-XIII-
"Men of Oak"
Jin Yue, Born in Flood and Faith: The Oaken Roots of South Fusania (Jinshan [San Francisco, CA] University Press, 1970)
The changes in Fusania wrought by animal and plant domestication spread far beyond their immediate epicenter. The area now called South Fusania, that is, the lands south of the basin of the Ueno River [1], changed as much as anywhere else did thanks to the events occurring far to the north. Perhaps the area changed even more than other places like the Subarctic or the Plains thanks to its isolation from the outside world. With North Fusania serving as much of a cultural influencer as the Southwest or the Plains, and lacking a place like Mesoamerica or the Eastern Woodlands as a major influence (as seen in the people of the Southwest and Plains respectively), South Fusania absorbed the influences from North Fusania more than anywhere else, causing massive changes to society. Facilitating these changes was the influence of the religion later called Kuksuism, a faith centered around a secret society which played numerous roles in the social, political, economic, and spiritual life of much of South Fusania.
Unlike the more regularly climate of North Fusania, the climate of South Fusania presents a much greater challenge to human civilisation. The region regularly experienced decades-long droughts in the past, which could be followed up by severe flooding of the rivers needed to sustain life. Every few centuries, some of these floods even swallow the entire Central Valley of South Fusania, the most fertile and viable land of the region. To make matters worse, regular wildfires scorch the area, while strong earthquakes shake the ground beneath. To thrive in this highly erratic land posed a challenge to its inhabitants, who compensated with a rich mythology and worldview centered around the idea of pleasing fickle spirits and gods. The South Fusanians desired above all else stability in nature, and turned to their shamans to find ways to appease the chaotic world around them and allow a sense of stability by making the weather and land as predictable as possible.
Nature wasn't alone in bringing instability to South Fusanian society, for to the north, the great changes there began to filter south. Archaeology shows Irikyaku culture artifacts first appeared in South Fusania around the mid-5th century, appearing alongside artifacts common to the Dena and Maguraku cultures of the area. The oldest evidence of the reindeer in this area--no doubt as a trade good--goes back to the arrival of the Dena into the area a century before. As reindeer do not survive well in the Central Valley due to heat and disease, reindeer goods are typically associated with prestigious individuals, acquired from people to the north.
Plant domestication arrived much more piecemeal and slowly and associated with the Maguraku and especially the Ancestral Waluo people. Both groups absorbed waves of Dena who brought with them the increasingly domesticated plants from the north as well as reindeer. With this new influx of wealth, populations increased, but at the same time so did conflict. The Maguraku fought intense conflicts with the Waluo, the Dena, and people displaced by the Dena but no doubt since lost to history. The ancestors of the Tanne, particularly tenacious fighters, fought the ancestors of the Waluo and several neighbouring peoples along the Ueno River particularly hard, for they controlled much of the trade in dentalium shells, a regional form of exchange. While the Maguraku kept their homeland around Lake Hewa, the Waluo found themselves totally displaced. Their legacy in their homeland remains that of toponyms of Waluo origin (i.e. the regional city of Kappaha--natively in Yanshuuji Tanne "Kw'ahaha" which is loaned from Waluo *K'wakhakha meaning "where the crow lights") or indeed the very name "Waluo" itself, their exonym in a now-extinct language which later spread to various Tanne languages in native forms like
Walkha [2] which in South Fusania became used to designate either the groups descended from the Ancestral Waluo (such as the K'ahusani, later called the Sani) or simply as a generic term for northern enemies.
The Ancestral Waluo fled south into the mountains in the 6th century, where many were later absorbed by the Tanne, but also moved east, where they clashed and displaced others either further south into the mountains or into the deserts. Some Waluo migrated into the great Central Valley, where they joined with the local peoples there. Regardless of their location, the Waluo incorporated much of their prior knowledge into their new homes, spreading it with the common practice of exogamous marriages. This included the practice of earthworks and flooded fields to raise the farming plants important to their lifestyle, such as tehi for fiber with camas and omodaka for food, in addition to the symbolic purposes of marking their villages and exalting their elite.
