The River Swimmers

By: Jennifer Mertens and Ashley Jibby

November 6, 2006

Naming Our Culture• List below some possible names for your culture.

Explain briefly why each name seems appropriate.• Late nighters: all the celebrations are held at night• The Floaters: their feet never touch the ground (unless

they are sleeping)• River swimmers: always swim in the river• The number people: everything and everyone is made

of numbers• Colorless people: everyone/everything is black and

white• As a group, discuss each names listed. Then come to a

consensus and select a name for your group’s culture.• Our choice: River Swimmers

Habitat• On what continent of the earth did your culture

originate? It didn’t originate on a continent.• Where on that continent was your culture located?

It is located in the Pacific Ocean kind of by Hawaii.• What was the average summer temperature in

that location at that time? 100 degrees F.• What was the average winter temperature? 70

degrees F.• What was the average annual rainfall in that

location? There is 5 inches of rain every season.• What was the landscape like? What were its

common features? Has a really small island but the rest of the culture is on docks in the ocean.

• What animal and plant life existed in this habitat? Birds live there and they live on the trees.

Flag

Anthem We swim, we swim, we swim all day and

night until we turn right into prunes, we go inside, we go inside, we go inside to dry off our swimsuits. Then we eat, then we eat, and then we eat to fill our bellies. And then we shower, and then we shower, and then we shower until we’re clean. Then we sleep, then sleep, then we sleep to get our energy. Then in the morning, then in the morning, then in the morning we eat our breakfast…we eat our breakfast, we eat our breakfast, we eat our breakfast so we can play. We go to school, we come back home, so we can swim all day long. We eat a snack, we eat a snack, we eat a snack so we can pack. We love to pack, we love to pack, we love to pack so we can attack. We attack, we attack, we attack because they did it first! And in the end, and in the end, and in the end we do it again, again, again.

Constitution• Must go into the water everyday.• Drugs must never enter this culture.• Has to get married at age 18.• Has to go to school through ages 4-17.• Can’t bring food/drink in the water. (it would

contaminate it)• Has to have i.d. on them at all times.• Has to have 2 kids in their lifetime to keep up the

population.• No fish, animals, or creatures in the water.• Must have 1 hour of homework daily.• You have to vote at age 14.• Every morning you must put garbage in the garbage

boat

DemographicsJennifer M10/11/2006

People Age Categories Totals P.6

Children under 3 275

MalesMales 3-10 450Males 11-20 575Males 21-65 575Males over 65 300

Males Total 1,900

FemalesFemales 3-10 450Females 11-20 600Females 21-65 600Females over 65 300

Females total 1,950

Total Population 4,125

Demographics

River Swimmers Population

0200400600800

1

Age categories

Po

pu

lati

on Children under 3

Males 3-10

Males 11-20

Males 21-65

Males over 65

Females 3-10

Females 11-20

Females 21-65

Females over 65

Clothing

Living Quarters• What materials do people use to build their living quarters and other structures?• All the houses are built with waterproof wood. • How are these buildings made, and who makes them?• Every dad and mom builds and knows how to build their houses.• To what building would people in this culture go for health care? If you get sick you

go to the hospital.• Where would people who had broken a law sent? If you get in trouble you go to

jail.• Where would people go to be educated? All the kids go to school.• Where would they go to buy or trade goods? They would go to a store just like we

have in our culture.• Where would people gather for religious ceremonies? Everyone goes to a

community church.• What are the sizes, shapes, and styles of the houses where families live? They live

in floating houses that has a dock in front to get to everyone else’s houses, stores, and so on.

• What are the rooms like where people gather? Where are these rooms located? They are located at the vary end of the dock, the call it a city hall.

• Where do people sleep? They sleep in their houses.• Where do they eat their meals? They eat their meals in their houses too.• Are the houses communal or single-family dwellings? All the houses are

single-family dwellings.

Living Quarters Continued

Foods and their Preparation• What are three special foods that the people in your culture eat

regularly? The special foods that we eat are: fries, pizza, and ice cream.• Who is in charge of getting thee ingredients, and how do they get them?

They get shipped to us from another country.• What tools or weapons are used in this process? Boats are the only

thing that is used to get the food shipped to us.• How many meals a day are eaten and at what times? We eat three

times a day and we eat at 7:00 in the morning for breakfast, 12:00 in the afternoon for lunch, and at 6:00 in the evening for dinner.

