Gao-Showa people


 * group=Gao-Showa
 * image=
 * caption=
 * poptime=about 28 million
 * popplace=*Gishoto 24 million
 * North Dovani Plain 2 million
 * Kazulia 1 million
 * Sekawo 50,000
 * Indrala 50,000
 * langs=Gao-Showa
 * rels=Shinto, Buddhism
 * related=Indralans

The Gao-Showa are an indigenous people of the temperate north west of the Dovani. Population are concentrated in eastern Gishoto with populations also living on the Great North Dovani and small groups in Kazulia and Sekawo. The Gao-Showa Peoples’ Party and various associated interest groups represent the Gao-Showa in Gishoto.

Gishotoi or Gao-Showa?
The Gao-Showa have been known in the western world as the Gishotoi for most of their history. The origin of the terms Gishotoi and Gishoto are of unkown origins but were probably caused by a “hulstrianisation” of the native words Gao-Showa (for the people) and Gao-Soto (for the nation). The native population themselves prefer the word Gao-Showa.

Shinto
See Main Article Shinto

The large majority of Gao-Showa follow Shinto beliefs. It is something that the Gao-Showa are very proud of and is a major part of their identity, driving many of their beliefs and actions. Shinto is very similar to the religion Qamido of Indrala.

History
Native Inhabitants of Northern Dovani, the exact history of the Gao-Showa is unclear they are closely related to the Indralans, who some believe they are descended from whereas others believe they are descendants of people who travelled west across the sea from Majatra and Artania and that the Indarlans are instead descendants of the Gao-Showa. Either way they settled around the North West Dovani Coast and the Sea of Carina around the year 800 in a land they called Gao-Soto. They were divided into several competing clans and fiefdoms though all swore loyalty to an Emperor who maintained his seat of power somewhere in modern Hilgar and all were unites by following the Shinto religion.

The first contact between them and the world outside of Dovani was Sir Christopher Dove's arrival on the new continent. They were soon decimated by the new diseases carried by the explorers and those that remained to the west of the Barrier Range were soon driven east onto the North Dovani Plain by Luthori Colonisation.

By around 2100 there was a reasonable population spread across the Great North Dovani Plain until the year 2123 when a terrible drought led to a mass migration into what was soon to become the new Republic of Gishoto. The Gao-Showa were initially represented in the new Parliament by the Imperial Apparatus which wished to re-install the ancient position of the Emperor from a member of the imperial clan Meiji, but they were overridden by the majority Gishoton population which installed an Emperor from the Luthori descended noble families of Hulstria.

The Gao-Showa were greatly repressed during the years Holy Gishoton Empire, especially due to their Shinto beliefs which were in conflict with the Lutheran state religion. The Communist revolution did not offer much respite as all religion was outlawed and eventually Lutheranism was re-enforced. Over this period many Gao-Showa were killed or imprisoned and it is only since the collapse of the communist government that the Gao-Showa have been able to openly worship freely and practice traditional beliefs within Gishoto.