The Contribution Ceremony
Life in the Desert of Desolation is harsh, especially for the tribes of the Raurindi people living in the deep desert. Every adult member of the tribe must demonstrate their ability to contribute to the tribe's well-being. For able-bodied individuals, this may mean hunting and gathering food or other supplies; for those who cannot undertake such a task, they must demonstrate they possess other skills which benefit the community, ranging from weaving fabric to crafting items or raising children while their parents are away.
Children start to contribute from the ages of seven or eight as they look after younger children, then performing more specialised tasks as they grow older. Around fourteen years of age, they start to join the groups which leave the tribe to hunt down food, whether they hunt animals or gather fruits and vegetables from around the landscape. These gathering trips can last for days or weeks at a time and cover wide areas, as the people are always careful not to strip an area so that the animals or plants cannot grow back. Tribes which demonstrated that degree of short-sightedness did not survive.
At a child's fifteenth birthday, they must demonstrate single-handed that they can contribute to the tribe and will not be a burden. For able-bodied children, this usually means a solo hunting and gathering trip. If several children are coming of age around the same time it is possible for them to travel together, although this is viewed with some disfavour and they will each be expected to return with more than if they had ventured out alone, having had the additional support. If a child has physical infirmities or some other reason that they cannot hunt, they must find a way of demonstrating their worth. Some children may weave a length of fabric suitable for trade, for example.
Once the child returns with their contribution, its worth is judged by the elders of the tribe. If they are satisfied, the boy or girl is declared a man or a woman, ready to assume their place as an adult. If it is not considered worthy, an adult must speak up for the child and agree to support them until they are ready to try again. This is usually the child's parents, but not always. The contribution is judged even more strictly the next time, due to the extra time they have had to prepare.
Now that the desert has once again opened up for travellers and traders, the tribes do not have quite the same population pressures as they did before. As a result, adults often shadow the children to ensure no great harm comes to them. If they have to intervene, they must report the circumstances to the elders who will judge if the ceremony must be restarted. They also report on the child's conduct, such as if they stripped an area of a particular plant, or only took enough that it could regrow fairly quickly.
If the child is declared an adult, the entire tribe celebrates. Carefully-gathered foodstuffs are brought out for a feast, and each family gifts the new adult with something to help them prepare to found their own household.
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