Notes for "Kokopelli Returns"
May. 24th, 2021 09:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThese are the notes for "Kokopelli Returns."
Kokopelli Joe -- He has dark copper skin, black eyes, and short black hair. He is tall and athletic, able to run fast and far, traveling all day over rough ground. His heritage is Puebloan, including Jemez and Taos. He is 17 years old at the End. Joe plays Native American flute and is active in community life. He is hyperfertile. He has one surprise baby born when he was 16 (they were using a condom) and one from when he was 17 (his second girlfriend; they were using a condom and birth control pills). Joe is living on the Jemez Indian Reservation at the End. His favorite dog is a chocolate labrador retriever named Cocoa.
In the Aftermath, he dreams of the Kokopelli spirit, which inspires him to venture out and vist other Pueblos. First he goes as a messenger, then as a backpack trader. When people realize how badly the Grunge has impacted population, Joe begins offering his service to women who want to get pregnant, with a very high level of success. The resulting babies are marked with a Kokopelli tattoo, in the traditional ithyphallic style, so they will know they're related to each other as adults. Joe wears a large codpiece to advertise the availability of his personal services.
Kokopelli is a fertility figure appearing throughout much of Southwest Turtle Island. He customarily has a hump or carries a backpack and plays a flute. Traditional depictions are ithyphallic, and he presides over the fertility of humans, livestock, and crops. Kokopelli is also known as a Trickster, healer, and storyteller.
The Pueblo Peoples spread across a wide range of Southwest Turtle Island. Although they span four language families and diverse customs, they share a similar lifestyle and tend to ally against each other -- especially against the Navajo, their traditional enemies.
The Jemez Pueblo dates back to around 1200 CE. It survives as the Jemez Indian Reservation. Most of the people living there are natives, and most tribe members live on the reservation. Running and racing are popular activities in this culture.
* * *
See the maps, animals, and Grunge notes after "Laundry, Liturgy, and Women's Work."
Zonah and Pueblo Territory
January -- Broken Limb Moon (Zuni)
February -- Cedar Moon (Pueblo)
March -- Leafing Moon (Pueblo)
April -- Sandstorm Moon (Zuni)
May -- Warming Moon
June -- Green Moon (Pueblo)
July -- Fruit Moon (Zuni)
August -- Hot Moon (Shoshone)
September -- Corn Moon (Pueblo, Zuni)
October -- Wind Moon (Zuni)
November -- Gather Moon (Pueblo)
December -- Sun Home Moon (Zuni)
These maps show New Mexico cities and population. Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Rio Ranch, and Santa Fe got hit the hardest. They are largely reduced to ruins, and refugee losses were high due to the harsh environment. Another 19 or so towns were above the usual 10,000 threshold and also got hit.
New Mexico Cities by Population
Rank City Population
1 Albuquerque 559,374
2 Las Cruces 102,102
3 Rio Rancho 96,210
4 Santa Fe 83,922
5 Roswell 47,941
6 Farmington 45,258
7 South Valley 40,080
8 Clovis 38,891
9 Hobbs 38,375
10 Alamogordo 31,384
11 Carlsbad 29,158
12 Gallup 21,854
New Mexico agriculture breaks down into different agro-ecoregions. Compare placement of livestock and edible crops. The cultural history impacts traditional foods. These historic crops and livestock fare better in the Aftermath without the commercial water support.
Here is a map of New Mexico reservations. Isleta, Laguna, Sandia, Santa Ana, Jemez Canyon, and San Felipe Indian Reservations were all flooded with refugees from Albuquerque. Tesuque and Cochiti Lake got refugees from Santa Fe. Refugees fleeing northeast from Alamagordo ran into the guns of the Mescalero Apache, who were fed up with white people, and few escaped alive.
This closeup shows Apache, Navajo, and Zuni reservations. The Navajo first overran the Hopi inside the Navajo reservation, then began to expand to reclaim more of their historic territory. They faced little resistance to the north and west, modest resistance from the Apache to the south, stopping at the Fort Apache Reservation. Going east, they swallowed up small communities at first but then stopped at the Jicarilla Apache and met with stiff resistance from the widespread and staunchly united Pueblo Peoples, who formed the Pueblo Territory. Compare the Apache historic territory and Before reservations.