This sort of lifestyle made tenuous extensions into other regions of South Fusania, although it was most enthusiastically adopted by the more sedentary Numic-speaking peoples along the desert rivers and alkaline lakes. Other groups merely began to associate the feral plants spreading from Waluo territory with better food sources, uprooting wild forms of those plants or even inadvertantly interbreeding them, producing several unique cultivars or even entirely new species. One particular plant created here was the valley turnip (
Sagittaria vallensis), derived from a hybrid of several Sagittaria species brought by the Waluo which genetic evidence dates to around 550 AD, although it continued to intermix with wild and domestic
Sagittaria species for another few centuries [3]. The leaves of this plants fed insects (which fed fish) and waterfowl, while the roots proved productive to harvest and enabled a more sedentary lifestyle.
The most attractive plants to these early South Fusanians were those with dual uses. The tehi plant with its fibers became subject to much early horticulturalism, and was often encouraged alongside tule, sweetflag, and cattails. Milkweed (
Asclepias vulgarum) was used alongside tehi in South Fusania (and in fact domesticated there) thanks to the cultural value placed on it as well as genetic input from the diversity of milkweed species there [4]. In South Fusania, the food uses of these plants was equally preferred to their use as building materials, helping encourage a more stable lifestyle. Kushi (
Chlorogalum sp.), relatives of agaves and yuccas, also found favour early on for its many medicinal uses, use as soap, or use as a poison to stun fish in addition to producing sizable bulbs for food [5], while balsamroot became another important plant cultivated. The South Fusanians valued this stability thanks to the irregular harvests of their staple acorns as well as the constant drought and floods of their homeland. However, the peoples of the Central Valley remained hesistant on large-scale cultivation--they judged it too much effort to do more than simple encouragement of all but the most valuable plants and used little irrigation. Those south of the valley, such as the Chuma of the islands and coast or the Jiqi south of them [6], remained unchanged although even there the influence of northern peoples began to filter south.
Yet this lifestyle spreading from the north, combined with the conflict caused by the Tanne and those displaced by them like the Ancestral Waluo or the ancestors of the Dachimashi and Dongkama [7], started a process of monumental change. A surplus of tools from the north affected local economies, while intermarriage and absorption of newcomers spread new ideas. People such as the Beikama [8] at the north of the valley adopted these innovations first, spreading them south through the Central Valley. The increased food sources and influx of tools led to a sedentary lifestyle, less reliant on oak harvests, as well as cultural diversification due to the increase in free time. More tools could be made, increasing specialisation in society could occur, and most importantly, earthworks could be constructed to tame the rivers and allow for artificial ponds to gather waterfowl and fish. The earliest evidence of earthworks in South Fusania dates to the middle of the 6th century.
It is difficult to speak of early South Fusania without considering the role of religion. These changes led to great social disturbance, as they had in North Fusania. And like the Sibling Prophets in North Fusania stepped in to institute great change, in South Fusania a great figure stepped in as well. But this figure, the mythological first Grand Lodgemaster, or the Restorer, as a common name translated as, preferred to operate within traditional beliefs. The Restorer is most associated with the city of Koru, or Kelu in later times, a holy center which grew up near the base of the sacred mountain of Onolaitol, rising high above the valley floor [9]. Some stories report him having been born there, or even appeared out of the mountain fully formed as an adult, while others say he received spiritual revelations there or simply learned from elder priests at the sacred place.
Unlike the Sibling Prophets who preached a message of radical change, interpreting every phenomena to fit their new paradigm, the Restorer called for conservatism. He warned the people of the new ways and paths infilitrating the area. And his warnings were dire--the people were becoming greedy and lazy thanks to these new ways of life. As the Restorer predicted, a great flood would come and drown those who foolishly tried to confine the rivers or torment the earth for simple food. The Restorer preached the oak tree as a symbol of stability placed there by the gods, and believed the oaks would save and preserve all life in the coming spiritual change the gods had in store. As humans ate the offspring of the oaks--acorns--as well as the animals who were likewise drawn to the oaks, humans inherited the steadfast oaken spirit. By trusting in the spirit of the oaks, closest to the true spirit of the earth, the path of salvation opened as the gods accepted humans as their kin and allowed them to imitate them in the sacred lodges. Only some humans proved worthy to carry this wisdom--they would be those initiated into a secret society of dancers and ritualists who imitated the gods to bring order, balance, and restoration in the world.
