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Wechua people

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See alsos: The official wikiportal for the Wechua Nation and a list of pages relating to the Wechua people and their homeland, the Wechua Nation. Wechua
Wechua
WechuaFlag1.png
Flag of the Wechua people
Total population
~ 48-69 million
Regions with significant populations
Nouvelle Alexandrie Nouvelle Alexandrie 49,949,449
Constancia Constancia 2,976,911
Natopia Natopia 1,698,231
Languages

Wechu,

the Common Tongue.
Religion

the Faith of Inti,

the Melusinian Faith.

The Wechua people may refer to any or all speakers of the Wechua languages, which originated among the indigenous people of central Keltia, mainly those in the area around Mount Lacara. Most Wechua speakers are native to the Wechua Nation, although there are some significant populations living in Alduria, Constancia, and Natopia. The most common Wechua dialect is Lacara Wechu. The word for a Wechua speaker is runa or nuna ("person"); the plural is runakuna or nunakuna ("people"). Wechus living in the coastal enclave of San Francisco predominantly speak Coastal Wechu.

The ancestors of the Wechua people lived in the Mount Lacara region for many centuries before becoming a subject people of the ancient nation of Attera. Over the centuries, as the hardships that followed the collapse of Attera grew, the Wechua went through periods of domination by other countries and periods of anarchy and warlordism while being part of the unrecognized Keltian Green. Under Atteran rule, to ensure the Wechua could not rise against them, the Atteran Empire started transporting hundreds of thousands of Wechua to western Keltia, where they were ruled by the Vanderveer Reich and other nations. Western Wechuas have formed a distinctly different version of the old Wechua culture, called Coastal Wechu. In the centuries following the collapse of its Atteran overlords and the succession of other nations that settled the area, the communities of these Coastal Wechu speakers began to migrate en masse to Caputia, settling around the city of San Francisco. Currently, the city of San Francisco is part of the Wechua Nation's small coastal enclave in Keltia. The city joined the Wechua Nation after the collapse of Caputia due to the White Plague and helped fuel the Restoration of the Wechua state after its own collapse as well. Smaller groups of these communities in western Keltia have moved out of their insecure and chaotic Green wastes and settled in Alduria, Constancia, and Natopia. Only abandoned ruins remain of the old Coastal Wechu communities outside of the borders of the Wechua Nation.

Today, most of the Wechua people in Micras reside in the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie, founded in 1685 AN when both Alduria and the Wechua Nation published the Proclamation of Punta Santiago. The Sapa Wechua (King) of the Wechua Nation became King of the Federation.

History

Culture

See also: Mount Lacara

The Wechua tradition is steeped in its locality, primarily Mount Lacara and the valleys of the Rodinia river in Keltia. The identity of the country is heavily oriented by this and is inseparably linked. These traditions have informed the construction of the Wechua state, the establishment of societal structures, and a native economic system. This started first with the Wechua Nation and continues with Nouvelle Alexandrie (since 1685 AN.

The Wechua culture is extremely community-minded, containing mainly two primary types of joint work. This is rooted in the long and painful history of its people, subjected to centuries of different masters before they claimed a state of their own. Mink'a is when people work together for projects of common interest to the community (such as the construction and maintenance of crucial community infrastructure). In contrast, Ayni is a brotherly spirit of reciprocal assistance, whereby members of a local community (ayllu) help a family to accomplish a large private project, for example, house construction, and in turn, can expect to be similarly helped later with a project of their own.

The survival of the Wechua people in Keltia often was assured in history by this tradition of industry and by the diversification of its agriculture. The importance of agriculture in the lower altitude regions and pastoral farming in the higher regions offered further specialization that helped drive industry and economic development. The typical Wechua community, at least in the Wechua Nation, extends over a wide range of altitudes, which also offer a variety of arable crops and livestock. In the past, much of the farming land was owned by the Sapa Wechua but administered by local communities (ayllu) or farming cooperatives through the establishment of a land trust ("waki allpa").

Beginning with the Atteran era and intensifying after the first Wechua state was founded in 1657 AN, nobles and existing landowning gentry appropriated all or most of the land, ripping up or invalidating many land trusts or land allocations. Harsh conditions of exploitation repeatedly led to revolts by the farmers, which were forcibly suppressed. The largest and last of these revolts was part of the Wechua Spring, which led to widespread early agrarian reforms. These reforms included expanding access to public welfare services and a large land reform, which expropriated and redistributed land to local communities, small farmers, and farming cooperatives (public and private).

