Editing Tailspins & Tiki Gods:Smoots Guide Kamekame (section)

== Cultural Details ==
'''Virtually everything non-islanders know for sure about the Kamekame is through observation. The reason follows:

'''Whatever the Kamekame’s attitude toward falsehood may be, it apparently does not extend to academics offering to buy information. Five attempts at anthropological surveys have been written, and all five are mutually contradictory. The interviewees seemed to be most adept at letting people draw their own conclusions without stopping them: One account has them as fierce, anarchic cannibals. Others describe the same exact peoples as ‘noble savages’ with a Scots-like clann structure, and so on.''' 

''''Architecture'''': The only Kamekame buildings seen by non-Kamekame are the coastal villages visible from shore. They seem to be typical of similar structures seen in French Polynesia.

'''''Arts''''': Kamekame tikis and masks are sold in the marketplaces. The other arts practiced by the Kamekame are mainly clothing or personal adornment (such as tattooing). Taboos on sharing beliefs with outsiders curtails exchanges of folktales, for example, so what sort of oral literature they may practice is unknown. The Kamekame do sing, quite often, in their language and others. There are records of Kamekame saying there are "Kamekame dances", but they have not been performed for outsiders. 

'''''Clothing'':'''' The Kamekame seen in Port Cochere adhere to local custom- specifically, they imitate the fashion of other islanders visiting Ile Trouve. Women favor sarong-like dresses, Men tend to wear sandals and ''lava-lavas''. What they do outside of town has not been documented by outsiders. 

Floral arrangements (or single flowers) are a common adornment- there seems to be a kind of "flower language", almost like the Victorians practiced. (How one wears one's flower(s), and what kind of flower one is wearing carry meaning, much as it is practiced on Tahiti or the Sandwich Islands. The 'rules' seem different, however.)

'

'''''Education:''''' 
How the Kamekame pass on their own traditions and folkways is poorly-documented (by outsiders.) The Kamekame have sent their children to schools near the coastal villages, but teachers are not encouraged to enter Kamekame territory.

'''''Government:''''' 
The Kamekame do seem to have a system of rulership beyond the village level, but its workings are a mystery to outsiders. There have, historically, been representatives of the Kamekame to the Colonial Government, but not anything so fixed as a seated ambassador or 'on call' emissary. (So far as can be told, the representatives were a sort of senior village headman who conveyed the will of his people. If the Kamekame have a king, they do not speak of him.)

'''''Laws''''': The Kamekame seem to have an elaborate legal system based on taboos, but this apparently does not extend to outsiders. One of the taboos seems to be extended discussion ''of'' the legal system with outsiders.

However, what is known is that the Kamekame seem to have a razor-sharp sense of Legalism. Residents of the Chinese Fishing Village have discussed how the Kamekame gave concessions for where and when they might fish in Ile Trouve's waters, for example- so excruciatingly precise that some of the Fishing Village opt to go fish near other islands' waters entirely. And, as noted, they grasped the French colonial system well enough to play on the Colonial Government's level, on several historic occasions. 

'''''Religion''''': Largely unknown. The Kamekame clearly have a well-defined system of taboos- but one of them seems to be discussing their beliefs with outsiders. 

They steadfastly do not permit missionaries to enter their lands to preach or convert. Reasons given go from “we have our own ways” to “If this is true, it will be true when I tell it. You don’t need to come in.” and “If I was not going to your peoples’ Hell until you told me it existed, why did you tell me so?” (and a flat refusal to pass the information further.) 

However, there apparently ''are'' Christian Kamekame- at least natives who attend mass and otherwise go to the Mission on the north of the island, from several villages near the mission. Even the clurgy there are uncertain of this, but it seems like at least some moved specifically to those villages in order to do so. According mission records, Matthew 8:8 is the most-popular Bible verse among the Kamekame.

'''''Sports and Games''''': The Kamekame have been seen joining in games in Port (wrestling, foot-racing, betting on animal fights or occasionally gambling), but only as a 'break'. As the Kamekame return to their villages at the end of a workday, this is not a regular occurrence. It isn't known what they play among themselves.  

'''''Trade''''': The Kamekame traders who come into Port Cochere tend to work in barter, rather than trade via currency. Some posit a system of ritual, non-commercial trade exists, but this is unconfirmed. The Kamekame tend to sell sea-goods (sea-cucumbers, pearls, etc). If paid in currency, they tend to use it to buy something of maximum value with the money before returning home with it. No record exists of a Kamekame agreeing to a personal, non-verbal contract (as opposed to the treaties and other brokered agreements between the Kamekame as a whole and the French.) 

'''''Transportation and Travel''''': The Kamekame use advanced boats in the Polynesian mode. Land travel seems to be confined to foot travel, with occasional travois-style carriers. There are no roads into the lowlands or highlands suitable for motor transport, and while wild horses live on Ile Trouve, the Kamekame have not been seen to practice horsemanship. 

'''''Warfare''''': Aside from skirmishes at the very beginning of Ile Trouve's colonization and resistance to attempts at impressment, there have been no major armed conflicts between the French at Port Cochere and the Kamekame. By the accounts of other islanders, the Kamekame ''have'' waged war in the past, but have not done so since European contact. (The "War Boats" spoken of seem to have gone- no evidence of them in coastal villages.)

Internal conflicts, should they exist, are back-burnered when outsiders are present. 

Arms sales, a historically-booming trade with peoples such as the Maori and Sandwich Islanders, was generally not approved of by French colonial authorities. And even when bootleg sales have been found to have happened, the Kamekame  claimed to "not have" the firearms soon afterwards. Occasionally, a rusted or broken gun has been found, confirming this theory. The going theory is that, having no tradition of metal weaponry, the Kamekame view all weapons as inherently disposable. 

'''''Writing''''': The Kamekame seem to embrace literacy (sending their children to school and attending mission services), but have not displayed a native writing system.