The Restorer preached spiritualism and humility as the core of his message, for mankind could do nothing without the assistance of the spirits, and only properly initiated individuals could command the spirits. To try and tame the rivers without being the respect of local spirits was simply foolish--one year the spirit of the waters may trick the people around it that it was tamed, the next year it may laugh at them and destroy what earthworks they had built. Fires, earthquakes, and droughts would inevitably destroy what man created without spiritual power to tame them, power which one could not be hasty in obtaining. He emphasised the existing beliefs that humans were utterly at the mercy of supernatural forces, the same which destroyed previous races of mankind who once lived in the land.
In this system, four worlds with four previous races of mankind existed (although locally the number of previous worlds varied as does the inhabitants), but all were destroyed by fire, blizzards, floods, or earthquakes by the whims of the gods and recreated each time [10]. Each time the people and world were perfect, but the creator's assistant, Coyote, seeking to create true perfection, introduced all manner of turmoil including work and death into these worlds, and eventually the people in these worlds grew wicked and the gods destroyed the world. A few survived the destruction of the previous world thanks to various spirits, but wound up transfigured into plants, animals, geographical landmarks, or supernatural beings due to their inability to survive in the next world. In the Fifth World, the great teacher Kuksu (among other names)--in some places the creator god himself--descended to Earth himself (in some places in the form of the first man in the new world) in order to teach this new humanity the way to renew the world eternally to prevent the Fifth World's destruction. While Coyote once again introduced his "perfections", Kuksu taught mankind the way to work around Coyote's innovations, including proper ways of labour, proper ways of sending off the dead, and proper ways of communing with chaotic spirits. Kuksu's teachings were passed down through networks of wise men who taught the dances which channelled the power to renew the world. In the time the Restorer lived, too many greedy men gained access to the secrets of these dances and threatened to profane their spiritual force. The Restorer thus devoted his efforts to maintaining the pure line of tradition from this evil.
In the last year of the Restorer's life, the sky opened up and rained without end, and the entire Central Valley began to flood as village after village became submerged beneath the deep waters. The people believed the end of the Fifth World was at hand, as the Restorer had taught. But the Restorer calmed the people and led them to safety while sending his most trusted advisors--the Lodgemasters and their assistants, the Directors--to organise the same in other villages. All danced feverishly during this great flood in order to prevent the destruction of the world. The Restorer preached that had it not been for these dances showing that Kuksu's teachings remained in the world, the gods surely would have ended the Fifth World. Several months later, a lunar eclipse occurred, one which can be dated to May 17, 607 (later the starting date of the traditional South Fusanian calendar). Once again, the Restorer claimed this was yet another test of the gods, as the divine Bear wished to devour the moon--Kuksu's emblem--in his hunger. The Restorer and his followers climbed the highest peak of Onolaitol, where he revealed to his chosen successor the ritual dance and formula to keep the world renewed against even this onslaught of the gods. There they danced for hours until the Bear released his hold over the moon, but at daybreak, the Restorer was nowhere to be seen. His followers claim he vanished, having sacrificed himself to preserve the world. However, this Final Dance he revealed included the way of passing the position of Grand Lodgemaster to a new successor--he was to dance himself into ecstasy and exhaustion, and in his sleep the new Grand Lodgemaster was to ritually execute him by strangulation.
As the Restorer died, successors became anointed, the lineage of the Lodgemasters. This was the foundation of what became known as the Kuksu religion, named for the common god Kuksu, usually portrayed as a spiritually powerful man wearing a headdress of eagle or condor feathers. Often Kuksu was a teacher, the one who taught mankind the ways of civilisation itself and separated mankind from animals. While worship of Kuksu and other gods, as well as elements of the society no doubt existed before the 6th century AD, the faith began to take the form most commonly associated with the religion after the Restorer's death.
The historic veracity of the lineage of Grand Lodgemasters cannot be established. Instead, it seems that after the 607 flood, new organisation of the Kuksu lodges emerged, but with no central leader or first among equals. The site of Onolaitol and the nearby town of Koru became pilgramage sites, and the Lodgemaster of Koru became particularly influential. However, other sacred sites in the region retained powerful Lodgemasters who sometimes eclipsed the influence of that of the Lodgemaster of Koru. Only in later centuries did the power of the Koru Lodgemasters allow their traditional lineage to become the accepted lineage of the Grand Lodgemasters from the Restorer and ultimately to Kuksu himself.
