Sunday, September 22, 2013

An Introduction to Lemurians



           My people, the Lemurians, are a nation of people who live on an island north of Madagascar. The island is a country called Lemuria and the official language is Lemurada. Lemuria was settled by our ancestors in the 16th century after migrating from Madagascar. After many years of swidden agriculture, our ancestors began to search for alternate sources of food, and after crossing the sea to the north, they discovered the rich soil and abundant life of Lemuria. 
http://www.maurinet.com/aboutmau.html
            Lemuria is most known for the two small mountain ranges which make up the central part of the island. When the snow melts from the winter, the water creates a lush valley between the two mountains. Surrounding the mountains are large rainforests which are home to many different species of animals and plants. All along the coasts are tropical beaches and many ports and harbors. The climate is humid in the rainforests and quite cool and dry in the mountains. The valley is warm, but cooler than the rainforests during the day. It is mostly sunny throughout the island, but it can be quite foggy high in the mountains.
http://www.globeimages.net/cat-costa-rica-142.htm
                                
  http://blog.burrard-lucas.com/2010/10/wildlife-of madagascar/
               
            Lemuria operates under a democratic government. Originally when the land was settled, after each harvest our ancestors would decide who would direct resources and create laws for the next year. The people from villages all over would come to the capital and vote for whether they wished the current leader to remain in control, or elect a new leader. The new leader appoints a council to advise him and each village elects a representative for themselves. Today, we still operate under a similar system and continue to thrive.
The basis of Lemuria is life and it is seen throughout our culture. Our lives revolve around agriculture. The valley between the mountains serves as a large field where many groups of people plant and grow crops. In the rainforests, many plants and fruits are harvested.   
We recognize that the sun gives us all life so we worship the sun Glada in our monotheistic religion called Gladon. We have many temples throughout the rainforest that we visit yearly before the planting of the crops and we make offerings to Glada praying for a bountiful harvest. Every year after the harvest, we have a celebration of the life we have been given in a festival called Raeshon. We are very thankful for everything we have been given and for everything we will receive in the future.
In general Lemurians are very open and kind individuals. This stems from relations with east Africa during colonization by Europeans. Because we have had many years of experience farming, we had become excellent traders, and the Europeans were so impressed, they began to trade with us. Europe recognized us as an independent nation, so thankfully we were never part of the slave trade. We stood by each other and were very good diplomats to Europe. Many different countries came to Lemuria, and still come today, to become a part of our extensive trade network. We welcome strangers with open arms, but if they ever harm us, we know our fellow Lemurians will help us out. In fact the word stranger and the word friend are the same in Lemurada called ‘yanura’.
We have great pride in our country, because it has gifted us with life and prosperity. We show our pride through symbols like our flag. Our flag is made of three vertical stripes. The first stripe is blue which represents the water that flows from the mountains to the fields. The middle stripe is yellow, which represents the sun Glada who gives life to the plants below. The last stripe is green, which represents our crops and the life they give to us. Our national symbol which our country is named after is the lemur. The lemur was the first creature our ancestors came across on the island. When they saw that the lemur thrived in the environment, they knew that they could too. The lemur then became the symbol of home.
Many Lemurians live near the mountain or the coast. Lemuria is becoming more urban every day and many Lemurians have moved towards the villages that are now cities.  Most Lemurians are recognized by the clothes that they wear. Lemurians favor the color green because it represents life and it is the most common color of dye from the local plants. There are two types of green: light green which is ‘lyria’ and dark green which is ‘fyria’. The light green is associated with the rainforest and is worn by the people of that region. The dark green is associated with the valley and is worn by people of that region. Most Lemurians dress modestly. Most women wear dresses that fall down to the knees and up to the shoulders. Men usually wear shorts that fall to the knees and short sleeve tunics. Because we are so rapidly developing some may develop the Western style of dress, but most adults prefer traditional dress. Lemurians strongly believe in family and monogamy is most common in families. Because Lemurians are so open, homosexuality is widely accepted and many can marry. Because of the introduction of homosexuality, Lemurians created a new word ‘anokieh’ which means partner. Marriage is desirable and many Lemurians seek to marry and create a family to carry on the work of their fathers. Most children are considered children until the age of sixteen when they begin to specialize in a career. Education is very important to Lemurian society and every child is required to attend school until they are sixteen. After the age of sixteen, they are formally recognized as an adult.
http://www.popscreen.com/p/MTAxOTQ2MTc5/African-Hippie-Dashiki-Dress-Kaftan-Fit-to-L-XL1X-2X-3X-eBay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar

Agriculture is still the main source of income, but Lemuria has quick growing industries. Tourism and Transportation are quickly growing. Each year more and more people come to Lemuria on vacation and Lemurian ships are some of the best and fastest in the world. Advances in alternate forms of energy are being made every day. Also, advances in medicine occur every day as new species of plants for medicine are found in the rainforest. Lemurians believe in hard work paying off, and many Lemurians seek to become a greater influence on the world market and a more powerful nation.
All of these components make up Lemuria and the people who reside here. We look forward to a bright future for our country and we are thankful for every day we have.








Works Cited 

Burrard-Lucas Wildlife Photography.
2010 Wildlife of Madagascar: Burrard-Lucas Blog http://blog.burrard-lucas.com/2010/10/wildlife-of madagascar/ accessed September 21, 2013.

Globe Images
2013 Costa Rica http://www.globeimages.net/cat-costa-rica-142.htm accessed September 21, 2013.

Maurinet
2013 About Mauritius Island http://www.maurinet.com/aboutmau.html accessed September 21, 2013.

Photolibrary
2009 Nature Wildlife: Ring-tailed lemur www.photolibrary.com accessed September 21, 2013.

PopScreen, Inc.
2013 African Hippie Dashiki Dress Kaftan Fit to L XL1X 2X 3X http://www.popscreen.com/p/MTAxOTQ2MTc5/African-Hippie-Dashiki-Dress-Kaftan-Fit-to-L-XL1X-2X-3X-eBay accessed September 21, 2013.

Saveoursmile
2013 Madagascar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar accessed September 21, 2013.

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