Notes on Novasolan Flags, part 2

Before Novasola was a US state, a Russian or English colony, or “discovered” by Italians and Spanish, the island was home to a diverse array of many thriving native cultures, each distinct with their own identities, languages, and systems of governance. After white settlement of the island began, most indigenous groups were persecuted and removed from their lands, among other forms of cultural warfare and mass genocide, as was the story across all of the American continent. Reservations now make up a large portion of Novasola’s land, and many cultural groups have been forced to share reservations and lands. As a result, many tribal groups have formed, large and small, and are in every right sovereign nations. Most of these tribal governments have not adopted any official flags, but three of the largest groups have.

Native tribes can be split into two major groups, a Na-Dene language group and an Aleut/Eskimo group. The vast majority of tribes on the island belong to this second group, their languages overall similar to those spoken by the native peoples of the Aleutian Islands. The first group is smaller, covering a few tribes along the island’s east coast, and is most similar to the Tlingit peoples of the pacific northwest mainland.

Flag of the Confederation of Eastern Tribes

The largest tribal government in eastern Novasola, the Confederation of Eastern Tribes is composed of all the remaining indigenous groups on Novasola that speak languages in the Na-Dene language family. The traditional homelands of these tribes spanned much of Novasola’s east range, and though members of the tribe can be found across the state, they now share only one reservation, the Gallquayan Reservation east of the Cook Mountains. The Confederation adopted a flag in 1995 during the frenzy of new flag designs. This flag was created by a local Kuliquit tribal member, and features a K’akw’eex, or Sloan’s Owl, in the traditional art form. K’akw’eex are important animals spiritually for eastern tribes, who adorn totem poles with their image, because the bird’s range overlaps almost perfectly with the extent of this language group, thus the bird was often seen by eastern tribes as a guardian of their culture.

Flag of the Taiyalun Nation

The Taiyalun Nation is a composite nation of most of the native tribes west of the Paramounts, including the Cishtaklun and the Ciganakin peoples, who now share four reservations across western Novasola. While some of the individual groups have their own flags and symbols, the larger nation adopted their official flag in 2002. The design is unique in that it is not a rectangle. Instead, the flag is a right triangle with a long bottom edge. The flag features stripes of green red, white, and black, to form a stylized picture of a Taiyalun “Hunting Hat”. These hunting hats were large, conical visors, usually made from tree bark and decorated with animal hair like seal and otter whiskers, that helped shield the wearer’s eyes from glare and sunlight while on the water, and they naturally evolved to become elaborate displays of spirituality and status. Their distinct shape and designs became popular in western cultures and synonymous with Taiyalun people. 

 Flag of the Yukandaluk Nation

Though the Yukandaluk tribe is itself a distinct cultural group, the Yukandaluk Nation also comprises of many other indigenous groups native to Novasola’s interior grasslands, and they now share two reservations. Though still members of the Aleut/Eskimo language family, and technically Taiyalun peoples themselves, natives of the Novasolan prairie developed a distinct cultural identity. The Yukandaluk Nation adopted an official flag in 2008. The design features a ring of colorful triangles surrounding a bicolored circle. The triangles are meant to represent Ulaqs, or the Yukandaluk equivalent of tipi’s or tents, encircling the “Creator Eye”. Agludar, (The Creator or Great Spirit) is the creator figure in Yukandaluk mythology that watches over the universe and his eye is an important feature of prairie tribe mythology, and the Ulaqs form a ring as if they are hosting a great meeting of tribal elders, or representing the Yukandaluk Nation as a collection of distinct tribes. The orange color evokes the warmth of the summer sun over the shade-less prairie.