Fun With Different Fandoms

Katara's necklace is given plenty of narrative and thematic significance throughout the series. It's an heirloom that she wears to feel closer to her mother, taken away from them too soon. It's used to track down the group and near the end of season one, it's revealed to be a betrothal custom from the Northern Water Tribe, making it a symbol of cultural tradition. It's a nifty little way the writers combined worldbuilding with theme and characterization to make something memorable.

Less talked about is Sokka's necklace, which he wears as often as Katara wears hers and is also undoubtably Water Tribe. Exactly how thick it is seems inconsistant between episodes and even from scene to scene in some cases. But I think it's shown to have enough depth to rule out the idea that it's some kind of notched ribbon or strip of skin

Now as a Real Life Eskimo™ (King Island Inupiaq, born and raised in Alaska) I've been to cultural fairs where traditional crafts have been displayed and sold, and what Sokka's necklace reminds me of most is walrus ivory jewlry, specifically that made of slices of ivory, like these bracelets

(Made by Albert Olanna in Shishmaref, Alaska, featured here: http://www.maruskiyas.com/store/products/walrus-ivory-bracelets-albert-olanna )

Hakoda seems to be wearing one as well in Sokka's flashback of him leaving for the war (though his seems to also have dentalium shells, which I will talk about more later).

Yue's betrothed, Hahn, also appears to be wearing an ivory necklace, though one with more variation in the beads and a piece in the center that seems to be of a different material (I'm tempted to say baleen, but baleen is much darker, maybe blue jade?).

Of course, there is one man who doesn't wear a necklace of ivory:

Yue's father, Chief Arnook of the Northern Water Tribe, is also wearing a necklace, but this one seems to be made of dentalium shells, which were traded a lot between Indigenous groups but don't prominently feature in Inupiaq or Inuit jewelry. You'll find some nice little earrings made of dentalium, but not much more than that.

Athabaskan jewelry, on the other hand, did feature dentalium shell quite a bit, especially for Chiefs' status symbol necklaces.

(Unknown artist from Minto, Alaska, featured on a very interesting blog post about trade amongst Alaska Native groups here: https://akethnogirl.wordpress.com/2018/08/ )

But as you can probably tell, the Athabaskan Necklace pictured here is much longer than the one Arnook is wearing. Indeed, Arnook's necklace seems to be based more on Great Plains Native dentalium jewelry

I really dig the Sun Warriors. I love how you can see bits and pieces of their culture sprinkled throughout the Fire Nation’s identity. For example, you see that Azula’s wrap around skirt from Book 2 is pretty clearly inspired by the “pants” that the male Sun Warriors wear:

We all know that peculiar hairstyle Zuko sports in Book 1. It’s also a hair style we see on the male Sun Warriors. This hairstyle, like other facets of the Fire Nation aesthetic, is inspired by Thai culture. In this case, Zuko and the male Sun Warriors are sporting traditional Thai topknots.

In traditional Thai culture, the crown of the head is the sacred portal of the spirit of life and is not to be treated lightly, especially regarding children. This sacredness extends to the hair on the crown, resulting in top knots grown over children’s fontanels (soft spots). In practical terms, it discourages careless adults from touching the most delicate part of an infant’s developing skull. The cutting of the top knot, known in Thai as kon chuk (โกนจุก), is seen as a rite of passage and an auspicious event for children between the ages of 7 and 13.

Obviously, these implications don’t quite carry over into the Avatar-verse, since we see plenty of adult Sun Warriors sporting the ‘do. Most likely, the hairstyle is meant to add to the Southeast Asian “flavor” of the Fire Nation.

That said, I do think this cultural subtext adds new dimension to one of Zuko’s most memorable moments, whether intentional or not. When Zuko cuts off his topknot, you can essentially view it through three equally valid lenses:

If you view it through a traditional Chinese/Korean lens, Zuko is renouncing his ties to his father; Confucians viewed hair as a precious gift from one’s parents and to cut one’s hair was seen as an act of disloyalty.

If you view it through a traditional Japanese lens, Zuko is renouncing his status in Fire Nation society and abandoning his title for the life of a peasant. In Japanese culture, a samurai seeking to join a monastery or the peasantry would cut off his top knot and undergo a dramatic decline in social status.

In you view it through a traditional Thai lens, Zuko’s hair cutting is a rite of passage. He’s leaving behind childhood and beginning his journey into adulthood. There’s no denying that Zuko matures a lot after he cuts off his top knot.

All of these interpretations fit the Fire Nation as they are a combination of Chinese, Japanese, and Thai culture.

AKA “The Secret Tunnel Hippies”. I did not expect one-off joke characters to have such interesting cultural origins behind their designs, but Avatar always finds a way to hit me with wonderfully unexpected cultural details.

Now on to Chong’s equally-as-spacey wife, Lily! The first thing that struck me about her design is the turban-like head wrap she wears. Although there was an event in Chinese history known in English as the “Red Turban Rebellion”, turbans have never been a staple of Han Chinese fashion, especially not for women.

However, there is an ethnic group originally from China that is known for wearing dark head wraps that resemble turbans: Hmong Daw or White Hmong. Specifically the Hmong Daw from Xieng Khouang, Laos. Once I realized where Lily’s “turban” came from, the rest of her outfit suddenly made sense. The predominantly black color scheme always seemed out of place for such a carefree and easygoing character, but it makes sense if it’s inspired by the look of traditional Hmong Daw clothing.

Note the predominantly black shirt with colorful trim, the elbow-length sleeves, the waist-high sash, the bell-shaped skirt, the flats, and the head wrap. Pretty much the only major accessories that Lily is missing are the apron and the jewelry.

