Monday, June 11, 2012

The circular arrows are meant to symbolize the importance of learning and the schooling they get as children. It is meant to keep them aware that learning is continuous and does not end simply because they are not in school.
The djembe drum is symbolic for the acts of celbration and song and dance that take place in the tribe. It is the most widely used instrument and only used for celebrations, nothing else.
The knot is a symbal of the tribes commitment to the family as the bonds that can never be broken between them. Knots can be found in tattoo form on the body in many shapes and sizes. They can be very intricate knots as well as simple ones like this knot shown here.
The circle with the five point star is the most widely used symbal in their worship of the God of the Sky as the circle represents the tribe as a whole and the start represents the Sky God and his importance to the tribe.

Terra Incognita culture is all about survival on very little and keeping the God of the Sky pleased by offering up a sacrificial animal of some sort, preferably a larger animal. They are a very hard working group that likes to hunt and fish. Tattoos are very common as people are encouraged to express themselves in body art and other forms of art such as paintings or carvings. The terrain and ecosystem is a very wet and wooded forest that can change from flatland to a mountainous terrain rather quickly. They tend to sleep up in the trees as much as possible due to the amount of rain they get. The Institution of most importance is their God. Keeping the God of the Sky pleased consumes a great deal of their time but even more so when weather conditions worsen. If weather gets continually worse they can even go as far as to use a human sacrifice. As much as they do not take their worship lightly they are a lighthearted people that celebrate frequently on occasions such as birthdays, independence day, and breaks in the bad weather they might have. Song and dance is very important in these celebrations and can include anything from facial decoration to dancing with fire. Family is also very important to them as they never marry unless the entire family can agree on a partner. If there is not an agreement you can still have a child but it is taken up and supervised by the elderly and not the parents of the child. Families usually live in one area together where they grow their own crops and make their own tools from what animals they kill. Men are regarded closely with how skilled they are at hunting. If a man comes back with nothing to show for himself it is seen an embarrassment to the family as a whole and there can even be some hostility towards them from other tribe members. Knowledge is also a skill the Terra incognita are adamant about. Usually it is the elderly who are the teachers and children are sent to learn at a young age how to survive, communicate, and learn about the God of the sky. As they grow and get older school becomes dominated by the women as the men are typically busy trying to provide food and shelter during the days. Weaving baskets , making tools and clothing , and medicinal studies are just a few things the women might learn in a typical day. The terra incognita tribe can be a very strict group in terms of their religion and men and women but can be mistaken as a mean group of people. They take serious situations seriously but like to celebrate the good times as well and don’t take happy moments for granted. They welcome strangers who do not mean any harm and usually have no problem with anyone who is interested in learning a few things about their culture and way of life.