I was inspired to write this article after reading an excellent cultural commentary by M. Lucas Campos published on the Sacerdotium blog. I wondered, "Why does Yurtyzstan not have mythology? Should I begin creating one?" After some thought, I realised that Yurtyzstan has provided an answer -- trees.
Yurtyzstan, unlike many culturally-focused micronations, lacks a constructed mythology. Languages, with their almost mathematical structure, are one thing; myths are another. Meaning no disrespect to nations with mythological constructs, I feel that constructed mythology to be akin to synthesising history and so have never found it appealing. Rather, Yurtyzstan places all of its ancestral focus and significance on the tree.
Trees have always been the lifeblood of the Yurtyzstani nation. It would certainly be a logical entailment of the fact that our nation is based entirely within forested areas. We rely on them to build settlements, they comprise -- through lumber -- the vast majority of our internal economic activity, and they provided weaponry during our unfortunate but culturally significant participation in micronational warfare.
When this observation was first made, the result was a sort of joke; Yurtyzstanis adopted "tree grandparents" and mourned the falling of trees as a result of thunderstorms. But over time, as Yurtyzstan has slowly migrated from parody state to passive secessionism, the ancestral nature of the tree has become deeply ingrained in our culture. In fact, the forthcoming Yurtyzstani language includes a specific honorific («외카», romanised as "oika") for referring to trees. Interestingly enough, this hasn't necessarily translated to environmentalism, with most Yurtyzstanis actually leaning somewhat right on the matter, although certainly Yurtyzstan as a nation has a higher respect for nature than the neighbouring macronations.
I also find it interesting to note that trees are valued for their abundance rather than their scarcity. It is possible that this is necessary, that we have some central cultural tenet that follows this principle, due to the fact that we are a micronation. (The vast land and resources of a macronation, thus, are not available to us.) This would even apply to micronational monetary policy; micronationalists often must place value on worthless fiat currency to sustain their nation.
Yurt Kyong-yon