Here you can see the phalanx of Pueblos arrayed against the Navajo.
Nevah includes most of former Nevada and Utah.
Zonah spans most of former Arizona and part of New Mexico.
Dinneyland is the outsider name for the Navajo nation, which has expanded to a larger part of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. It also completely absorbed the former Hopi reservation inside its borders. It comes from "Diné" (Navajo people) and "land."
Pueblo Territory is an alliance of former reservations belonging to various Pueblo peoples, all of whom have united in the face of larger threats.
Dinneyland is trying to push east into Pueblo Territory, but so far, the Pueblo peoples have held the line. Nobody wants to fuck with the Mescalero Apache. They are widely considered crazy dangerous and tend to shoot anyone who comes near.
No method of birth control is 100% effective during procreative copulation; combining methods just boosts your chances of preventing pregnancy.
Exposure can kill in many ways. In the Southwest, heat is a leading cause of death exacerbated by climate change, especially among refugees fleeing cross-country. However, cold can do it too. People without strong survival skills, such as city dwellers, are more likely to die of exposure. This is a major factor in deaths during the first year After.
The Apache in general are renowned as ferocious warriors. The Mescalero have a reputation as just batshit crazy, hostile even beyond the Apache average.
Carex. sp. Sedge. Pxuah (p means water).
This is a sacred plant used in the kiva. Sedges often contain silica, which makes them scratchy and good for scrubbing things. Wrap your hand in softer grass or leaves, then wind sedge around it; or make a scrub brush by tying sedge wads to a stick.
Corn is sacred among Pueblos and many other tribes. It has nurturing and purifying qualities. Cornmeal suppresses fungi and absorbs oily contaminants.
The Sun is revered by Pueblos and other peoples of Turtle Island. Sunlight destroys many pathogens; the fancy term for this process is "photocatalytic disinfection."
Chemical weapons may have a long lifespan in storage (at least 20 years) but degrade faster after deployment. "Photocatalytic oxidation" is the use of sunlight to destroy chemical weapons and other contaminants. Objects exposed to fresh air and sunlight can dissipate the contamination. However, that doesn't make the cities safe. Unexploded ordnance means the threat can be reactivated with freshly released Grunge even years after the End. The first few years After involved a lot of trial and error as people figured out these parameters.
Seed banks save crops against future need. Native seed banks focus on their historic crops and recommend varieties for heritage gardens. This helps protect against climate change. Conversely, hybrid seeds won't breed true, and GMOs threaten the food supply, making these useless or worse than useless in the Aftermath. Similarly, heritage livestock breeds are much better equipped for survival, while commercial breeds are mostly or wholly dependent on humans.
Ithyphallic and priapic are two terms for art with an erect penis, typical of fertility figures around the world. A codpiece is a garment that covers the crotch, available as a flaccid pouch or rigid upthrust case. Kokopelli Joe wears an ithyphallic codpiece to honor the Kokopelli Spirit and to advertise the availability of his personal attention. This is a helpful form of signalling in a world where men are scarce and some of them are really tired of being bugged for stud services.
Kokopelli Joe -- He has dark copper skin, black eyes, and short black hair. He is tall and athletic, able to run fast and far, traveling all day over rough ground. His heritage is Puebloan, including Jemez and Taos. He is 17 years old at the End. Joe plays Native American flute and is active in community life. He is hyperfertile. He has one surprise baby born when he was 16 (they were using a condom) and one from when he was 17 (his second girlfriend; they were using a condom and birth control pills). Joe is living on the Jemez Indian Reservation at the End. His favorite dog is a chocolate labrador retriever named Cocoa.
In the Aftermath, he dreams of the Kokopelli spirit, which inspires him to venture out and vist other Pueblos. First he goes as a messenger, then as a backpack trader. When people realize how badly the Grunge has impacted population, Joe begins offering his service to women who want to get pregnant, with a very high level of success. The resulting babies are marked with a Kokopelli tattoo, in the traditional ithyphallic style, so they will know they're related to each other as adults. Joe wears a large codpiece to advertise the availability of his personal services.
