan ones" in Mercanti.