The Wechua are known for their wide variety of traditional handicrafts and rich textiles, which are an important aspect of material culture and serve as a major export and meaningful source of income for many families and communities in Alduria-Wechua. Many of these products are exported to large markets in the Raspur Pact, such as Constancia, Natopia, and Ransenar. This includes a tradition of weaving handed down from ancient times, using cotton, wool (from llamas, alpacas, guanacos, vicunas) and a multitude of natural dyes, and incorporating numerous woven patterns (pallay). Houses are usually constructed using air-dried clay bricks (tika, or in adobe), or branches and clay mortar (“wattle and daub”), with the roofs being covered with straw, reeds, or puna grass (ichu).

Language

Main article: Wechu language

OOC Notes

  • The word "Wechu" is used as a universal verb and adverb. Its use as an occasional noun is also accepted.

Religion

See also: Faith of Inti

Practically all Wechua have been nominally Intians. Nevertheless, other religious forms persist in many Wechua communities within the Wechua Nation and abroad. Some communities have blended with Melusinian elements. Other communities, especially those Wechua communities in Alduria and Natopia have blended with Alexandrian Nazarene elements.

Most Wechua communities, particularly in the Wechua Nation, share a belief in Mother Earth (Pachamama), who grants fertility and to whom burnt offerings and libations are regularly made. Also important are the mountain spirits (apu) as well as lesser local deities (wak'a), who are still venerated especially in the southernmost regions of the Wechua Nation. The influence of the Alexandrian Nazarene faith led them to include the idea of heaven (hanan pacha) and hell (ukhu pach).

Foods and crops

The Wechua people cultivate and eat a variety of foods. They domesticated potatoes and cultivate thousands of potato varieties, used for food and medicine. The government has recently established strong and well-funded efforts to undertake conservation and adaptation efforts of potato and other traditional crops. More than 2,800 types of potatoes are known to have originated in the country. The existence of these varieties can be attributed to the high value the Wechua people place on their cultural traditions and biological diversity. There are nearly as many uses for potatoes as there are varieties, from food preparation to the treatment of illness, and for use in various cultural practices. In maintaining a wide variety of potatoes, the Wechua have also protected their people from widespread agricultural disaster. Due to the diversification of their most important crop, there has been no recorded agricultural disaster. The potato also plays an important role in multiple Wechua cultural traditions, including marriage. In many communities, if a man wants to marry a woman, the man’s mother presents her with a potato named for its ability to “make the daughter-in-law cry.” The daughter-in-law must carefully peel the knobby tuber, which resembles a pinecone in shape. If she removes more than is necessary, she will not be allowed to marry the woman’s son.

Quinoa

Quinoa is a staple crop grown by the Wechua. Quinoa has served the Wechua people as an edible cereal from the remotest times. It is generally grown alongside other crops such as potatoes and maize, while also serving as a fence-hedge for fields and as biological barriers. It is commonly regarded as a sacred food and was also used for medicinal purposes. The grain can be used in soups, sweets, beverages, and for making bread and pasta. The leaves are ideal for salads. As a basic foodstuff and from a nutritional point of view, quinoa constitutes one of the main components of the Wechua diet. It is a powerful source of protein with an especially rich variety of amino acids.

Kiwicha

Kiwicha or amaranth is a cereal that has been cultivated in the Wechua Nation for thousands of years. It is an annual, herbaceous, slightly shrub-like plant with exuberant foliage and bright inflorescences. The leaves, whether fresh or dried, and the grain, whether dried, popped like popcorn or ground into flour are edible and can be combined with many combinations of foods.

Kaniwa

Qañiwa / Cañihua, or most commonly kaniwa or canihua in Istvanistani, is a grain that originated in the highlands of Mount Lacara. The plant is highly resistant to freezes, pests, blights, and drought, qualities that make this a reliable source of food serving as a nutritional back-up or safety net when other crops fail. Its leaves are consumed as greens and make it a good fodder crop. It can grow at higher elevations than some of the region’s other traditional grains. The plants produce edible seeds in a variety of colors with some yielding taller more erect plants and others lower-lying and bushier in shape. The grain is used in a wide variety of food preparations. It is known for its high protein content and while it shares the high levels of essential amino acids found in its close relative quinoa. It is also much easier to prepare and process into flour that quinoa.

Ch’arki

Ch’arki is a Wechua dried (and sometimes salted) meat. It was traditionally made from llama meat that was sun and freeze-dried in the sun and cold nights but is now also often made from beef, with many different and delicious variations among regions and cities. These can often be found in food stands across Nouvelle Alexandrie, making it one of the most popular street foods in the country.

Pachamanca

Pachamanca, a Wechua word for a pit cooking technique, includes several types of meat such as chicken, beef, pork, lamb, and/or mutton; tubers such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, yucca, uqa/ok’a, and mashwa; other vegetables such as maize/corn and fava beans; seasonings; and sometimes cheese in a small pot and/or tamales.

Others

Other foods and crops include the meat of llamas and alpacas as well as beans, barley, hot peppers, coriander, and peanuts. Guinea pigs and rabbits are also sometimes raised for meat.

Notable people

See also