• Who prepares each meal, and where is this done? It is either prepared by the cooks at restaurants or the family at home.

• Who gathers to eat these meals? The families gather.• Are there any special activities, manners, or rituals that are part of the

meals? If so, describe them. A manner is that you shouldn’t chew with your mouth open and before dinner starts there is a special dance that someone will perform.

• Are ant foods used as treats or rewards? If so, describe them. We use candy too.

• Do any people in your culture sell food to make money? If so, who are these people, and what do they sell? Yes, people at the stores sell all kinds of foods.

• Does your culture engage in trade with other cultures for food that is not found locally? Yes, that’s how we get all of our food.

Dance• 1st dance:• Name of dance: The water dance• Special clothing worn: Festive swimsuits• Event celebrated: Birthdays and 1st day of summer• Some of the steps or movements in the dance: Plug you

nose like you swimming then kick one foot at a time• 2nd Dance:• Name of dance: Dinner Dance• Special clothing worn: regular clothes• Event celebrated: Dinnertime • Some of the steps or movements: Grab your fork and

pretend you eating

Power Structure• What form of government does your culture have? There is a

democracy.• How are leaders selected? The people vote every two years for a new

leader. • What are the titles of those in power? The leader is called a President

too.• What are the responsibilities of those in power? They make sure the

laws aren’t being broken.• What ceremonies are held when a new leader is named? They have a

big banquet dinner.• Is there a written record of laws in your culture? Yes.

– What is it called? The constitution.– Does your culture have a constitution to describe how the government

functions? Our constitution is the laws in which everyone follows.– Does the constitution apply to everyone, including those in power? Yes.

• How are arguments or legal disputes settled? There is a town meeting every month.

• What major laws have been made and why? Everyone has to go to school though the ages 4-17 because then they will know everything there is to know, they also can’t bring food and drink in the water because it will contaminate.

• What punishments exist for rule breakers? They go to jail.

Economy and Currency• What items are considered valuable and why?

Swimsuits, because you use them everyday and boats are very valuable because that’s how we get around.

• Who has access to these things of value? Everyone because they all can buy them.

• What types of “cash” are used? We call it water money but we don’t have coins we only have 1’s, 5’s, 10’s, 20’s and so on just as we do.

• How does trade within this culture happen? Stores are how we trade, some examples are: Water-mart and Water-by’s and many more.

• How do people display their wealth? The more the money, the bigger the house.

• Who is considered “successful”? Why? People who have finished school because they have learned everything that they need to.

Economy and Currency cont.

Modes of Transportation• There are two kinds of transportation in

our culture:• Walking: Where did people usually walk

and for what purpose? They walk to the store and other houses that are on the same dock to buy goods and see there friends.

• Boats: How were the designed and made (of what materials)? They are wooden motor boats and, of course, made of wood.

Defense and Protection• Which features of the landscape make your culture easy to

attack? Our culture is all open besides a few trees.• What defense does the landscape provide naturally? It’s not

easy to get to because we are far away from all other countries, and because we are surrounded by water.

• Which people in your culture are trained to defend it? We have a special army.

• How are defense strategies taught, and who teaches them? There is a special class taken every year in school.

• Have any major battles been fought? If so, who was involved and who won? There was one major battle, we fought against Hawaii for a little bit of land, and water.

• What types of weapons are used in training and fighting? There are spears and knives.

• What other ways do the people in your culture defend themselves? Everyone takes a martial arts class.

• What kinds of clothing or uniforms do the defenders wear? The clothing has a layer of metal in it.

Garbage and Waste Management

• What waste products do you produce at home/school/play? We have the same regular garbage; food, paper, and so on.

• What solid waste is produced by industry or agriculture in order for you to maintain your lifestyle? Cardboard, plastic, paper, some metal, and more are the solid wastes that’s produced.

• Do different types of industry produced different types or garbage? Yes it’s all different.

• What types of waste is most prevalent in your area? Paper and food scrapes is most prevalent.

• Where do these go? How can we reduce the amount that finds its way to landfills? All the wastes go into a garbage boat then the boat brings it to Hawaii. To reduce the amount we try to reuse as much as possible.

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