AKA “The Secret Tunnel Hippies”. I did not expect one-off joke characters to have such interesting cultural origins behind their designs, but Avatar always finds a way to hit me with wonderfully unexpected cultural details.

First up, the unsubtle psuedo-stoner, Chong! According to the art book, Chong was designed to resemble an “ancient Tibetan Slash”. While his outfit is a little more stripped down than traditional Tibetan clothing, it still retains the distinctive one shoulder robe, chunky boots, hip sash, and general silhouette. His hat is a ceremonial Tibetan hat mixed with Slash’s trademark top hat. ;)

His Tibetan-inspired design paired with calling himself a “nomad” makes me wonder if he’s meant to be a descendant of the Air Nomads. Or maybe he’s the Avatar-world equivalent to the kind of people that claim they’re 1/16th Native American.

Like what I’m doing? Tips always appreciated, never expected. ^_^

From what I’ve researched, chokers were traditionally worn by some Native American tribes rather than by the Inuit, who traditionally preferred looser fitting necklaces. But Sokka’s particular choker is identical to traditional Alaskan Inuit bracelets, which are made from walrus or whale ivory.

Which means that Sokka might just be wearing a bracelet as a choker. And I can’t think of anything more perfectly Sokka than using an item for something beyond its intended purpose. I can totally imagine how the whole thing started:

Mother Kya: “One day, when Katara gets married, I’ll give her this necklace that Gran-Gran gave to me.”

Lil Sokka: “No fair! Why don’t I get anything?”

Hakoda: “Sokka, this necklace is for girls only.”

Lil Sokka: “Fine, I’ll just make my own necklace.” *ties his bracelet around his neck and immediately starts choking*

He’s upset that it keeps sliding over his hand, so he has the bright idea to untie cords and retie it as a necklace (being as he is Lil Sokka, the sizing works out so that it - mostly - fits).

“which are made from walrus or whale ivory.“

In Uqalurait: An Oral History of Nunavut, an Inuit elder describes the hunt of a walrus in these words: “When a walrus was sighted, the two hunters would run to get close to it and at a short distance it is necessary to stop when the walrus’s head was submerged… the walrus would hear you approach. [They] then tried to get in front of the walrus and it was harpooned while its head was submerged. In the meantime, the other person would drive the harpoon into the ice through the harpoon loop to secure it.”

The Avatar-world equivalent to that would probably be walrus-whale hunts. I was going to say, “Can you imagine?” or “Someone should draw that!”, but a quick Google search revealed that walrus-whales were apparently once a real thing:

Wanted to do a post about hats in the Northern Water Tribe. Unfortunately, there aren’t any in-depth websites in English describing traditional Mongolian and Tibetan clothing, so this will be a simple picture post since I don’t know much about these hats. The pictures of NWT background characters I’m using are from the art book.

The two men and one young woman are wearing Mongolian hats, although I can’t tell you what each hat is called. The older lady is wearing a Tibetan hat known as a Xamo Gyaise, a golden thread hat. In both Mongolian and Tibetan culture, hats are incredibly important markers of one’s status and role in society. According to Amicus Mongolia:

Arnook is Yue’s dad. I quite like his design. Anyways, he wears two necklaces.

The one worn under his hood and close to the neck is called a bone choker. Unfortunately, I am unable to pinpoint from which tribe this style of necklace originates. As far as I can tell, the bone choker seems to have become a symbol for Native American culture as a whole. These chokers were traditionally created using hair pipe beads made from bone. They also served the practical function of protecting the jugular in combat.

You know those distinctive triangular shoulder pads that you see on a lot of Fire Nation armor? These are common elements in traditional Thai armor, as well as Thai Ballet costumes (which exaggerate the pointy silhouette of the armor):

The second guy is giving off some serious Fire Nation energy. Meanwhile the layered, curly shoulder pieces that the Fire Lords wear are inspired by traditional Burmese court clothing for men of royal birth.

The school uniforms worn by the Fire Nation in “The Headband” are inspired by chut thai, traditional Thai clothing. While not 100% accurate, the silhouette is distinctly Southeast Asian. This look is known in Thailand as the “Raj Pattern”, due to the inclusion of the nehru-style jacket. Note the nehru-style jacket also used in the Fire Nation school uniform, as well as the sash and the baggy, knee-length pants.

People of the Fire Nation Pt. 1

Picture 1: The Royal Family

Picture 2: The Military

So I was working on my “What’s in a Name” series for the Earth Kingdom, specifically researching Joo Dee’s name origin. I initially thought Joo Dee’s name was meant to be a joke, since it sounds like such a mundane English name (Judy). However, the more I looked into her name, the more depth of meaning I discovered. Allow me to share these discoveries with you:

The name Joo Dee literally means “Local” (局地) in Mandarin Chinese. It’s a very fitting, if somewhat uninteresting name for a tour guide. However, when you break down the hanzi (Chinese characters) of her name, she becomes both an ominous and tragic figure of Ba Sing Se.

The characters used for her name mean Bureau (局) and Earth (地), respectively. So when writing her name, you literally read it as “Bureau of Earth”, which sounds like a label you’d slap on a piece of government property. Keep in mind, Joo Dee is not the name of one person, it’s an identity forced upon droves of brainwashed women. They’re not just figurative tools of the government, they are literal tools of the government and are never allowed to forget that through the name given to them.

The American Equivalent to this would be:

“Hello, my name is Cia and I’ll be your DC tour guide! ^_^”

“Oh, Sia, that’s a pretty name…”

“It’s spelled C-I-A, short for Central Intelligence Agency! ^_^”

“Wait, you work for the CIA?”

“No, I AM THE CIA. ^_^”

And then you find out she’s a victim of Project MKUltra.