Coian-Imaguan people

Coian-Imaguans
Coio-imaguani
Kowsis-Imakusa

A painting depicting Coian-Imaguans in the late 19th century
Total population
~1,000,000
Regions with significant populations
Imagua and the Assimas	104,520
Languages
Estmerish, Vespasian, Western Imaguan Creole, and Eastern Imaguan Creole Historically Ziba
Religion
Ashram, Sotirianism, Badi, Tulyata, Zohism

Coian-Imaguans (Vespasian: Coio-imaguani, Western Imaguan Creole: Kowsis-Imakusa, Eastern Imaguan Creole: Koio-Imagwatsu or Koio-Imagwawe) are an ethnic group primarily descended from gowsa labourers and Padarathi labourers who migrated to Imagua and the Assimas in the 19th and early 20th century. Historically, the term also included ethnic Senrians, who migrated to Imagua from the 1870s to the early 1920s, but from the 1960s onwards, Senrian-Imaguans have asserted themselves to be a distinct ethnic group, and was officially recognized in 1991 as a separate ethnicity.

(TBC)

Etymology

The term Coian-Imaguan derives from the continent of Coius, where the Coian-Imaguans originated from.

This term was initially used to refer to slaves from Bahia (i.e. ancestors of Bahio-Imaguans), with a document from 1709 saying that "a free Coyan-Imaguan [sic] man was attacked and killed by a Constable accusyng [sic] him of byyng [sic] a runaway slave." However, this term was not widely used to describe what would come to be Bahian-Imaguans, with most people preferring to use the term black (Vespasian: nere or neri, Western Imaguan Creole: swatna) to describe the slaves and their descendants.

With the abolition of slavery after the Estmerish reconquest of the islands in the aftermath of the War of the Asterian Secession in 1771, it became clear Estmere needed a new source of indentured labour for their plantations in Imagua. As these indentured servants made their way to Imagua, the term gowsa (Vespasian: gausa, Western Imaguan Creole: kowsa) came to be used to describe them.

While gowsa continues to be used in Western Imaguan Creole, the term Coian-Imaguan was revived by anthropologist Lou Walsham in 1884, to describe both the gowsas and the recent Senrians, as Walsham felt that they shared similarities in terms of status and geography. This term quickly caught on in Estmerish and Vespasian-speaking circles by the 1890s, bolstered by the Suthmeerites promoting the term to describe both Senrians and the descendants of the gowsa.

However, beginning in the 1960s, Senrian-Imaguans demanded that their identity be recognised as separate from that of the Coian-Imaguans, citing their distinctive culture from the Coian-Imaguans. After decades of tensions between the gowsa-descended Coians and the Senrian communities, it was decided that from the 1991 census, Senrians would be considered a separate ethnicity from the Coian-Imaguans. It is today considered offensive among Senrian-Imaguans to be called gowsa.

History

First arrivals

Lithograph of gowsas harvesting sugar while being supervised by a white overseer

Although the term was first used to describe Bahian slaves, the first known immigrants to come from Coius proper (i.e. as opposed to Bahia) were believed to have arrived during Gaullican rule over the island of Imagua from 1721 until 1771. While the Trans-Vehemic slave trade continued during Gaullican rule over Imagua, providing the island with most of its slaves, a handful of gowsas were brought over from present-day Dezevau, primarily to function as maids and servants for the Euclean community.

This would only turn into a flood, when after Estmere retook control of the island of Imagua from the Gaullicans following its victory in the Asterian War of Independence, slavery was officially abolished, as per Estmerish laws at the time.

With the abolition of slavery, many plantations suddenly found a need to replace their Bahian workforce. This led to an opportunity for Dezevaunis seeking a better life to sail across the Vehemens Ocean to work at the sugar plantations, as few Bahians were willing to continue working at the plantations.

This continued, even as Imagua began industrializing in the early nineteenth century, as many Bahio-Imaguans moved to the cities to work in the developing factories, there was still a need for a workforce. This helped fuel the migration of the gowsa to the island. At the same time, a smaller proportion of gowsa began migrating to the newly-Etrurian Assimas Islands, to work in the agricultural sector, as similar trends were happening on the Assimas.

By 1840, it was estimated that there were 75,000 gowsa on the island of Imagua, while only 2,000 were on the Assimas: it was estiamted that a vast majority of the gowsa in Imagua and the Assimas lived in the countryside. During this period, the gowsa on Imagua began to develop their own identity, separate from their ancestral identity, much like the Bahio-Imaguans have done.

Development of a Coian identity

Gowsas from Bougediame, Imagua, 1935

By the middle of the nineteenth century, the Coian-Imaguan population began to take form as a distinctive ethnic group, separate from their Dezevauni and TBDian ancestors.

At this time, many Coian-Imaguans began moving to cities to work in the factories, as plantations began to get more mechanized. Their migration to the cities led to conflict with Bahio-Imaguans, as many Bahio-Imaguans saw the Coian-Imaguans as depressing their wages and undermining their ability to negotiate with the workers. As well, many Coian-Imaguans also emigrated for other countries in the Asterias, not wishing to continue work at plantations, as the conditions there, while better than during the slavery of Bahio-Imaguans, was still poor, while a small minority chose to return back to Dezevau.

By the 1870s, the situation reached a point where plantation owners faced a labour shortage once again: to this end, they invited Senrians to migrate to Imagua to work on the plantations, as gowsa were seen as "too valuable" to work on the plantations, in addition to the fact that fewer and fewer gowsa were willing to make the trip across the Vehemens Ocean. This almost immediately led to tensions between the gowsa-descendants and the newcomer Senrians, as the former feared that the Senrians would undermine their position.

