Cienie's take on Mandalorian culture: original Mandalorians and Gai bal manda ritual
Iām currently reading Magia Wojny i Wojna Magii w Åwiecie dawnych SÅowian (War Magic and War of Magic in the world of ancient Slavs) by Kamil Kajkowski. In one of chapters, the author mentioned how children were not seen as part of a community until reaching a certain age and undergo appropriate rituals that allowed them officially be seen as a person in legal, cultural and social context.Ā
This made me think about Taung and Mandalorian culture, specifically in the regard to the Gai bal manda ritual of adoption. Or rather of its origins, as sources imply Taungs did not start adopting outsiders until the few decades before Mandalorian Wars.Ā
From the History of the Mandalorians:
This mentality led the Crusaders to eradicate entire species like the Fenelar, Tlƶnians, and Kuarans. Thousands of years later, the Ithullans too would suffer the same fate. In fact, the only species to survive a full-fledged Mandalorian onslaught were neighboring Mandallian Giants. These fierce combatants not only repelled Mandalorian attacks but earned enough respect to later fight beside them.
and mind you, fighting beside Mandalorians does not necessarily mean being adopted into a clan or community; āIndustry. Honor. Savagery: Shaping the Mandalorian Soulā specifically noted that Mandalorians and Mandallian Giants agreed to co-exist and assimilation of Giants happened with passing time. Or:
But that didnāt stop the Mandalorians. On the contrary, the temporary defeat precipitated a frenzied conviction that the āGreat Last Battleā was at hand. For 20 years, the Mandalorians zealously invaded small non-Republic worlds on the fringe of Known Space, raiding their resources and building up a powerful army. Anticipating an apocalyptic war, the Neo-Crusaders began accepting members of other species into their midst, treating these āconvertsā as equals.
Furthermore, Knights of the Old Republic Campaign added that in period of time between Sith War and Mandalorian Wars:
[...] many of the conquered peoples are efficiently transformed into Mandalorians, undergoing speedy indoctrination by Neo-Crusader ārally mastersā and receiving Neo-Crusader armorĀ
The traditional Crusaders do not proselytize; rather, they attract others to their cause through the examples they set. Veterans see the later Neo-Crusaders movement, which actively converts outsiders in its hurry to conquer the galaxy, as a perversion.
The in-universe text like Death Watch Manifesto and mentioned before āIndustry. Honor. Savagery: Shaping the Mandalorian Soulā specifically said that humans were first treated like vassals in the Taung-Mandalorian society and gained the full ācivil rightā during Mandalore the Ultimateās regime who opened Mandalorian ranks to anyone who proved their worth and dedicated life to warriorās ways.
The age of the Taung was ending, but their great work was unfinished. To survive, the Mando'ade must be transformed.
It was a terrible burden, but Mandalore the Ultimate bore it with honor. He opened the clans to all who proved themselves in battle and followed the warrior codes. Non-Taungs were no longer confined to vassalship, but could be full-fledged Mandalorian warriors. Our forefathers were among these new Mando'ade, and soon proved they were ready to lead the clans (Death Watch Manifesto).
[...] The Jakelians, for one, welcomed their new Mandalorian overlords, as did knots of worlds populated by humans centered on Concord Dawn and Gargon. Those worlds - along with the likes of Hrthging, Breshig, Shogun, and Ordo - became part of Mandalorian Space (āIndustry. Honor. Savagery: Shaping the Mandalorian Soulā from The Essential Guide to Warfare).
There was a better way, and Mandalore the Ultimate was determined to find it. The defeated Crusaders returned to Mandalore Space to learn that their leader had received a new vision on Shogun: From now on, non-Taungs who proved themselves in battle and upheld the Mandalorian warrior code were full members of the clans (āIndustry. Honor. Savagery: Shaping the Mandalorian Soulā from The Essential Guide to Warfare).
