While tribes such as the Stargazers seek inner serenity, the Uktena walk a darker path.  In their hearts and in their blood, the Uktena beat the legacy of the dispossessed, of people driven from their lands or dragged away in chains.  Their eclectic heritage and history of oppression have nurtured dark hungers in the Uktena; it is said that the Wyrm tempts the tribe with forbidden knowledge.  Even their Wendigo brothers watch the Uktena with suspicion.

Many moons ago, the Pure Ones (great spirits of the Wyld) led the migration of the Three Brothers - the Croatan, Wendigo and Uktena tribes and Kin -  across the Bering Strait and into the Pure Lands (what the three tribes called the Americas).  Older Brother Uktena settled into the south, roving into the deserts, mesas, and jungles of Central America and the Southern US.  In deep nights beneath an open sky, the Uktena communed with spirits unknown to other Garou.  They learned odd lore from the other were-beasts, ate of the desert vision-fruits, and dragged spirits down from the night sky to be bound into powerful fetishes.  Here and there, they found powerful Banes, ancient and bloated, sleeping in deep lairs unscratched by the cleansing claws of Gaia's glaciers.  Whenever possible, the Banes were destroyed, the rest were spelled to continue their sleep.

Many at a warm fire have shivered and bristled at the tale of the Uktena Grimscowl Bisonbreath, who led a pack of warriors into a vast network of caverns on the trail to the Western Sea.  Many were the Banes and Black Spiral Dancers they met and slew, until, in the deepest cavern, Grimscowl came upon an ancient Dancer whispering into a hole in the floor of the cave.  When the old one did not respond to Grimscowl's challenge, Grimscowl slew him out of hand.  Suddenly the ground heaved beneath his feat, and the great mass of earth above threatened to crush him.  Grimscowl realized he was standing on the ear of a huge giantess, and that the old Black Spiral Dancer had been keeping her asleep by whispering spells of sweet dreams in her ear.  Grimscowl knelt to the pit of her ear and resumed the story to quiet the giantess.  And there he sits to this day, grumbling soft platitudes.  It is said that when his mood turns surly, the slumbering giantess shifts uncomfortably, and the world shakes and mountains topple into the Western Sea.

When the white settlers - called "Wyrmbringers" by the Three Brothers - ravaged the New World and destroyed the Croatan, they brought other races as slaves.  The Uktena mourned the loss of their Middle Brother, looked with pity upon the dispossessed slaves and took them in.  When the Uktena's own folk were decimated by the Wyrmbringers, the tribe became a haven for refugees of vision, incorporating their mystic secrets into Uktena tribal lore.   Some would say that this has made the Uktena mongrels like Bone Gnawers, though the Uktena elders say that diversity breeds strength, and point to the fact that there are no less pure-bred Uktena than in other tribes.  The variety in backgrounds does not remove some similaries in mannerisms - Uktena have the disconcerting habit of staring intently at everyone around them.  They also tend to exude an air of mystery and menace.  Although generally small for Garou, they have a cold ferocity disproportionate for their size.  Uktena Kin are similarly diverse, tending to live and work on the fringes of society, being protected by the Uktena as much as they protect their Garou cousins.

The tribe is renowned for its curiousity.  It appears to the other tribes that when confronted by a manifestation of the Wyrm, an Uktena is as apt to study or capture it as attack it, though there as any tales of victory over the Wyrm sung by the Uktena as anyone else, along with rumors of great failures.  Its members' knowledge of spirits is legendary; their sullen silence and occasionally odd actions only make other Garou more suspicious of them.  The Uktena have adopted a seige mentality after centuries of oppression - while they will cooperate with members of other tribes, Uktena keep their own counsel, lest the Garou of the Wyrmbringer tribes again take the side of their Kin and attempt to destroy the Uktena.

Uktena Theurges are perhaps the darkest and most powerful of all Crescent Moons.  They have looked upon the face of the Wyrm, not only in the Banes and the Umbra, but within their own hearts and those of their Kin.  Most Uktena are at peace with the darkness inside them; the enemy one knows, they feel, is easier to defeat than the shadow one denies.   The Rite of Passage amongst the Uktena is never spoken of, though hints given by immature members of the tribe have indicated it is one of pain and beauty.

The Uktena of the Buried Heart are greatly less than they once were - after the plagues of the Wyrmcomers, the caern was only guarded by a few Uktena who were joined by the Black Furies.  As the local tribes were forced away by the European settlers, so were the Uktena's Kin.  As the first leaves bud each spring, the Uktena hold a ritual of remembrance for the Masachuset and other tribes that were destroyed.  Like all other Uktena rituals, it is a private ceremony, leaving the Uktena contemplative for days afterwards.

GM Note:  Players of Uktena characters should read up on Native American history, especially the period of European settlement from 1600 through the 1800's where roughly 50% (upwards of 90% in New England) of Native Americans were killed by disease, war, starvation, and forced relocation.  Of particular interest are the Pequot War and King Philip's War.  The Encyclopaedia Britannica http://www.britannica.com/ has a good overview of the subject.

Attitudes towards other tribes:

Black Furies: Though they too are Wyrmcomers, their staunch defense of the Wyld is exemplary, and their Rage is awesome to look upon.

Bone Gnawers: It is sad indeed to witness these examples of what the Wyrm has wrought on the Garou n the Old Country.  We can only count it a miracle that these pitiful ones have not succumbed to the Wyrm.

Children of Gaia: It was they, among all the Wyrmcomers, who brought peace to our Rage and a salve to our spiritual wounds.  We respect them, but they are naive in the ways of the Wyrm.

Fianna: Though we have little in common with them, they have a richness of learning, lore, and song which makes them worthy of study.

Get of Fenris: Like our own Little Brother the Wendigo, they have become lost in their own rage.  We must take care not to provoke them without cause, for the feud that would undoubtedly follow would be costly, and only serve to weaken our ranks when the Enemy strikes.

Glass Walkers: Their ways are strange to us, but they are wise in matters of the Umbra which are too new for us to fathom.  Though they choose to walk a thin ledge at the brink of ruin, it may be there is much we can learn from them.

Red Talons: Their single-minded judgement of the humans is dangerous and unbalanced.  Their way can lead only to ruin.

Shadow Lords: Their ambition and arrogance opens their hearts to corruption.  They should be watched closely.

Silent Striders: It is obvious they are keepers of a great store of learning.  They must be convinced to share their secrets with us.

Silver Fangs: The nobility of their hearts is plain for all to see, but they embody much of the spiritual weakness that we fear has taken root in the Wyrmcomers.

Stargazers: These are perhaps our closest kin among the Wyrmcomers, for they are the only ones who know and love the dark spaces filled with stars as we do.

Wendigo: Little brother has never been the same since the loss of Croatan.  His commitment to the Pure Ones is most admirable, but we have never managed to convince him that open attack is not the wisest means of keeping the Wyrm at bay.