Sgen people

Sgen

Total population
8,000
Regions with significant populations
South Jute
Languages
Sgen language, Jutean language
Religion
Indigenous religion
Related ethnic groups
Jutean people, Ystellic Aboriginals.

The Sgen people, also known as Roarakas(Roaraka literally means "dweller of the lake" in the Sgen language), is a non-indigenous minority group in South Jute. It is estimated that there are about 8,000 self-designated Sgen people in the world.

History

The Sgen people have lived in Ystel mainland for nearly 2,000 years, but it is generally agreed that they are not native people of Ystel mainland, and DNA tests have also confirmed a Jutean origin of Sgen people despite that they have a high level of genetic admixture with native Ystelic peoples.

Generally, it is agreed that the Sgen people originated from Jute mainland, they migrated along with the Juteans during 1 CE, and eventually settled in Northeastern South Jute.

Physiology

Sgen people look a lot like Ystellic peoples, this is a result of intermarriage with natives; however, the skin colour of many Sgen people are somewhat darker than the neighbours, and DNA tests have shown that they are not one of the native Ystellic peoples.

Culture

Lifestyle

The Sgen people are agrarian, Subsistence farming is the main lifestyle of most Sgen people, buckwheat is the main staple food of the Sgen people.

Food

Traditionally Sgen people eat pseudograins, buckwheat is the staple food among them. Meat is an important part of their diet and is highly valued in Sgen cuisine; however, meat is not consumpted often, mostly meat is only eaten during festivals.

Buckwheat-made noodles resembling sobas are a major part of Sgen cuisine, and buckwheat noodles are traditionally prepared in a variety of ways.

Traditional Medicine

The most basic thing common of all societies is to make sure all its members, regardless of gender, age and class, can live as long as possible until they die naturally, therefore all societies have medical practices and rules upholding social order.

The traditional medicine of the Sgen people consist of mostly herbs, and witch-doctors play an important role in curing sick or injured people.

Family Structure

All societies have families, and nuclear families consisting of a father, a mother and the biological children of the mother exist in all societies, either as the most prevalent form of family or as a part of an extended family.

Traditional families of the Sgen people are extended family consisting of parents, their children and other relatives, and the oldest member, usually the oldest male, is the leader of the family and has the authority to make decisions that would affect most members of the family like marriage, adoption, and the acquisition or transferral of familial properties; however, mostly, the leader of the family would discuss with all other family members before making final decisions.

Marriage

All societies have marriage in the sense of culturally recognised union between people, so does the Sgen people. The Sgen people are strictly monogamous, having two wives or hasbands are frowned upon; besides, the Sgen people perform exogamy, people of the same ancestry don't marry each other, marriage between two people with the same ancestry is seen as incest, and incest is a taboo among the Sgen people.

Traditionally the Sgen people perform arranged marriage, arranged marriage is the norm of Sgen people and marriage is seen as a matter between two families rather than two individuals. Traditionally Sgen people think marriage out of love is unstable and bad, and are often made out of impulse, but as marriage is a matter between two families rather than two individuals, it cannot be made out of impulse and must be discussed with the whole family and the final decision should be made by someone with authority in the family, usually the oldest male and female of the family.

Funeral

Burial is the most common way to handle the body of the deceased. Cremation is not common and is seen as a foreign practice.

Inheritance rule

In the society of Sgen people, when a couple dies, the norm for inheritance is that their estate are divided equally between their children.

Architecture

Traditional vernacular architecture of the Sgen people are usually made of wood, straw or bamboo, with a straw roof and a dirt floor. Straw layering is often used to cover the floor. There are usually no room divisions inside the house.

Decision making

Traditionally, all adult members of a village take parts in making decisions; however, elderies have the right to make final decisions when a deadlock happens.

Religion

Indigenous religion prevails among the Sgen people, the traditional Sgen folk religion is animistic, native deities and deities from surrounding peoples are all venerated.

Language

Virtually all Sgen people speak the Sgen language, some of them are bilingual in Jutean, Mermelian or Gfiewish.

The use of the Sgen language is robust, it is acquired by virtuall all children of Sgen ethnicity and is used in all occasions of daily life.

With only 6 consonants and 4 vowels, the Sgen language has arguably the smallest phoneme among all languages in Sahar.