Miqo'te Male's Place in Society

Here\\'s what we do know:

The Seekers clans are led by a male, and that there are an additional few breeding males around.

Keepers clans are led by women, with a few breeding males around.

I can\\'t find anything else in the game itself that gives concrete detail on anything else regarding a male miqo\\'te\\'s place in traditional miqo\\'te life. If there was anything, then I\\'ve unfortunately forgotton.

How are they raised? What do they learn? Are all of them allowed to stay within the settlements, or are some cast out? Do breeding males have any other functions, or do they just wait until presented with a female?

If anyone knows of a source with the answers, I\\'ll gladly head over and read it!

If I remember in the Amalj'as beast tribe quest line you learn from the Miqo'tes in the Forgotten Springs that the males don't raise children. They leave the mother either when they get pregent or have the child (don't remember) and the mother raises the children by them self. Don't remember if they say where the male goes or what they do after they leave but that is one thing I learned.

The U tribe is the only example we have of traditional Seeker culture, but not too much in known about the Keeper's

However, if you did the Postmoogle Quest "The past is the story we never tell" we've been offered a glimpse of it since it features the Coerl King. Basically, it's unnatural for a male Keeker to have a haram ala Seeker miqo'tes. In fact, it seems that both sexes prefer to not be in each other's presence for too long. It's implied that males travel from place to place (preferable with offerings) stay there for a bit, have flings with those that are interested and then move on.

You learn a bit more if you search for the Miqo'te naming conventions forum post, but not much more.

In forgotten springs (30s questing in MSQ) you will note that there are no male hunter/warriors for the U tribe. There is the Nunh, and two Tia with eventual prospects of taking over as Nunh. Talk with them a bit.

In the Waking Sands (pre-mid-30s) you will find a Male Miqo'te Seeker (identified by the 'Tia' in his name) in the common room. Talk with him from time to time while questing from there.

I'm of the opinion that male births among the Miqo'te are few and far between, making them a rarity in Eorzea outside of the player base.

U'tykha at least talks as if he does go out hunting, not that we ever see it. He even invites the PC to come sandworm hunting with him. The assumption we're supposed to make, I guess, is that he always happens to be back from the hunt whenever we show up in town, not that he never does. Going by the societal vlue on strength, it would be stranger if a tia didn't hunt.

Unless he's referring to an entirely different kind of sandworm entirely, in which case... Ahem.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ginal

Here\\'s what we do know:

The Seekers clans are led by a male, and that there are an additional few breeding males around.

---

This actually is not entirelly correct - the information listed on this very forum for naming traditions actually state that being a nuhn of the tribe does not equate to a leadership role (although noting that breeding males can become the tribe's leader, and by extension, all males for that matter, very few in fact do):

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gildrien

Nunh status does not equate to leadership within a tribe, and in fact, very few nunh ever become leaders.

---

Exactly who the leader of a tribe is in Sunseeker society is anyone's guess - I lean more towards the concept of a tribal chieftainess who rules the tribe as it's monarch effectively like the mithra in FFXI, but as the only Sunseeker settlement seen in the game is the U Tribe's village of Forgotten Springs, and which whose leader is never shown, take that with a grain of salt. ;)

Like Myahele said, during the Mail Moogle quests we find out that Keeper males don't stick around with their families at all. They have to bribe their way into a female's house with furs and meat and then can only stay a short while. Otherwise a group of women raise their families as a sort of cluster. Really unfortunate that a piece of lore that we'd think as vital to understanding Keeper culture is put in such an obscure place.

Basically...the males are there for breeding purposes. Both Keepers and Seekers; they just go about it differently.

Keepers are matriarchal, generally living in small family groups consisting of a few females and their children. Males live mostly solitary lives, occasionally traveling to these families for short periods but not staying for long

Seekers, on the other hand, live in large tribes consisting of many females, lead by a male (who is almost never the Nuhn. The U tribe is highly unusual in that their Nuhn is their leader). There is also one or more Nuhn, or breeding male present, depending on the size of the tribe. The Nuhn must prove to be worthy of their title, as every male wants to have breeding rights. However, the females still have a lot of power in choosing the Nuhn; if enough females like a losing Tia more than the winning Nuhn, they can break from their current tribe and start a new one. Its basically like a lion pride, where the females do everything, and the males kind of prance around looking tough and fighting other males for rights to the females. Males without a pride just wander around until they find one they think they can challenge and control.

So Seeker males, I think we can assume, are at least taught to hunt and fight. If Keeper males are meant to wander all their lives, I'll assume the same applies.

Do we know, or can we infer anything else? Are males of either tribe taught to read and write, for example? Do they have to learn tradeskills on their own, or would the women of the tribe teach them those? Do males even have any jobs within their societies besides being strong enough to mate?

Since both tribes of miqo'te are traditionally hunters, I'd imagine that males and females are taught the basics of hunting at a young age. Maybe other life skills (read,writing, etc) are taught, but if anything, once puberty hits they might not be taught nearly as much as their female counter parts since they won't be an active part within the community, but that's pure speculation.

The ACN guildmaster is male seeker and so is G'raha and they must've learned somewhere. Another seeker male is a master chef.

I'd like to think that strength alone doesn't = being a breeding male. That perhaps being a master crafter/gatherer/ scholar could propel a Tia into a Nuhn, after all, they can provide for the clan financially. Same thing could be said with Keeper males skills helping the households of different females he visits, albeit temporarily.

In the end, I really don't think they play any supportive role for a large period of time, especially the keepers due to their culture