Erailen Gwome

  • Linear Location

    KCAD, Fountain St. NW & Division St., Grand Rapids, MI, US (42°57'56"N 85°40'5"W)

Overview

Erailen gwome is a pretty essential building block in understanding the role Kuolyrmatys played in Kcymaerxthaereal times. Once Erailen successfully achieved independence, it never looked back and indeed provided hope and inspiration for even defeated peoples.

Access

17 Fountain Street Northwest Grand Rapids, MI 49503-3194

Intersection of Fountain and Division (NW corner in front of Kendall College of Art and Design).

Right in front of main entrance to Kendall College of the Arts.

Public Dedication

On September 27th, 2009 we had a great tour of all 5 of the Grand Rapids sites—starting at Erailen Gwome (this one) and finishing at Grwostlaven—at Hopcats.

This was Kcymaerxthaere installation #053 and the thirty-fifth in what we call the United States.

Text of the Marker

The part of the story installed here:

Erailen Gwome

For citizens of Erailen, this is a sacred place. For much of its history, Erailen was organized as a franchise gwome, its form of government licensed from the powerful gwome of Kuolyrmatys which slowly drained resources from this land. Though there was a kind of contentment, citizens could not become stakehaulders until age 125 (until then they were known as placehaulders and could not vote). This meant that effective participation was limited to a smattering of locals, immortal kuolyrmajts (akin to corporations) and, ironically, more than a few snapping turtles.

So, it was here that Relarie Leksaenne, who took his nom aed guerre from the Lekksenne River to channel its force, demanded that a careless Kuolyrmatys comptroller apologize to the placehaulder whom that exekk had injured, triggering one of the few rebellions to successfully throw off the yoke of the Kuolyrmates. Though Erailen is known to every schoolchild for turning around the Earth’s axis 350 times every Earth year, it is their fight for independence of which they are most proud. Interestingly, given the similarity of origin stories, skirmishes here between Aywatin and Erailen were some of the early conflicts that led to the war that ravaged the three rezhns that call themselves Kymaerica—finally and mercifully ended by the cleverness of Culev Larsze.



Gallery

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