Children of Tama
The Children of Tama, also known as the Tamarians, are a power located on the United Federation of Planets' rimward border in the Alpha Quadrant. A people with a rich and complex culture, their language and communication relies heavily on metaphor, mythology, and cultural context, which has historically made relations with them difficult. Successful outreach by Starfleet in the mid-24th century secured a peaceful relationship that helped introduce them to the galactic stage. Today, Tamarians are an uncommon but not surprising sight across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, with some serving in Starfleet.
History
The Children of Tama were first encountered by the Federation in the mid-23rd century, but their complex linguistic system made formal relationships difficult to establish. For over a century, fleeting interactions were exchanged, making little to no headway in developing communication.
In 2368, the Tamarians sent a message to the Federation of a mathematical progression, which was interpreted as a request for communication. The USS Enterprise-D was dispatched to the planet El-Adrel IV in Tamarian territory. Diplomacy almost turned to immediate calamity at the apparent abduction by the Tamarians of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who was beamed to the surface, while a Tamarian ship engaged the Enterprise to stop the crew from intervening. On the planet, Picard met the Tamarian captain Dathon. Initial communication made as little progress as before, but the hostile environment forced the two to work together, and Picard learnt how to interpret the Tamarian linguistic style of metaphor and cultural reference. Dathon died on El-Adrel, but Picard contacted his ship, demonstrating an understanding of the Tamarian culture and means of communicating, and struck the first accord with the Children of Tama.
Relations developed from there. Once communication became possible, the Federation found the Tamarians a friendly and engaging people, with a rich culture they were eager to share, while enthusiastically learning from the Federation. A relationship with the Federation further opened the Children of Tama to the wider galaxy, with the Federation able and willing to broker deals and arrange introductions with other peoples of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.
This closeness paid off during the Dominion War, translating to the Tamarians providing military support. While the rimward reaches of the galaxy were relatively quiet during the conflict, Tamarian contributions alleviated pressure on Starfleet to keep these Federation territories secure. Safety of the rimward Cardassian-Federation border in particular saw significant reinforcement from Tamarian ships and soldiers. In the aftermath, many Tamarians were offered the opportunity to join Starfleet, beginning a traditional closeness between the services that lasts to this day.
At the dawn of the 25th century, the Tamarians are a stable and peaceful neighbour to the Federation and a civil part of the galactic community. While modest and non-disruptive, they provide the Federation with firm friends on a frontier coloured by more dangerous or volatile locals, such as the Tholian Assembly or the Sheliak Corporate, or the fiercely isolationist Melkot.
Culture
Communication
The Tamarians have a rich and complex culture, and are renowned for their means of communicating through metaphor and reference to their history, mythology, and society. While universal translators could interpret individual words almost immediately, Federation diplomats were confronted with messages stringing together concepts, phrases, and terms which were wholly incomprehensible. This lack of common points of reference stymied relations with the Tamarians until the Enterprise's mission a century after first contact.
This metaphor-laden style of communication represents the Tamarians' rich society. Their people value knowledge and understanding of their history highly, and have a love for storytelling that stretches from the past to mythology to contemporary events. While fully and effectively communicating with Tamarians requires extensive knowledge of their culture, their language is also adaptable, incorporating new metaphors and terms all the time. This can make staying abreast of Tamarian communication difficult, but it has also led to these outside interactions seeping in; today, 'Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel,' is a term in their language speaking to sacrifice in the name of connection.
This deep affinity for history and culture has, however, made Tamarians deeply curious about the rest of the galaxy. One further positive is that those who wish to treat with aliens or leave their home will quickly and enthusiastically learn how to communicate. Today, most Starfleet officers meeting a Tamarian will find them fluent in Federation Standard, littering their language with cultural references that they are often happy, even enthusiastic, to explain if the meaning is unclear. They treat foreign cultures with great reverence and interest, and are often eager to learn of the histories and mythologies behind idioms, words, and traditions.
Despite this, the Tamarians are culturally very conservative. There is little interest in critical studies of history, society, or literature; to question the meaning behind these metaphors would be to endanger the foundations upon which communication is based. Their propensity to blend mythology and story with history has led to some anthropologists questioning the accuracy of Tamarian historical records, suggesting that many events will have been recorded to pitch the most commonly appreciated and culturally resonant order of events. As Commander Vren Panir, Starfleet diplomat and historian pointed out: 'If we interrogate too closely what happened to Shaka and the fallen walls, the entire concept of failure in Tamarian society may be shaken.' The more critical Tamarian sociologists have opined that their culture has developed more in the last forty years of interstellar relations than in the previous four hundred, able to develop new concepts and terms without questioning the core of their society. While this interpretation of conservatism originates from Tamarian language and communication, understanding of Tamarian society is still developing, and the implications have yet to be fully understood by Starfleet.
Ritual and Tradition
While friendly and patient with outsiders, the Tamarians are neither pacifists nor naive. They have a strong martial culture, with their warriors carrying ceremonial knives on a sash across their chest, a practice that Starfleet normally indulges in its Tamarian officers. They will tolerate newcomers and make every effort to build connections, but are uncompromising on their core values and resolute in the face of their foes.
They observe multiple rituals and ceremonial behaviours even in their day-to-day life. Picard observed Dathon conducting a ritual before sleeping that involved the removal of ceremonial items from his garb. Objects play key roles in these rituals, with the sacred knives used in matters of respect and remembrance. Some items are highly important and always kept close to hand, while others are used briefly and then disposed; Picard noted that Dathon did not reattach all items he'd removed the next morning.
Government and Military
The Tamarians enjoy a democratic government, which ostensibly relies on a rich culture of debate and communication, though in practice is highly stable. Tamarian conservatism has resulted in a system of government that changes and develops very little, though Federation diplomats have observed a comfortable average quality of life among their people.
The Tamarian navy is small but powerful. The ship dispatched to meet the Enterprise at El-Adrel was able to compete with the Galaxy-class ship, nearly destroying it before Picard's diplomatic intervention. They possess the technological sophistication for their ships to establish particle-scattering fields in planetary orbits, blocking the use of transporters, and their attenuated energy weapons make Tamarian vessels a danger to even the most advanced ships of the galaxy.
In Play
- The Tamarians introduced to Star Trek in the TNG episode 'Darmok.' Since then, communication between them and the wider galaxy is much easier, with most Tamarians speaking a form of Federation standard, albeit littered with idioms and metaphors.
- Tamarians serve in Starfleet, and while they are not numerous or common, the sight of a Tamarian outside of their borders is not noteworthy. They are a friendly and curious people eager to understand others, and to be understood.
- Starfleet ships are welcome in Tamarian territory, and the Tamarians are usually happy to lend assistance to the Federation in the rimward frontier if they can be of use.