Similarly, it's difficult to tell much of the evolution of Kuksu beliefs. Archaeology of Kuksu lodges only displays scant material traces and writing would not spread to South Fusania for almost a millennia. The surviving oral history tends toward being hagiographic. The South Fusanians venerated local gods and customs as much in the 7th century as they did when literacy arrived as well as the first outside accounts of South Fusania, but judging by the prominence given to these gods in archaeological remains compared to attested Kuksu lodges, local traditions seem to have been much more important in early Kuksu society. Kuksuism also seems to absorbed several other secret societies, such as one which admitted both women and men whose origins and absorption is known through oral records [11].
Regardless of lineage of the Kuksu society, in the subsequent era of South Fusania the modern Kuksu faith began to take shape and influence society in the aftermath of the destruction of 607. This is called the Pengnen era (650 - 900), after the Pengnen culture found at what was once the native city of Pelnen where a thriving lineage of Lodgemasters lived, although Pengnen artifacts are much more prevelant throughout the Central Valley and the cities of the Yuliu Delta and Yuliu River [12]. During the Pengnen era, sedentarism increased further despite many great population movements and with it came increased population, religious and societal complexity, and the beginnings of true agricultural practices in South Fusania.
The center of a Pengnen culture village was the "palace" of its chief, a man of wealth and prominence who usually inherited his position from a male relative. This was the largest building in the village and housed the chief, his relatives, and his servants. The chief resolved disputes and commanded great respect and authority. Second to him was his messenger, whose role was to act as the intermediary between the chief and the people. But perhaps the true center of the village was its Kuksu lodge and its true ruler the head of that lodge, which always was housed in the lowest level of a mound. In smaller villages, his title translated as "Director", but in larger villages his title was "Lodgemaster", who had Directors beneath him. The chief and messenger and others of the emerging nobility would always be members of the Kuksu lodge or even high-ranking members, but rarely would either be the head of the local lodge.
Legitimacy flowed from the Kuksu lodge and its leaders, who often were well-traveled (although in the Pengnen era nowhere near as much as later times) and regularly met and danced with other Kuksu leaders. Their leaders advised the chief on all matters, and if the chief was greedy or corrupt could even demand his removal. They alone held the teachings to ensure proper spiritual practice, which included the training of shamans and medicine men to tend to the physical and spiritual health of the community. The Kuksu lodge initiated the majority of young men aside from the lowest class men, and in some places the majority of young women as well. Lodges often charged an initiation fee, which was redistributed to the Directors and Lodgemasters and eventually to the community in time. Furthermore, as society increasingly specialised, village and town guilds formed, these guilds responsible for training youth in various crafts, the most essential being tool construction, boat building (for river and coastal peoples), and especially earthworking [13]. These guilds gained their own spiritual legitimacy from the heads of the Kuksu lodge, as well as financial assistance to these guilds in the form of redistributed goods. Thus the Kuksu lodge became a force impossible to ignore in village life, for without it society would simply fall apart on both the material and spiritual level.
The increasing horticulturalism and eventual agriculture in these communities similarly fell under the influence of the Kuksu lodge, for their associated guilds controlled access to the best tools and required a tithe from initiated men and women, which included all but the poorest in society. Most importantly, earthworkers from the Kuksu lodges helped coordinate planting and flood control which was required to grow water crops like omodaka (increasingly a staple in the Pengnen era), valley turnip, water amaranth,
wokas and other lilies, tule, and sweetflag. Flood control likewise preserved land crops like camas and goosefoot (several species) as well as crops cultivated in South Fusania, like the aforementioned kushi, but also
peixi (
Salvia columbariae) and ricegrass (Oryzopsis hymenoides), two grains highly tolerant of the dry conditions often found in South Fusania, as well as the several species of lupines (Lupinus) commonly cultivated.
