Yevak
Yevak Tribe Xóo Yevak | |
|---|---|
 Tribal Emblem
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 All Yevak Territories in Green | |
| Status | Semi-Sovereign Political Entity |
| Largest | Koyukuk |
| Official languages | Kuduk (all dialects) |
| Recognised national languages | Kuduk (all dialects) |
| Ethnic groups | 100% Kemonomimi (Yaki) |
| Religion | Traditional Kuduk beliefs (100%) |
| Demonym(s) | Yevak |
| Government | Constitutional Chiefdom |
• Chief | Kara "Strong Boar" |
| Legislature | The Yevak Tribe Council |
| Semi-Sovereign Polity (Independent between 745 and 1870) | |
• Establishment of the Tribe | 745 CE |
• Establishment of a Constitution | 1928 CE |
| Population | |
• 2022 estimate | 90,000 |
The Yevak Tribe, commonly referred to as the Yevaks, is a semi-sovereign tribe in the western plains region of Kuduk. It is one of the 36 tribes within the Tribal Federation of Kuduk. The Yevaks are ruled by a tribal council as their head of government and have a representative chief as their head of state. The tribe is bordered by the Anana Tribe to the west, the Manirak Tribe to the east, and the Kuduk Channel to the North. The largest and most populous city within the tribe is Koyukuk.
The Yevak Tribe was officially founded in 745 CE after the Proto-Anana Tribe collapsed due to political pressure on the chief from the Naa Sàati, a class of women who were politically influential due to expansive family ties. One such Naa Sàati was Tula the Great who, following the collapse of the Proto-Anana, declared a large portion of the modern-day northwestern Yevak Tribe as territory of the Yevak Clan and officially established the beginnings of the Yevak Tribe. Following Tula's death, her successors would carry out a slow process of marriage, influence, and expansion that would eventually lead to the modern day Yevak borders. In the 15th century, the Yevak Tribe would become involved in the Great Tribal War after the Manirak Tribe invaded them. The Yevaks ended up on the winning side of the war and signed a treaty with the Manirak who agreed to return conquered Yevak territory. During the Spirit Wars of Kuduk, the Yevak participated fairly little compared to other tribes of their size, although many speculate that they had a hand during the Damning of Naryan. In the Great Blizzard of 1673, the Yevaks provided aid to the tribes of the western coast and to central Kakut. For the first time since the Great Tribal War, the Yevak opened up trade with the Manirak and aided them during the blizzard. Relations between the two tribes softened significantly after the blizzard. In 1870, the Yevak Tribe signed a document proposed by Tlayaan "Taku" Meritáak regarding the formation a tribal federation for the purposes of protecting indigenous sovereignty from foreign colonization. Since 1870, the Yevak Tribe ceased to be a fully sovereign nation. In 1928, the Tribal Federation of Kuduk instituted a federal constitution that required all member tribes to switch to a council system of government. The Yevak Tribe opted to keep their chief as a constitutional figurehead as they switched over to the new council system.
The Yevak Tribe is recognized as one of the six Great Tribes of Kuduk due to its large population and land size.
History
Formation of the Tribe
Following the collapse of the Proto-Anana Tribe, the people of the western plains did not initially come under a single unified power. Many bands and clans stayed sovereign, choosing independence over allegiance to any tribe. Tula the Great, previously an advisor for the Proto-Anana chief, is often credited for the swift unification and consolidation of power within the western plains in the year following the Proto-Ananan collapse. The exact details of her methods of power consolidation over the independent clans of the plains are unknown, although many historians speculate that she likely used similar expansion tactics as her successors. After the initial expansion of influence the Yevak Clan had over the western plains, Tula declared all of the western plains rightful land of Yevaks, effectively severing any power local clans had had and replacing them with a class of Yevak aristocracy who often adapted to local customs and traditions in order to gain power legitimacy. The rising power of the Yevak Tribe set an unprecedented record for the quickest a tribe had climbed from obscurity into power at that time. They also had an unusually central government which differed from many of the decentralized tribes and bands in the eastern plains during this time period. The early era of the Yevak Tribe came to an end following Tulsa’s death in 777.
Expansion and Increasing Influence
After the death of Tula the Great, she was replaced with her firstborn daughter Xóoshei, a tradition that following Yevak chiefs would continue to uphold. At this time, the Yevaks held a significant amount of power over the western plains, but held little in regards to inter-tribal influence. That would change when Xóoshei came to power, drastically altering Yevak stance on inter-tribal dealings. The Yevaks continued to expand their own power domestically, but did so in ways that affected tribes all around Sagut. The Yevaks took direct control over the Sagut trade route, which historically ran through several small clans who did not have enough influence to affect it. After taking control of a prominent trade route, the Yevaks were propelled into the international stage as an economically vital tribe and solidified both their economic and political position as a regional power. Some smaller tribes that still existed in the western plains complained over the monopoly the Yevaks had gained over trade in the western plains, to which the Yevak responded by re-routing smaller veins of the Sagut trade route away from those smaller tribes, economically starving them. Tribes that were friendly toward the Yevak found themselves in favorable position for trade and economic growth, which tempted more and more small clans and tribes to become influenced by the Yevak. Unlike most tribes, the Yevak played diplomacy in a very specific manner. Instead of asking for a tax or tribute when a small clan or tribe wished to gain access to a trade route, the Yevak instead urged the small tribe to marry one of their nobles, placing that small tribe under direct Yevak rule. This cyclical process continued until all lands in the western plains were under direct Yevak rule.