Sgen people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 100,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Nevira | |
| Languages | |
| Sgen language | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous religion |
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 Nevira, with a diaspora in South Jute. It is estimated that there are about 8,000 self-designated Sgen people in the world.
The word Sgen is likely an exonym; however, in modern times most Sgen people accept the word Sgen as the ethnonym.
History
The Sgen people have lived in Nevira since prehistoric times, it is believed that related groups were more widespread in Nevira, and the distribution of Sgen and related peoples gradually shrank due to the spread of Neviric peoples.
Physiology
Sgen people look a lot like Ekuosian peoples, and it is believed that prehistoric groups related to the Sgen people have contributed to the genetic pool to Neviric peoples, and DNA tests have shown that they have an origin in Ekuosia.
Sgen diaspora in South Jute also intermarry with locan 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
Qurosism is the main religion of the Sgen people, but the local variety of Qurosism has been syncretized with the traditional Sgen folk religion. 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 as the mother tongue, some of them are bilingual in Neviran, and members of the South Jute diaspora also speak Jutean, Mermelian or Gfiewish.
The use of the Sgen language is robust, it is acquired by virtually 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 phonological inventory among all languages in Sahar.