Thus we may assume that if adoption happened in Taung-ancient Mandalorian culture before the Sith War, it was aimed most likely at the members of the same culture, not really at outsiders. Which implies that before Mandalore the Ultimateās regime, Taung warriors werenāt that open community and definitely not as open as their human descendants became. However, considering how little we know about Taung as a species - especially from a biological and psychological standpoint, I think we should be wary of attributing to them a human approach to the family in the context of parenthood and adopting children. For example, Galaxy at War sourcebook presented the general personality for Taung characters as:
Personality: Warlike by nature, Taungs are pragmatic and ruthless. But by the same token, they are also extraordinarily loyal to their clan, which serves the same function that a biological family serves for other species.
Which gives room for interpretations, especially as we have no idea how big the average Taung-Mandalorian clan was, nor what kind - if even at all - of biological connections there were between members. Because again, we have no idea how Taungs reproduced while author of Death Watch Manifesto made a point to highlight the difference between human and the original Mandalorians:
We call the Shadow Warriors our Progenitors, though we do not share their blood, and their bodies were those of beasts, not humans.
and so there is a possibility that original Mandalorian culture - due to Taung non-human reproduction - did not have a use of adoption of foundling or orphaned children because the bond between parent and child did not correspond to human norms. For all we know, original Mandalorians could lay eggs or inbreed to the point the distinction between parent, siblings and offspring was a blurred line or more than two individuals must have been involved in the conception of a new child. There are plenty of possibilities for alien species to develop and understand conception of āfamilyā that wonāt correspond with humanās biological and emotional needs (i.e. having a child, being a parent), especially as even some humans do not feel the need to have their own biological or whatsoever offspring. There is no need for Taungs to act as humans in that regard or be exactly the same as their modern counterparts. As source imply, for Taungs, adoption was a pragmatic means to pass their culture when they - as a species - were doomed to extinction. For humans though, Mandalore the Ultimateās law allowed them to rise in the social hierarchy from vassals (subordinates) to the warriors (full-fledged ācitizensā) so it makes sense they passed the tradition of adoption to future generations, giving a ground for the modern mandalorian culture.
Coming back to the āperpetratorā of the whole above essay, more precisely the aforementioned belief how children were not seen as part of a community until reaching a certain age and undergo appropriate rituals from Magia Wojny i Wojna Magii, let me present my personal āreconstructionā of Gai bal manda ritual.
In mandoāa Gai bal manda means name and soul. If we agree that original Mandalorians
did not adopt outsiders but hold in special regard their community as a whole (specifically the clan, not necessary biological blood-ties)Ā
were religious and their culture was based on the will of the gods, magical thinking and rituals regulating their life
to officially become part of said community a child at a certain age needed to undergo appropriate rituals (similarly how in The Mandalorians a young Ragnar Vizsla recited the Creed in the presence of the whole community while Grogu, due to being too young could not perform similar rite of passage)
then Gai bal manda could be originally a ritual allowing ancient Mandalorians to officially accept a child into their warrior community.
In modern times, to adopt Mandalorian mustĀ recite the phrase ni kyr'tayl gai sa'adā"I know your name as my child" with adding the adopted personās name. But back in the old times, predating the Sith War and Mandalorian Wars, the clan as a whole could say something similar to acknowledge the new member of their community.Ā
Going further with this idea, Gai bal manda could be performed by Mandalore the Ultimate during the Great Adoption, as a symbolic way to acknowledge non-Taung warriors as legal sons and daughters (and any children of whatever gender) of Mandalore. Which frankly would add some interesting implication to Death Watch Manifestoās description of Mandalore the Ultimate as the Great Shadow Father.
On one hand, this officially recorded symbolic adoption could explain how the phrase ni kyr'tayl gai sa'ad became part of non-Taung mandalorian culture and survived millenia after the original warriors died out. On the other hand, as non-Taung people were āundergoing speedy indoctrinationā to become Neo-Crusaders, they did not have time to absorb and understand all the complexity of original Mandalorian culture. And so with passing time, something that once was a ritual to welcome a new (blood related or not) member into a clan became specifically used only for adoption. Partially because the knowledge about religion and all rituals of Taung has been forgotten and/or lost, in part because modern humans have moved away from magical thinking of their progenitors.Ā
