Kegawa

The Kegawa (h. sapiens kegawaiensis) is an extant hybrid hominin subspecies between the more primitive homo kegawaiensis that is believed to be extinct and modern humans. The total amount of Kegawans is estimated around 17,000 to 30,000 people, all living on the Sokokan island of XX

Evolution

The exact lineage of the Kegawa is still subject of research. The currently predominant theory states that the predecessor of the Kegawa is a separate evolutionary branch with a common ancestor dating back about 500,000 to 700,000 years. The more primitive hominid took a different evolutionary development after leaving XX, leading to some characteristic differences with modern humans. However, much of the evolutionary path seems to have been parallel, resulting in similar features like narrow noses, protruding cheekbones and jaws. The subspecies however went through a mild process of island dwarfism with the average height of a female being about 140 cm and of males 150 cm.

After the arrival of homo sapiens sapiens in the region, introgression between the two subspecies started. It is still a matter of debate if the presence of typical Kegawa mtDNA in a wider area surrounding XX is the result of the Kegawan hybrid moving out into the surrounding region, or that introgression has come a lot further in those regions.

Anatomy

Most of the typical features of the Kegawa population seem to fall into the standard deviation between modern humans. Compared with modern humans, Kegawa are more slender build and have proportionally longer limbs. The Kegawa are of small posture, on average 151 cm for females and 164 cm for males.

The Kegawa skull has a high cranial vault (a raised forehead) and a flat face with relatively strong cheekbones. Brain size is on the lower side of the human scale, but in a body to brain weight ratio, the Kegawa actually have disproportionately large brains. The Kegawa brain shows larger parietal lobes and cerebellum, often attributed to having to adapt to denser forest-like environments. The temporal lobes are constructed differently compared to modern humans, but are similar in size.

Most Kegawans have slightly larger canines in the upper jaw but only one pair of true molars in the back of the teeth arch. The third molar is rudimentary present in the jaw, but hardly ever surfaces during adulthood.

Other typical and more visual features of the Kegawa are skin color, ears and hair. Kegawans are slightly darker skinned than the Hueiwei people they have interbred with, leading to the assumption that the original Kegawans were more dark skinned. In contrast to that, hair color is more often on the white or grey side, sometimes even blonde. But due to interbreeding, the common Hueiweian black hair and mixed forms resulting in a typical Kegawan brown hair color are present as well, but the lighter variants are the dominant genome. Body hair is in general less present with the Kegawans. They are also known for their protruding ears, often without earlobes.

Local government

Even before and during colonial times, the Kegawa functioned as a stateless horticultural society, not connected to any regional or national entity. When Sokoku took over custody of the island of XX, the Kegawans negotiated a deal where there stateless status could continue in practical terms. The Kegawa pay a voluntary contribution for military protection by Sokoku. Only the local judicial system is applied here, but the Kegawans can outsource a penal process for any crimes or misdemeanours that their codex has not anticipated yet to the state of XX. This means that in practical terms, all Sokokan and XX state law applies, but that it is up to the Kegawa community to decide whether or not to implement it. As such it has the highest level of autonomy of all the registered communities, only unregistered and uncontacted tribes are functioning more as stateless entities. Even though trade outside the community occurs, Sokokan currency is of no value within the Kegawan community.

Culture

The Kegawans speak a distinct language isolate when looking at the basic grammar, but during the last centuries a lot of loanwords have made it into the language. Kegawan has a relatively simple consonant inventory, but it stands out by having a voicing distinction in its sonorants but not in its obstruents, the opposite of most languages in the world. Vowels are highly tonal, with 4 to 6 different tones depending on the dialect spoken. Also, the Kegawans make a clear distinction between single, dual and plural in pronomen and nouns. There is however no difference between the first person singular pronomen and the first person dual or plural inclusive pronomen.

Just like the Kakuri community, the Kegawa have a deeply rooted tradition of trading services and good within the extended family, where trades between clans get registered voluntarily. This is mirroring the main attitude that wealth in any form should not be gathered or saved, but shared. This doesn't mean wealth is redistributed for free, but Kegawans prefer an uncomplicated lifestyle where registered services can be seen as a responsibility which not always can be upheld for sure.

Kegawan society is more of a horticultural one than an agricultural one. Fishing and trapping animals delivers additional proteins to the menu.