Kokopelli is a fertility figure appearing throughout much of Southwest Turtle Island. He customarily has a hump or carries a backpack and plays a flute. Traditional depictions are ithyphallic, and he presides over the fertility of humans, livestock, and crops. Kokopelli is also known as a Trickster, healer, and storyteller.
The Pueblo Peoples spread across a wide range of Southwest Turtle Island. Although they span four language families and diverse customs, they share a similar lifestyle and tend to ally against each other -- especially against the Navajo, their traditional enemies.
The Jemez Pueblo dates back to around 1200 CE. It survives as the Jemez Indian Reservation. Most of the people living there are natives, and most tribe members live on the reservation. Running and racing are popular activities in this culture.
* * *
See the maps, animals, and Grunge notes after "Laundry, Liturgy, and Women's Work."
Zonah and Pueblo Territory
January -- Broken Limb Moon (Zuni)
February -- Cedar Moon (Pueblo)
March -- Leafing Moon (Pueblo)
April -- Sandstorm Moon (Zuni)
May -- Warming Moon
June -- Green Moon (Pueblo)
July -- Fruit Moon (Zuni)
August -- Hot Moon (Shoshone)
September -- Corn Moon (Pueblo, Zuni)
October -- Wind Moon (Zuni)
November -- Gather Moon (Pueblo)
December -- Sun Home Moon (Zuni)
These maps show New Mexico cities and population. Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Rio Ranch, and Santa Fe got hit the hardest. They are largely reduced to ruins, and refugee losses were high due to the harsh environment. Another 19 or so towns were above the usual 10,000 threshold and also got hit.
New Mexico Cities by Population
Rank City Population
1 Albuquerque 559,374
2 Las Cruces 102,102
3 Rio Rancho 96,210
4 Santa Fe 83,922
5 Roswell 47,941
6 Farmington 45,258
7 South Valley 40,080
8 Clovis 38,891
9 Hobbs 38,375
10 Alamogordo 31,384
11 Carlsbad 29,158
12 Gallup 21,854
New Mexico agriculture breaks down into different agro-ecoregions. Compare placement of livestock and edible crops. The cultural history impacts traditional foods. These historic crops and livestock fare better in the Aftermath without the commercial water support.
Here is a map of New Mexico reservations. Isleta, Laguna, Sandia, Santa Ana, Jemez Canyon, and San Felipe Indian Reservations were all flooded with refugees from Albuquerque. Tesuque and Cochiti Lake got refugees from Santa Fe. Refugees fleeing northeast from Alamagordo ran into the guns of the Mescalero Apache, who were fed up with white people, and few escaped alive.
This closeup shows Apache, Navajo, and Zuni reservations. The Navajo first overran the Hopi inside the Navajo reservation, then began to expand to reclaim more of their historic territory. They faced little resistance to the north and west, modest resistance from the Apache to the south, stopping at the Fort Apache Reservation. Going east, they swallowed up small communities at first but then stopped at the Jicarilla Apache and met with stiff resistance from the widespread and staunchly united Pueblo Peoples, who formed the Pueblo Territory. Compare the Apache historic territory and Before reservations.
Here you can see the phalanx of Pueblos arrayed against the Navajo.
Nevah includes most of former Nevada and Utah.
Zonah spans most of former Arizona and part of New Mexico.
Dinneyland is the outsider name for the Navajo nation, which has expanded to a larger part of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. It also completely absorbed the former Hopi reservation inside its borders. It comes from "Diné" (Navajo people) and "land."
Pueblo Territory is an alliance of former reservations belonging to various Pueblo peoples, all of whom have united in the face of larger threats.
Dinneyland is trying to push east into Pueblo Territory, but so far, the Pueblo peoples have held the line. Nobody wants to fuck with the Mescalero Apache. They are widely considered crazy dangerous and tend to shoot anyone who comes near.
No method of birth control is 100% effective during procreative copulation; combining methods just boosts your chances of preventing pregnancy.