Yet the greatest sign of the Pengnen culture and their development is that of their agroforestry, which was subject to the most direct influence from the Kuksu lodges. In the system set up by the Restorer, the oaks (of several species) held an even greater importance than before. Influenced by the new agricultural system as well as the Restorer's warning to not just plan for the immediate future but for the far future, the management of oaks took on a new spiritual quality. The acorn ceremony and associated dance, to commemorate the harvest of acorns, became of critical importance in the yearly calendar of the South Fusanians. During the ceremony, the elder women of the women's section of the Kuksu lodge and the women who in the past year had given birth, accompanied by their husbands, went into the fields and planted new acorns in patches determined spiritually powerful by the Kuksu lodge's head. These patches were to be tended by this family and the lodge to grow into strong oaks which symbolised the growing child. Naturally, many acorns failed to sprout or the saplings died--this was an ill-omen which required spiritual intervention to cure, and often they adopted various trees or planted new acorns under the guidance of the Kuksu medicine men. To prevent flood damage, elaborate mounds and earthworks protected the saplings and groves.
Those acorns which became fruitful oak trees after reaching maturity at 25-30 years became the personal trees of that extended family and the pride of the individual symbolised in that tree. The family who owned the tree used acorns from the tree to plant new trees for their descendents, as well as frequently ate acorns from the tree, as it symbolised the spirits giving nourishment to them. Even after the individual died, their spirit was said to remain in the oak and continue to provide for their family. Acorns from these trees were distributed to the Kuksu lodges or bartered for other goods. As acorns store well, they became a symbol of wealth and of critical food security.
Alongside these groves of oaks grew many useful plants, such as toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), various manzanita bushes (Arctostaphylos), and other shrubs which produced berries. These plants were encouraged by the South Fusanians, which the manzanitas in particular became important as sources of food, wood, fuel, and medicine. The most common drink of the South Fusanians was a juice produced from the manzanita berries, which at times was allowed to ferment to become mildly alcoholic. Although many berries cultivated by the South Fusanians were brewed into alcoholic beverages, the manzanita cider was the most culturally preferred even in these early times. Medicinal plants highly valued for spices (among other uses) like spiceshrub (Calycanthus occidentalis) or the bay nut (Umbellularia) likewise grew in these oak groves. In many groves, pines (especially the grey pine) were encouraged alongside oaks for firewood and their nuts, although the most valuable pines, the pinyon pine, rarely grew in these groves.
The animals, birds, and insects attracted to the landscape created by Pengnen culture villagers provided an important part of their diet. Squirrels and woodpeckers fed on acorns--these animals were typically monitered for their ability to create caches of acorns for later harvesting. When a cache was discovered, the villagers killed numerous squirrels to celebrate. Many insects lived on the oak trees--these became an easy source of food for the villagers. One insect in particular, the caterpillar of the Fusanian silk moth (Antheraea polyphemus) and its pupa, became a food source for several peoples of the Central Valley. And they increasingly began to allow only these moths to feed on their oaks instead of other insects due to the size of the caterpillars and the curiousity the silk on their cocoons produced. The breeding of this wild silk moth, later to produce the famed Fusanian silk, began in these times.
The Pengnen culture spread south beyond the Central Valley and rough terrain of the coast by the 8th century, producing several regional varients amongst the Chuma, Jiqi, and other peoples of the area such as the inland Yiweidang [14]. Most notably came the organisation of similar religious systems to Kuksu, such as the Jiqi's society of Quaoar, a culture hero and creator, or the Antapist society amongst the Chuma, named for its members called
antaps who communed with the gods. These systems worshipped and danced differently and were best known for initiation rites and vision ceremonies involving the use of datura, a powerful psychoactive plant which under the guidance of elders produced dramatic visions. Although these religions had a similar system of lodges, they tended not to spread outside ethnolinguistic borders unlike Kuksuism which spread throughout much of South Fusania south of the Ueno basin.
Influences from the Pengnen culture (or more precisely its southern offshoots) likewise spread west into the desert, where similar secret societies emerged amongst the few sedentary peoples of the desert such as the Monuo [15]. Amongst the Numic peoples of the desert, the Pengnen culture contributed little, albeit increasing horticulture of peixi and ricegrass occurred. However, the Woshu of the Lake Dahuo region [16] adopted much of the Kuksuist faith, albeit a modified version where instead of oaks, they placed great emphasis on the pinyon pine, using groves of pines to symbolise themselves and their families and tending them to collect their nuts. They became the most settled of the peoples of the desert due to this system, trading their surplus to the less-settled people in exchange for protection.
