Re: Local wildlife

Carlos Thompson wrote:

>Herman Miller wrote:
>
>> On the way home from work today, I saw a small group of deer crossing the
>> driveway out of the parking garage, right in front of me. I slowed down to
>> let them cross, started thinking about local wildlife, and thought it
>> might make a good topic for a conlang post.
>
>Well.  There are armadillos in Hangkerim and I supose a great variety of
>wild life... whell, Hangkerim covers from the Caribean to the Northern Andes
>but unlike OTL Colombia and Venezuela, Hangkerim skips the Amazon
>rainforest.
>
>Between those animals I've discovered the names, but I have not my notes
>here, are condor, cayman, jaguar, fish (generic), birds (generic)... some
>others that exist but I don't have their names are: armadillo, oposum, bats,
>frogs, snakes, dolphins, sharks, beetles, ... the list is almost endless.
>There are also many domestic animals, different than in OTL, like capybara
>and other big rodents, tapir, Appalacian llama, iguana and others.  Cows,
>horses, cats and sheep exist also in Modern Hangkerim, as well as rats and
>other animals brought by Europeans.
Speaking of local wildlife, I've recently begun a major retooling of flora
and fauna names in Tokana to reflect my new understanding of their
history and environment.  I've decided that in their Timeline, there has
been only sparse contact between the west coast of North America and
the Old World, and no introduction of Old World species (except cats).  What
that means is no Tokana words for cow, horse, sheep, donkey, pig, chicken,
or (domesticated) goat.  That leaves only four domesticated animals, the dog
("ikei"), cat ("miua"), American turkey ("kauen"), and a species of pack
animal called the "kapa".  The kapa is a domesticated descendant of the Andean
guanaco (and is thus a cousin of the llama), which, in their Timeline, was
introduced to North America several centuries earlier by traders from
Central and South America.

I'm also having to rethink the domestic plant situation.  I've already
decided that, in keeping with their environment (the Northwest coast
of North America), the Tokana will be primarily non-nomadic hunter-
gatherers.  But I think they should also have some rudimentary agriculture
(or at least trade for agricultural products grown farther south.)  Obviously
if there has been little contact with the Old World, the Tokana would not have
wheat, rice, millet, oats, or barley in their diet.  They would probably be
familiar with corn (maize), beans, acorns, and sunflower seeds, and possibly
even manioc, potatoes, and sweet potatoes - however, given the cool, wet
northern climate of the Tokana, these would probably all be imported
items, traded in exchange for Tokana fish and timber products.

I guess what I really need to do is get myself a book on the native peoples
of the Northwest, and find out what I can about the plants and animals that
they were familiar with.  Then I'll be able to reshape the Tokana flora/fauna
vocabulary accordingly...

Matt.