Exposure can kill in many ways. In the Southwest, heat is a leading cause of death exacerbated by climate change, especially among refugees fleeing cross-country. However, cold can do it too. People without strong survival skills, such as city dwellers, are more likely to die of exposure. This is a major factor in deaths during the first year After.
The Apache in general are renowned as ferocious warriors. The Mescalero have a reputation as just batshit crazy, hostile even beyond the Apache average.
Carex. sp. Sedge. Pxuah (p means water).
This is a sacred plant used in the kiva. Sedges often contain silica, which makes them scratchy and good for scrubbing things. Wrap your hand in softer grass or leaves, then wind sedge around it; or make a scrub brush by tying sedge wads to a stick.
Corn is sacred among Pueblos and many other tribes. It has nurturing and purifying qualities. Cornmeal suppresses fungi and absorbs oily contaminants.
The Sun is revered by Pueblos and other peoples of Turtle Island. Sunlight destroys many pathogens; the fancy term for this process is "photocatalytic disinfection."
Chemical weapons may have a long lifespan in storage (at least 20 years) but degrade faster after deployment. "Photocatalytic oxidation" is the use of sunlight to destroy chemical weapons and other contaminants. Objects exposed to fresh air and sunlight can dissipate the contamination. However, that doesn't make the cities safe. Unexploded ordnance means the threat can be reactivated with freshly released Grunge even years after the End. The first few years After involved a lot of trial and error as people figured out these parameters.
Seed banks save crops against future need. Native seed banks focus on their historic crops and recommend varieties for heritage gardens. This helps protect against climate change. Conversely, hybrid seeds won't breed true, and GMOs threaten the food supply, making these useless or worse than useless in the Aftermath. Similarly, heritage livestock breeds are much better equipped for survival, while commercial breeds are mostly or wholly dependent on humans.
Ithyphallic and priapic are two terms for art with an erect penis, typical of fertility figures around the world. A codpiece is a garment that covers the crotch, available as a flaccid pouch or rigid upthrust case. Kokopelli Joe wears an ithyphallic codpiece to honor the Kokopelli Spirit and to advertise the availability of his personal attention. This is a helpful form of signalling in a world where men are scarce and some of them are really tired of being bugged for stud services.
(no subject)
Date: 2021-05-25 01:21 pm (UTC)403 error for link
Regarding chemical weapons, there's a good bit in Red Storm Rising regarding the persistence of chemical agents. One of the big problems is that while sunlight can break them down, they'll be spread over surfaces where sunlight can't get at them. Stuff like the undersides of fence rails. Or the insides of buildings.
Yes ...
Date: 2021-05-25 11:25 pm (UTC)403 error for link <<
Fixed, thanks.
>> Regarding chemical weapons, there's a good bit in Red Storm Rising regarding the persistence of chemical agents. One of the big problems is that while sunlight can break them down, they'll be spread over surfaces where sunlight can't get at them. Stuff like the undersides of fence rails. Or the insides of buildings.<<
That is exactly what happened here.
Chemical weapons are typically designed to last 20 years in storage, which means the unexploded samples will be dangerous at least that long, possibly more. Lifespan after deployment depends on many factors including the chemical structure and format of the weapon itself along with environmental factors (e.g. sun, wind, water) in the field. Volatile compounds disperse and/or break down very fast, within minutes or hours; whereas more stable ones may last for days or weeks, occasionally longer under certain conditions. Very persistent chemicals can last for months or years, some of them being highly resistant to factors like sunlight which degrade other materials.
The cities remain dangerous for years, because even after the Grunge in protected areas finally decays, the risk of unexploded ordnance remains to refresh it -- and even decayed chemical weapons tend to consist of noxious materials. Plus all the other stuff that got released in the End or later due to lack of human supervision. :/
People still risk it, and there was a trickle of trade in salvaged items very early on. The problem is that the Grunge and other contaminants cling to objects. So that worked against trade, as people quickly learned to be wary of items with unknown provenance. Loot scavenged from smaller towns that weren't bombed was perfectly safe, but there's no easy way to tell that apart from stuff scavenged out of bombed cities -- other than putting it next to a large animal. (Well, that's one use for all the Holsteins that have poor survival prospects After...) And the best stuff was in the cities.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-05-26 02:54 am (UTC)How large is large anyway? Human 120-250lbs? More? Less? Does final adult size* or relatedness to humans have an effect?
