'tribal' inspired nation

[Amhazair]

You might want to check out the Haida Gwaii mod. (go to the mods forum, and the stickied mod list, and look for Haida Gwaii among the EA nations. ) I never played it myself, but from reading the nation thread it looks to be exactly what you're looking for.

[Omnirizon]

Amhazair said:
You might want to check out the Haida Gwaii mod. (go to the mods forum, and the stickied mod list, and look for Haida Gwaii among the EA nations. ) I never played it myself, but from reading the nation thread it looks to be exactly what you're looking for.

thanks, I'll check it out.

[Endoperez]

There's no tribal nation, because the tribes haven't united. When the tribe gathers power, it will be assimilated by another culture, or it conquers it. Examples:

Horse Tribe -> LA Tien Barbarian Kings
Toad Tribe -> LA Mictlan
Jade Amazons -> EA Sauromatia
Jaguar and Lion tribe are not-yet-nation versions of EA Mictlan and MA Machaka

Bear Tribe/Barbarians - not really any spesific nation, but they could fulfill the role of two-handed weapon wielder available in most human nations. I mean, MA, Ulm axemen, Marignon twohanders, Man Wardens, Vanheim Skinshifters, Mictlan Moon Warriors - many choices.
Similarly, Deer Tribe isn't adopted into any spesific nation, although MA Eriu units bear some resemblance, what with swords being rare, javelins common and lack of bows.

Amazons don't have their own nation, but as mentioned above, EA Sauromatia has adopted local Jade Amazons.

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but here goes any way.

[Omnirizon]

Endoperez said:
There's no tribal nation, because the tribes haven't united. When the tribe gathers power, it will be assimilated by another culture, or it conquers it. Examples:

Horse Tribe -> LA Tien Barbarian Kings
Toad Tribe -> LA Mictlan
Jade Amazons -> EA Sauromatia
Jaguar and Lion tribe are not-yet-nation versions of EA Mictlan and MA Machaka

Bear Tribe/Barbarians - not really any spesific nation, but they could fulfill the role of two-handed weapon wielder available in most human nations. I mean, MA, Ulm axemen, Marignon twohanders, Man Wardens, Vanheim Skinshifters, Mictlan Moon Warriors - many choices.
Similarly, Deer Tribe isn't adopted into any spesific nation, although MA Eriu units bear some resemblance, what with swords being rare, javelins common and lack of bows.

Amazons don't have their own nation, but as mentioned above, EA Sauromatia has adopted local Jade Amazons.

I'm not sure if this answers your question, but here goes any way.

Yes, youve addressed the heart of my complaint. There are few truly animistic tribal cultures represented among the nations of Dom3 (with maybe the exception of Machaka, don't know much about history of Zulu or what period of history Machaka is meant to capture). Mictlan, Maverni, and others you mention only capture the qualities of a tribal people in transition to horticulture or pastoralism, with the consequent abandonment of animism as people move their gods into their homes and temples. Only indie 'tribal' provinces emphasize an animistic relgion (wild peopls follow their totems); but this is oversimplistic.

I guess I'm thinking an Islander animistic tribal society makes a good base for a Dom3 nation because there is no oppurtunity in history for them to undergo the almost deterministic transformations you've outlined regarding tribal peoples (conquer and abandon animism and hunter/gathering, or be conquered); the pacific islanders lacked the ecological determinants for any of this (thanks Jared Diamond). This very lack of history gives them a base for making such a nation in a historically inspired fantasy genre; their mythology of animism is frozen in time, and because of their ecological and historical impotence that made this possible, their culture is largely ignored.

With a relatively non-existant history of conquest to preserve their animistic culture, tribal Islanders seem a great base to design an animistic tribal nation from. It may also provide another 'wateresque' nation to add to that somewhat small list of water adept nations.

[sector24]

Omnirizon said:

With a relatively non-existant history of conquest to preserve their animistic culture, tribal Islanders seem a great base to design an animistic tribal nation from. It may also provide another 'wateresque' nation to add to that somewhat small list of water adept nations.

I think such a nation would lack the ambition to go out and conquer the world, seeing as they either lack the concept of "Manifest Destiny" or whatever you want to call it, or they are just content with their lifestyle and don't overpopulate the land they inhabit. A lot motivation to conquer stems from too many people and not enough resources, which is rarely an issue with tribal cultures. Maybe that's why they are relegated to troops in indy provinces.

[Foodstamp]

Haida Gwaii was actually created to fill the void you are talking about. I based the nation on the first peoples of the Pacific Northwest. I tried to pay careful attention to their animist beliefs and defining customs including totems and the potlatch.

Since I created Haida Gwaii, the game has changed significantly, particularly in the area of modding commands. Along with those changes, my knowledge of the game has improved quite a bit. In the near future I would like to revisit some of my mods including Haida Gwaii, giving them a much needed reworking.

Edit: Cleaned up some of my rambling and whining.

[HoneyBadger]

Haida Gwaii is excellent. It's always been one of my favorite mods, not (sorry) so much because of the features the mod has, but because it does, very clearly and nicely, fit a niche that needed to be filled.

For me, growing up the way I did in Pennsylvania, with my dad who is very much into archaeology, mythology, and genaeology, and having access to a couple of really good historical libraries, I really was able to get a sense of a hidden history and this enormous sprituality that seems to run through the land itself.

The neat thing about Dominions is that the game itself is telling it's own stories: it's not confined to just the players and what we happen to decide to do in a certain game. It's got all these influences, all these backgrounds and voices, and Native American elements deserve to be represented. The game feels incomplete without a nation like Haida Gwaii.

It's a very good mod, on it's own merits. The artwork is good, the execution is very nice, and it's an unusual, creative choice for a subject, but there are so many extremely high-end mods to choose from that it's the emotional response I get from it that carries the most weight for me.

[HoneyBadger]

By the way, I understand that Machaka is supposedly based on the Zulu, but I'd like to contest that a bit: First of all, the Ashanti (from Ghana--the word "Ghana" means "Warrior-King", by the way--bordering the Ivory Coast, in West Africa, as opposed to KwaZulu-Natal, the home of the Zulu, in South Africa) are the people from whom stories of Anansi (the trickster spider-god) comes from. His father, Nyame, is their chief god. Other stories come from the Gold Coast, and Surinam; where Anansi-Tori (spider stories) are involved in burial rites (the stories are understood to be told *to the Dead*), which seem to tie in to the idea of a spider "death-god".

Zulu mythology, conversely, seems to involve a good deal of sky and nature. They have their own interesting myths and archetypes, including the tiny, fairy-like Abatwa who are very sensitive about their size. Insulting them or stepping on them evokes a death-sentence via poison arrow.

Another being is the draconic Inkanyamba, a terrifying water-serpent-who can also fly on the backs of storm-clouds. Both of these beings seem to have originated with the Bushman culture (The Bushmen worshipped and drew cave-paintings of a water-serpent who was their protector), which has mostly been displaced by the Zulu.

Zulu myth also contains the Intulo, a lizard-man, and omen of death/doom that some people have connected (a bit dubiously, in my opinion) with the "Reptilian Alien" UFO meme.