Two events resulted in great changes to the Pengnen culture. First, increasing population density and societal complexity left the people more and more vulnerable to periodic drought, forcing adaption to this in their building patterns and societal organisation. Second, the arrival of metallurgy and domesticated towey goats and ducks from North Fusania resulted in all manner of new craftsmenship and livelihoods. Ducks enabled the marshlands both natural and artificial to become more productive, while towey goats allowed for transhumance between the often flooded marshlands infeasible to reclaim in the valley and the drier foothills. First appearing in the region by the end of the 9th century, by the early 10th century the majority of the Pengnen culture's range adopted herding of goats, raising of ducks, and some level of metalworking.
Kuksu lodges helped ease the societal transition, organising mining and smithing guilds as well as providing support for pastoral communities. The lodges in particular appreciated elaborate metal ornamentation both in and around their buildings as well as in the masks and costumes of the dancers and became a prime driver in seeking out new veins of ore to mine. The Beikama in the far north of the valley emerged as the finest smiths of this era, crafting elaborate copper, gold, and silver ornamentation as well as tools and weapons to trade further south. Kuksuist sculptury and other artifacts found in the Beikama's emerging center, Pasnomsono [17], date to the mid-10th century, and oral history suggests that Pasnomsono's Kuksu lodge was at one point second only to the central lodge at Koru.
Unpredictable climate and the chaotic land continued to pose a threat. Droughts and flooding alternated throughout the end of the 10th and 11th century, and the warming of the climate provoked new conflicts with hill tribes not entirely brought into the Kuksuist system. In the north, the American Migration Period caused new waves of refugees and invaders fleeing the coasts and venturing south, pursued by their main enemies, the Tanne at land and the Coastmen at sea. Both groups joined other traditional enemies like the Maguraku in raiding South Fusania for slaves to sell at the great markets in the north such as Wayam or simply encouraging the trade of slaves and the destructive conflicts such trade brought. Further, in the early 11th century, the Wakashan Coastmen began to actively settle the coastal parts of South Fusania, displacing the local inhabitants and sending a new flood of refugees throughout the land.
In this situation, the people of the Central Valley and surrounding areas continued strong in their faith in the Kuksu lodges and their ability to guide society and protect against the chaotic world. The addition of the human element from outside complicated things, but the people believed this too could be mediated. Yet new surprises always emerged, emerging too fast for even the most respected Lodgemaster to predict. In winter of 1023, the winter rains poured harder and stronger than ever, and unlike other years, continued to unceasingly pour no matter how much the rivers flooded. This emerging disaster marked the start of the chaotic 11th and 12th centuries of South Fusania, the centuries where their civilisation as we know it truly begins.
[1] - The Ueno River is the Klamath River, a Japanese modification of the Yurok (Dachimashi) word meaning "river".
[2] - Kappaha/Kw'ahaha is Ashland, OR, while "Waluo" is the Sinification of an Athabaskan loanword from the Takelma exonym ("wulkh") for the Shasta. Incidentally, said Takelma exonym sounds similar to Proto-Germanic "walhaz", the root of "Welsh", "Vlach", and many other terms. Amongst some groups in South Fusania, derivations of "wulkh" are used in the same way as derivations of "walhaz" were in Europe.
[3] - An ATL domesticated species, which has much ancestry from various Sagitarria species as noted. California has several which grow in its marshes and rivers, although S. latifolia was the most used OTL thanks to the Chinese community (and exports overseas to China). They weren't too important to local Indians, but TTL this genus becomes increasingly important and directs the Indians toward increasing aquaculture and the ramifications thereof.
[4] - Milkweed is a source of fibers much as tehi (dogbane) and is a related family to that plant. California has quite a diversity in native species, so once again we have some hybridisations and selective breeding result in the beginnings of a domesticated species which I have termed "common milkweed".
