Intergalactic Summit

I have been somewhat quiet for quite some time but thought I would put forwards my thoughts on being Intaki, which may echo those of others.

I did not grow up in the Intaki system, but rather on a small planet further into Federation space, in a primarily Intaki settlement, dating from shortly after the founding of the Federation. My experiences may differ, my childhood, my dialect and yet we find the same fundamentals of being Intaki.

To be Intaki is to be free to follow the path as you see it, to practice the Ida as you understand it. It is following your conscience and reason, not the words and thoughts of others. We respect the Idama's but do not follow them blindly, indeed the Idama's are not all of one voice but each lend opinions from lifetimes of experience and consideration.

To be Intaki is also to respect the right of others to follow their path.

As i grew up away from Galantee space and my heratage i have no real idea what the Ida is or what it means to be Intaki other than a shared ancestory. I would be evry intersted if someone could point me in the direction of information on the Ida and what it means to be 'mainstream normal' Intaki.

Thankyou

What does it mean to be an Intaki?

You might as well ask what it means to experience joy, to taste food, to listen to music. Intaki is not one monolithic, homogenous culture. Traditions and beliefs change from city-to-city - Intaki used to be a dense collection of city-states vying for the limited resources afforded to them by the planet's temperate polar regions. Though the times of scarcity are long past, thanks to the Federation, the cultural divisions remain and define our people, and you will find any man from Asaya will not take kindly to the assumption that he's precisely the same as a Caluyan - and us Caluyans will not appreciate the same assumption any more than he will, thank you very much.

To assume that anything about what it means to be Intaki can be easily categorised or classified is to deal it a great disservice.

Not another one of these.

I'm Intaki by birth, but I wasn't raised anywhere close to the home world. I grew up on a planet in the Republic, so that probably makes me about as home grown as a slaver hound in Luminaire, but it's always interesting to see how other people live. Not that I have any room to say what people should be like, it's been my experience as an independent Intaki, someone who loves sports and things that are generally bad for me, I like to live on my own terms, and I'm lucky I can do that now for the most part without people giving me crap.

In a ship i am not human, your right. However i get out and i damn well try and see other people. If all we become are ISK making machines we dont deserve to live, maybe thats why i need to know my heratage and the IDA, so i don't become just another pod monkey with a god complex and poor social skills.
We need our past to keep us human. I for one belive that as Intaki we should at the very least give somthing back to our home system rather than let it become just another capsuleer war zone.

I agree with these sentiments. I wrote as much when contributing to the Vaanin k'Intaki project in the Preface of that document:


The Intaki Homeworld was once described as "a jewel among planets". I would extend this metaphor to this discussion in general.

Let us consider a jewel or gemstone when we think of the Intaki people or Intaki culture or Intaki politics. We each approach the subject with our own opinions. Our world view has been individually shaped by the paths we have walked ourselves. Our own experiences, knowledge and understandings of the universe around us means that we look upon that jewel with different eyes.

It could be said that each of our concepts of Intaki is a facet of that gemstone. Each independent and real and valid in their own right but collectively contributing to the beauty of the whole.


I'm unaware of any evidence of one group successfully suppressing individual Intaki cultural groups. My experience has been one of understanding and tolerance between individuals or loosely associated groups that find themselves on common ground over one matter or another. Bear in mind, this entire debate has enjoyed valued contributions from individuals from a wide variety of groups. If Simon's concerns are supported by evidence, those of us invested in the subject would appreciate him sharing with us.

While we in the Intaki Liberation Front openly research and gather as many resources as we can, making them available to the public from our Galnet portal, we by no means supress one source of material in favour of another. Perhaps concerns regarding "propogating cultural memetics" is one of perception as there appears to be little done in the field by other groups, though this would be openly welcomed. The Intaki Cultural Reserve, for example, appear to be a group whose focus is on what it means to be Intaki and so it's unfortunate we have not benefitted from their efforts so far.

Of course there is the exception to the rule when it comes to tolerance and acceptance. Intaki Pure were vocal in their isolationist agenda, accepting of only pure blooded Intaki. Contrary to the understanding displayed by those who have participated above they had a very narrow view of what it meant to be Intaki and made efforts to subject others to their will. Thankfully their group appears to be on the wane and their influence on the subject has lessened in recent times.

Namas Simon

Some interesting points, let me work my way through them...


Of course. It is too easily refutable if such an accusation was levelled at either myself or the wider ILF so let us move on.


Perhaps. But my comments regarding other Intaki focussed groups from which we hear very little was more observation than criticism. I think everyone with an interest in the topic would welcome a wider participation from others.

I think we would all agree that it would be unreasonable for one group or another to apply an arbitary quantity of material to be produced following extensive research projects. The Vaanin k'Intaki project greatly exceeded the expectations of those who were involved and it should by no means be used as a benchmark against which the contributions of others be measured.

It's my opinion that simply being part of the conversation is invaluable. Especially when we look to our own culture as we are here. It allows us to share with and learn from each other. Openly inviting anyone with an interest to join in avoids the subject being dominated by a clique of individuals who see fit to disregard the input of others outside their group.

In fact this very discussion was started by an individual without any affiliation to the ILF. There are plenty of other debates and discussions here on the Summit and in the archives on a variety of Intaki related topics from trade, politics and culture that have enjoyed participation and contributions from a wide range of groups.

And so we come to the friendly challenge...


There isn't one. I had thought it was clear from my earlier contributions to this discussion that there is a great diversity to Intaki culture. In my very first response, for example, I spoke of the political spectrum. More recently I used the facets of the gemstone metaphor to consider the myriad of different understandings of what it means to be Intaki.

In a speech given upon his return to Intaki from Bourynes, Vremaja Idama spoke of the Intaki "Way". In his address he made reference to "...The unwritten laws, or customs... " of the Intaki. Consider that the teachings of the Idama follow an oral tradition. Ida is a path each Intaki takes as an individual. It is not a dogmatic philosophy with a holy text to follow.

I wondered then where your view that I believe there to be a single homogenous Intaki culture that persists across national borders and spans New Eden came from. I reviewed my responses here and could only find my reference to parts of Vaanin k'Intaki.

In that work I refer to the suggestion of a largely consistent Intaki culture across the Homeworld at the time of first contact with the Gallente, but such details are based on the public records hosted and made available by independent and impartial officials.

Indeed those public records reinforce the fact that there is a lack of written word on the topic and what does exist appears to consistently refer to the Intaki people and culture in singular terms. It occurrs to me though that you're well aware that such anthropological studies of the Intaki culture are rare. Indeed it is for this reason that the Vaanin k'Intaki project was embarked upon in the first place.