However, the Imaguan colonial government considered both the descendants of the gowsa, and the Senrian workers to be "ethnically Coian," due to their origin on the continent of Coius. Lou Walsham estimated in 1884 that "of the Coians present on Imagua today, four-fifths of the population are descendants from gowsas, and the remainder are Senrians."

After Imagua was granted self-government in 1892 by Estmere, while Senrian immigration was allowed to continue, Dezevaunis were no longer allowed to immigrate to Imagua from Dezevau, on the urging of businessmen, Bahio-Imaguan organizers, and plantation owners.

In the early 20th century, Coian-Imaguan identity flourished, particularly among the gowsa descendants who formed the majority of the population, with prominent Coian-Imaguans such as Davis Gimmuzibi and Irwin Bunyamaumau emphasizing their Imaguan heritage, while acknowleding their origins. While some gowsa descendants sought to remain involved with the affairs of the "homeland across the sea," with one in particular, Joseph Maizaganyoo, being involved with the Dezevauni Section of the Workers' International. At the same time, the Senrian-Imaguans began developing a culture influenced by Imaguan culture, but still remaining influenced by their own culture. In 1909, Seymour Doggo became the first Coian-Imaguan to be elected to the Lesser House of the Legislative Council.

Meanwhile, on the Assimas, the descendants of the gowsa formed a small community, largely concentrated in the countryside near Rutigliano and San Pietro. On the Assimas, the Senrians outnumbered the descendants of the gowsa, but even then, it was estimated that only around 55% of the Coian population on the Assimas were Senrians, with the remainder being descended from the gowsa.

By the time of the Great Collapse, virtually all gowsa immigration to both the Estmerish Colony of Imagua and the Etrurian Assimas Islands ceased, while economic conditions made it harder for Senrian migrants to find work, particularly as nativism became dominant on the islands. By the start of the 1920s, more Coians (both gowsa descendants and Senrians) were leaving Imagua than arriving into the colony.

During the Great War, Coian-Imaguans were seen as being "loyal" to whoever was in charge: this led many to be accused of collaborationism in the aftermath of the liberation of Imagua in TBC.

Post Great-War and modern era

Erberto Formica, 2016

In the aftermath of the Great War, many Coian-Imaguans, regardless of whether they were descended from gowsa or Senrians began emigrating from the Colony of Imagua, particularly as the agricultural economy shifted towards an industrial one. While this was happening, there were efforts by some Senrians, such as Alexander Tasuku, to "further strengthen our common Coian bonds" with the gowsa descendants, while some of the gowsa descendants, such as John Dibagowna sought to incorporate the Senrian community into a "common Coian community."

During the 1940s and 1950s, while there were still tensions between the Senrian and Coian-Imaguan communities, these were largely "papered over," as they sought to challenge the Eucleo-Imaguans who were dominating Imaguan politics at this point in time. By the 1950s, Coian-Imaguans would reach a standard of living comparable to the average Imaguan at that point in time, while Coian-Imaguans began to move from the countryside to the city en masse, like most of the general population.

In the 1960s, as Bahio-Imaguans took power, Senrians in Imagua began advocating for the recognition of a separate Senrian ethnicity, due to the differences between Senrians and the gowsa-dominated Coian-Imaguans. Many prominent Coian-Imaguans, including Rupert Gagaga, criticised these demands, as due to their common origin in Coius, and their close proximity with one another, "both Senrians and Coian-Imaguans ought to accept that they are one: they are both Coian-Imaguans."

While Coian-Imaguans increased their participation in public life during this period, both on the island of Imagua and the newly-acquired Assimas Islands, there started to be substantial differences from the 1960s onward, as Senrians were on average wealthier than the descendants of gowsas and of former Bahian slaves, with more Senrians entering politics, where they could articulate their demands.

By the 1980s, it became clear that Coian-Imaguans and Senrio-Imaguans were two distinct ethnicities, with most prominent Coian-Imaguans abandoning their efforts to "unite the two Coian groups" under one umbrella term. However, it was only with the 1991 census that the Imaguan government officially recognized the existence of a Senrian ethnicity, separate from that of the Coian-Imaguan ethnicity.

Since the 1990s, Coian-Imaguans continued their participation in public life, with Erberto Formica, whose mother was Coian-Imaguan, leading the Sotirian Democrats from 1988 to its merger into the Sotirian Labour Party in 1997, and making him the most prominent Coian-Imaguan politician, even though he never became Prime Minister.

Culture

Cuisine

Fruit salad at a ganome

The cuisine of the Coian-Imaguans is largely influenced by Dezevauni cuisine, as most of the Coian-Imaguans were descended from gowsa who moved to Imagua and the Assimas. However, as many plants that would grow on Dezevau were not present on the island of Imagua, distinctive variations were developed in order to adapt to the foods found on the island.

One of the most popular dishes is pandan, which in recent times in consumed as a dessert by not just Coian-Imaguans, but also the wider Imaguan community.

However, other common dishes consumed by the Coian-Imaguan community that are of Dezevauni origin include spiced fruit salad, as well as most stir fried foods, particularly those with local species of fish, fruits, and vegetables.

Traditionally, most Coian-Imaguans consumed food at a ganome, although in recent times, as ganomes on Imagua become more like coffeehouses or fast-food restaurants, many Coian-Imaguans are starting to consume meals at home, although ganomes continue to be prevalent.

Sports

Among Coian-Imaguans, the most popular sports are football, handball, and to a lesser extent, the traditional Dezevauni sport of casse.