Uktena

History

The Uktena were part of the original tribes, or Pure Ones, who were the first to settle North America. Of the Pure Ones, they were known as "Older Brother". Legends tell that the early Uktena had traveled before to the Pure Lands after they were called by Gaia, and later returned to bring their brother-tribes, the Croatan and Wendigo, with them to defend the land.

Early History

Early in the history of the tribe, they had another Totem, Skyhawk. At some unspecified point during the settlement of the Pure Lands, their Totem vanished and "Older Brother" won the allegiance of Uktena instead, after whom he named himself. The Uktena traveled farthest south, eventually settling in territories in southern North America, Central America, and parts of northern South America. Conflicts between the native Fera and the werewolves hindered the Uktena to settle farther south. The Uktena used their mystical knowledge to bind numerous creatures of the Beast-of-War that roamed the lands and put them to sleep beneath special Caerns.

The Uktena took numerous mortal tribes under their wing, teaching them about Gaia and the spirits. Some of their people, however, turned that knowledge against their teachers, using their new-found power to rule over their tribes and sometimes even turning against their Garou benefactors. Others fell prey to the temptations of the Wyrm. The Uktena tried to warn their brothers that the Wyrm continued to manifest not only as monsters, but the Wendigo refused to listen and the Croatans reacted to the betrayal of their people with brutal vengeance, destroying the culture of the Mound Builders in retaliation for falling into the Wyrm's deceptions. So, the Uktena took it upon themselves to police the Pure Lands of growing Wyrm-Taint, only calling upon their Brothers when the danger became too grave.

Dark Ages

The Uktena were driven from many of their Central American holdings during the time of the Aztec Empire, who worshipped a coven of Wyrm entities headed by Huitzilopochtli, who demanded blood sacrifices from the population.

The Uktena continued to fight the Wyrm creatures that were spawned by such hellholes, categorizing numerous new monstrosities like Heart Eaters.

Victorian Age

When the Wyrmbringers arrived, the Uktena foresaw it. Due to misunderstandings, battle erupted between the European Garou and the Pure Tribes. Since the European Garou did not bind Banes, they believed the holy sites of the Uktena tainted and the Tribe corrupted by the Wyrm. In the battles, numerous Banes were freed and eventually, the wrath of the other Garou turned against the other Fera, whom they saw as complicit. It took the destruction of the bat-shifters to end the bloodshed, but the damage was already done. The suffering and spiritual chaos, as well as the death of a loyal Changing Breed out of blind paranoia and prejudice, had lend strength to an aspect of the Triatic Wyrm, the Eater-of-Souls, who nearly manifested in the material world. The Croatans took it upon themselves to drive it back, using lore from the Uktena to devise a ritual to banish it back by sacrificing the entirety of their Tribe.

The death of Middle Brother shook the Uktena and the fragile unity between the remaining Pure Tribes. The Wendigo accused the Uktena of having left the Croatans to their demise and to dishonor their memory by taking their Caerns, while the Uktena saw themselves responsible for the Croatans' decision and sought to preserve their Caerns from the Wyrmbringers. Falling into reclusiveness and searching for the secrets of their lost brother to preserve them, the Uktena turned their attention from their human nations and Kinfolk. It was only when the Storm Eater manifested that they again joined the other Tribes and even convinced the Wendigo to participate in the binding of the entity.

The nations that the Uktena had once called Kin were in ruins, they themselves scattered and removed into reservations, their children often oblivious of their heritage. Seeing few other choices, the Uktena interbred with people from outside the Native American demographic after the Great Council of 1819. They favored similar oppressed people: First African slaves, then people of Polynesian descent and even from far away places like New Zealand. Even Caucasian groups were adopted as Kinfolk. The Wendigo saw this as a betrayal of their heritage and shunned these new Uktena.