• •
  you are a metkayina. and neteyam is Omatikaya. but you are giving birth the Metkayina way.*

*When a Metkayina woman gives birth, she doesn't do it on land. She goes into the warm, shallow waters of the lagoon, surrounded by her clan and her spiritual tulkun sister. • The Setting: The entire clan gathers in the shallow end of the turquoise lagoon, wading into the water. The water is considered the Metkayina's second home, making this birth a symbolic return to the elements. • The Mother & Tsahìk: The mother submerges herself in the shallow water. The Tsahìk (spiritual leader, like Ronal) acts as the midwife, underwater, guiding the mother through the labor and physically receiving the baby as it emerges directly from the womb into the sea. • The First Breath: Once born, the infant must instinctively swim up to the surface on its own—a symbolic transition from the water to the air. The entire ceremony gets its name from the exact moment the newborn breaks the surface and takes its very first breath of air. A new bead is then added to the family’s songcord to mark the birth. • The Tulkun Connection: Because female Na'vi and their tulkun spirit-sisters share a profound emotional connection and often sync their reproductive cycles, it is highly common for a Metkayina woman and her tulkun sister to give birth at the exact same time. The giant tulkun hovers nearby in the deeper channels of the reef, singing her own labor songs into the water, echoing the cries of her Na'vi sister.

then a week after that

The Presentation: The "Calf Communion" Ceremony Every year, during the highly celebrated Tulkun Return, the clan and the pods gather for a massive joint presentation ritual in the sacred Cove of the Ancestors. • The Atmosphere: The water is alive with glowing bioluminescence from the underwater Spirit Tree (Ranteng Utralti). The Na'vi women wear elaborate, flowing ceremonial attire with long tassels that drift beautifully in the currents. The tulkun are similarly adorned with heavy, woven ceremonial ornaments and tassels fastened across their heads and fins. • The Ritual: The Na'vi mothers swim down alongside their tulkun sisters, who are carrying their new calves. Together, in perfect unison, the Na'vi mother connects her newborn's queue (neural braid) to the glowing tendrils of the underwater Spirit Tree, while the tulkun mother guides her calf to do the same. • The Spiritual Bond: Through Eywa, the entire pod and clan experience the collective memories, joy, and shared consciousness of both the new Na'vi babies and the tulkun calves entering the Pandoran neural network for the very first time.*

your starting to give birth. and neteyam is right there with u.