Like the Kekunan, the Tayrangi are one of the most prominent clans of the Ikran People—a general term that refers to those clans who ride ikran. What sets them apart from the Kekunan, however, is how the clan has adapted this relationship to its coastal surroundings. Rather than hunt game from the air, Kekunan-style, the Tayrangi will ride their banshees out over the waters of the Eastern Sea to catch aquatic animals by banshee-diving. Ikran and rider dive into the waves at high speed, submerging for brief periods before returning to the sky. If this dangerous maneuver is not executed properly, the rider could easily be killed.
The Tayrangi have a deep knowledge of both the air and the sea, including underwater migratory and feeding patterns. As masters of their coastal territory, they are also some of the strongest swimmers on Pandora, and revere many of the large aquatic predators in their midst. The Tayrangi are led by a female olo’eyktan called Ikeyni (left) whose mate is not the tsahìk.
The Tayrangi choose to lay their dead in cliff nooks overlooking the waves. The bodies are consumed by small banshees, who, in turn, are consumed by the clan’s larger ikran. In this way, Eywa’s cyclical system of life is once again honored.
