Kutchin

The Kutchin are nomads of average height and build, reddish-brown in skin like most Erians, with straight black hair cut to the shoulder. They live mainly on caribou, following the herds all over Akwatuk, and make nearly everything from them: bone knives and bone-tipped spears, leggings, loincloths and cloaks, and the small domed huts they live in.

They are superb hunters and trackers. Not a warlike people by nature, they have long been enemies of the Akela, who covet their lands. Outnumbered, they never meet their strong foes in the open, relying instead on ambushes, quick counterattacks and other stealthy tactics, at which they excel, making them dangerous despite their small numbers.

Religion counts for little, and Kutchin life is notably short of ceremony and celebration. Their shamans act mostly as healers and keepers of history, rarely hunt or fight, and do not marry; most live apart from the tribe alone or with one chosen apprentice, so they meet their people mainly when their services are needed. By travelers' reports the Kutchin are isolationists who do not trade, distrust and sometimes attack strangers, and practice only necessary crafts, perhaps the only Erians with no love of ornament or art. Each tribe is ruled by a single chief without a council; his word is law, but any male may challenge him in personal combat or a trial of strength or skill, and the winner is recognized as chief.