Maybe a good use for unwanted crocodiles or pythons, if there's an Afta version of pest control, and Grunge works on reptiles? (You dont have to feed 'em, and you want them gone anyway...)
There's also those giant rabbits, but they may not be big enough. Or dogs, but they are very useful working animals. (And I'm sad at the thought of using common pet animals.)
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-05-26 04:01 am (UTC)After the End, there are tens of thousands of farm animals left over. Sadly, almost all of them are commercial breeds with little if any ability to care for themselves. So they are only useful as immediate food or "lab rats." This comes up in several poems, especially with tribal folks who just aren't very attracted to white people's finicky livestock. Heritage breeds fare much better, as they are resilient to local conditions and equipped to forage.
>> How large is large anyway? Human 120-250lbs? More? Less? Does final adult size* or relatedness to humans have an effect? <<
You need a mammal near or above human adult weight to test for the Grunge. Sometimes it hits other things -- especially during the bombing, the aerosol wiped out a lot of birds due to their sensitive lungs -- but you want to get as close to the target creature (a combat-capable white male) as possible. So a lot of people used commercial cows for this purpose.
>>Maybe a good use for unwanted crocodiles or pythons, if there's an Afta version of pest control, and Grunge works on reptiles? (You dont have to feed 'em, and you want them gone anyway...)<<
I'm not sure if the Grunge would kill reptiles. I mean, it wouldn't be good for them because of the chemicals, but it's not designed for their biology. Even though it attacks muscle mass, which means gators might be susceptible, their metabolism is so much slower that it might not get much of a grip.
>> There's also those giant rabbits, but they may not be big enough. Or dogs, but they are very useful working animals. (And I'm sad at the thought of using common pet animals.) <<
Almost no pet animals would be big enough, except perhaps some giant dogs such as St. Bernards. Those breeds need too much food to survive well in the Aftermath.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-05-26 04:58 am (UTC)Of course, thus means they'd need to run their experiments quickly, during the early days of a societal collapse. Not an ideal scenario.
>>You need a mammal near or above human adult weight to test for the Grunge.<<
So ideally bigger than me. (I'm toward the smaller end of adult size, but I don't count as tiny.)
>>I'm not sure if the Grunge would kill reptiles.<<
So they become guilt-free gatorskin and snakeskin leather. And fried-meat-onna-stick. And I'm sure gator teeth are good for something...bragging rights?
>>Those breeds need too much food to survive well in the Aftermath.<<
A handful of heritage breeds may be useful. To be fair, they may top out at something under a hundred pounds. (It looks like Huskies are about 75 pounds.)
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-05-26 05:19 am (UTC)It depends on the area. In some places, animals can survive sort of okay for a while. In others, not so much. If they're outside, they have a much better chance; if inside, they'll die if not cared for or released. Food and water are short-term limitations, but the big long-term one is that commercial breeds don't reproduce well on their own. Also the purpose matters: beef cows are much more self-sufficient than dairy cows. So a lot of people looked at all those cows, pigs, chickens, etc. and decided to eat them while they lasted. Sparing some cows for experimentation would be feasible for at least the first few years, but the numbers would drop off sharply from the End onward. After 5 years or so, most of the commercial breeds would be scarce or gone.
>> So they become guilt-free gatorskin and snakeskin leather. And fried-meat-onna-stick. <<
Yep. Delicious, tastes a lot like frog.
>>And I'm sure gator teeth are good for something...bragging rights? <<
Decorations, or tools.
>> A handful of heritage breeds may be useful. To be fair, they may top out at something under a hundred pounds. (It looks like Huskies are about 75 pounds.) <<
Many heritage breeds are useful in the Aftermath. Most of the surviving dogs are medium size, although small terriers make great vermin hunters.
See my notes on Animals in the Aftermath.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-05-26 06:00 am (UTC)Gator-tooth necklace? Decoration, bragging rights, and advertisement for your wildlife wrangling business all in one!