[5] - "Kushi" is a Chinese derivation of Ohlone "kush" (and the name its most commonly called TTL), their term for plants of genus Chlorogalum. Despite being high in saponins (which gave them their use as a fish poison), they were used in a variety of contexts throughout indigenous California.
[6] - The Chuma are the ATL Chumash. The Jiqi are the ATL Tongva/Kizh, their Chinese exonym deriving from the term "Kizh", "people of the houses".
[7] - The Dachimashi are the ATL Yurok, while the Dongkama are OTL Maiduan people, here marginalised a bit by the Waluo. Like the Yurok, the Maidu and their relatives likely migrated to California from Oregon in the past 2,000 years or so. TTL they are pushed out in the early 1st millennia AD by Dena peoples.
[8] - The Beikama (literally "North Kama") are the Ch'arsel as mentioned earlier. "Kama" comes from a Wakashan language and is a generic term for the interior peoples of the Central Valley. Incidentally, directional-based names are common in some societies of the Central Valley.
[9] - Koru is approximately Colusa, CA, while Onolaitol is the Sutter Buttes, considered sacred IOTL.
[10] - A theme in some indigenous Californian mythology is the existence of worlds before the current one, destroyed by fires, floods, earthquakes, or blizzards, sometimes three or four previous worlds. This is an interesting parallel to the better-known "Five Suns" theme of Mesoamerican legend.
[11] - Essentially the OTL Hesi society found in California--TTL it has fused with the Kuksu society
[14] - Pelnen/Pengnen is Pleasanton, CA, while the Yuliu River and Yuliu Delta is the San Joaquin Delta and San Joaquin River respectively, named for a native town near the site
[13] - Societies like this existed IOTL indigenous California, and were indeed often associated with the Kuksu society of the village. One had to pay to gain instruction from their masters, and this helped enforce a rudimentary class structure in some places.
[14] - The Yiweidang are the Cahuillans, their name a Chinese derivation of their ethnonym "Ivitam"
[15] - The Monuo are the Mono and other more settled Paiute peoples of California, their name a Chinese derivation of a Yokuts exonym
[16] - The Woshu are the Washo people and Lake Dahuo is Lake Tahoe. I believe the Chinese transcription I'm using is a bit more faithful to the Washo original than the transcription used OTL.
[17] - Redding, CA
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Author's notes
"We should not look upon the [Kuksu] society of each village as a branch or chapter or lodge of the society as a whole." - Paraphrase of Alfred L. Kroeber
While I had intended to do something with the OTL Kuksu traditions of California, this particular passage I found while researching gave me particular inspiration, especially given the direction I already wanted to take my ATL California ("South Fusania") in. Essentially, I needed to justify the Kuksu religion going the opposite direction of A. L. Kroeber's statement, and I hope I gave a plausible case toward that (in the context of this timeline which I admit can be a bit unrealistic in some aspects). I think this TL in both antiquity and in societal evolution gives some grounds for this religion to go in the direction I've described. Kuksu was practiced in a variety of forms throughout Central and Northern California, along with various other spiritual practices including ghost cults, and I've blended elements from this as well as some elements of the "World Renewal" religion found in Northwestern California amongst the Yurok and some Athabaskans to create TTL's version of Kuksu. Essentially, it's a secret society which helps organise everyday life including the vital spiritual component of it. It is by no means the only religious practice found, but the most important one since it trains/"certifies" all priests, shamans, and medicine men. It's perhaps not so secretive either, since like OTL, you can buy your way into a lodge. The titles/ranks I give are a mix of OTL with some innovations like "Lodgemaster", a superior rank to "Director", and are of course English translations of a variety of indigenous titles. Since it's usually called "Kuksu" or "Kuksu society" in a lot of writing, I will be referring to this religion as Kuksuism to distinguish it from OTL.
I was going to cover alt-Southern California a bit more in this entry but I couldn't really work it in. I think I covered the gist of it since its a peripheral region to the Central Valley and Northern California in the time period this entry covers. The Central Valley and San Joaquin Delta have huge potential if you can do something about the flooding AND keep the water going to whatever you're doing. A massive flood--like described above or OTL in 1861-2--would be a civilisation-shaping event as much as any decades-long drought.
While North Fusania might be my main focus, I'll be giving plenty of attention to South Fusania as well, especially in the next update or two.
