Oama Oskisuu (Nonlit. 'Second-Born To Us)

Public anthropological record
Property of the Royal Atheneum of Hövnís, Eörpe

A commonly practiced ceremony among the bieggjan for taking an outsider into your tribe, and accepting them as a part of your family and life.

Etmyology & Definition

The name of the ritual consists of two gjevasudit compound words, ‘oama’ and ‘oskisuu’. ‘Oama’ translates to ‘second-born’ and is formed from the root word ‘oa’ (translates to ‘birth’ or ‘become’) and the ordinal number ‘ama’ (meaning ‘second’, which in turn originates from the root ‘mau’ for the cardinal number ‘two’). ‘Oskisuu’ translates to ‘to us’ and is formed from the locative ‘kisuu’ (meaning ‘to’, ‘at’, or ‘by’) and the pronoun ‘os’ (translates to ‘we’ and ‘us’).

History

Origin

The ceremony appears very old and was according to some tribes' oral history a lot more involved and complicated in the past. It has since been significantly simplified in execution and it’s far easier now for an outsider to be accepted and adopted into a tribe.

Modern Practice

The custom is still widely practiced among all bieggjan tribes that have been studied so far. A few tribes, such as the Ljuuhovii, have expressed the ceremony as mostly superfluous and unnecessary but choose to practice it anyway because of its symbolic meaning and because it’s considered very congenial in its simplicity.

Observance

The decision to adopt an outsider into a tribe can be made for several reasons, though the most common ones are to make a newly announced life-mate able to settle with their partner, accepting an offer to care for another tribe’s child, or taking in orphaned individuals who’ve lost their previous family.

Adopting a Life-Mate

As a part of the Kienkii Bieggjan ritual, it will be decided who of the couple will be adopted over into the other’s tribe. For this reason, the ritual is usually concluded with both the bonding ceremony and this ceremony one after another.
While affection to their old tribe tends to remain, it’s mutually understood that they’re no longer considered related or part of the same family, and the individual is instead encouraged to build up the same level of familial relationship with the members of their new tribe.

Adopting an offered Child

If a tribe struggles to support their members, they may choose to offer up one or more of their children to another tribe they’ve crossed paths with that seem better off and more able to raise them.
It appears common for an approached tribe to counter-offer part of their resources rather than outright accepting such an offer, in an attempt to provide the struggling tribe with enough to not have to separate themselves from their children. But should they judge that the struggling tribe might not be helped long-term by a counteroffer while they could support these extra members, the tribe offered will rarely decline taking in the children gifted to them.

Adopting an Orphan

By the bieggjan’s definition, anyone who’ve lost their tribe and have no chance of finding it again (typically because they’re deceased), is an orphan. Marked exiles being an exempt.
A tribe that encounters what they suspect is an orphaned bieggjan will stop and approach the individual in an attempt to find out if they need help. An individual who proves to have lost their tribe forever, and isn’t an exile, will typically be offered to be adopted into the tribe that found them.
Should there be any reason to believe the individual has only been separated from their tribe, the course of action tends to depend on the age and capability of the individual but usually the tribe that found them will offer to help search for their lost family for at least a day. Capable adults may then be gifted some food and a weapon, and then expected to continue the search for their family on their own.
They’ll typically spend more time searching for the lost tribe if the found individual is a child or an elder not entirely capable of fending for themselves. If the lost tribe hasn’t been found before they’re forced to break camp and move on, an elder or child orphan will be offered to become adopted into their family.

Participants

The central figure of the ceremony is the individual who’s to be officially accepted into the tribe. But every member of the tribe, regardless of age, are expected to participate and welcome their new family.

Preparation

The ceremony is usually planned right before the tribe is to sit down together to eat, and the adoptee will be asked to learn a short verse that they're expected to recite half the lines of during the ceremony.

Tools & Components

No particular tools or components appear to be required for the ceremony.

Execution

The tribe and the individual that’s to join the tribe all gather together. While there doesn’t seem to be a specified ritual formation to take, the tribe tends to spread out in a loose crescent around the adoptee. In no particular order, the joining individual will approach each member of the tribe and recite a short verse together with them. The exact content of the verse can differ between tribes.
At the same time as they say the last line, they’ll offer their primary hand to the member of the tribe they’re speaking with. In response, the member of the tribe takes the joining one’s in theirs. It’s concluded with the member of the tribe pulling the joining individual into a brief hug, where the clasped hands rest on their chests and their cheeks touch.
This is repeated between the joining individual and every single present member of the tribe, including children. Once the individual has been embraced by everyone, the ceremony is ended by them all sitting down together to dine.

Ljuuhovii Ceremonial Verse

Part of my heart was another place.
Part of your heart was another place.
But now it is here.
But now it is here.
A family lost.
A family lost.
A family found.
A family found.
I leave my old trail to memory.
You leave your old trail to memory.
To find new ones with you.
To find new ones with us.
Take me into your heart, <familial term>.
I take you into my heart, <familial term>.

‘Part of my heart’ (or ‘amu jan biegjun’ in gjevasudit) is a term that describes an individual, animal, spirit, a group of either of the three, or a place one feels a strong sense of belonging to.
In this context, it likely references one’s tribe and family.

— Notation by Dr. Tybulus Svilen