There are hundreds of disparate Na’vi clans on Pandora. Some of the clans, including the Omatikaya and Aranahe, live in ancient trees that are two to three times the height of the Terran redwoods. They are known as Great Trees, or Utral Anawm. When inhabited, these Great Trees are called kelutral, ‘Hometree’.
They are usually more than 150 meters tall, roughly thirty meters in diameter, but the giant kelutral of the Omatikaya is more than 325 meters tall, roughly fifty-seven meters in diameter, with a base of 122 meters. This kelutral is the most studied. Its circumference is great enough to house hundreds of clan members. The tree has a number of radially arrayed natural hollows, supported by columns that themselves are the size of redwood trunks. These hollows and alcoves, known as mo, are where the Na’vi sleep, eat, weave, dance, and celebrate their connection to Eywa. Kelutral has been the spiritual and physical home of the Omatikaya for 20,000 years before it was felled by the Sky People in 2154.
There are four levels of these vaulted spaces in kelutral. The Na’vi access these levels via the tree’s natural spiral staircase, known as the snayì, in the center. The lowest level, which is a subterranean catacomb among the roots of the tree, is reserved for the most sacred rituals of the clan, including Uniltaron.
The ‘ground floor’ level of kelutral is the village commons, while the third level (second above ground) is used for communal eating, meetings and some ritual gatherings. The fourth level is an open-work of struts and spokes that is used for sleeping. The Na’vi string their hammocks (or sometimes more accurately ‘cultivate’ them, since some are living epiphytes) far above the ground and away from large predators who sometimes prowl among the lower columns at night. Above that, the radial spokes continue upward, through the hollow core of the trunk, for over 100 meters until the first of the tree’s massive limbs, where the core narrows into solidity.
The clan’s ikran live among the limbs of kelutral. To reach this area, the Na’vi climb up to the tree’s highest spokes, which lead out onto one of the first limbs. After completing Iknimaya and Uniltaron, young Omatikaya hunters earn the right to carve a bow from a branch of kelutral.
The name ‘Hometree’ is misleading, as the structure is actually comprised of a grove of intertwined trees of the same species that have grown together, providing for mutual strength and structural reinforcement. This, coupled with Pandora’s low gravity, is what accounts for the immense height of Great Trees. The Omatikaya revere this quality of their kelutral as a constant reminder that a community is stronger and more resilient than the sum of the individuals who comprise it.
Although many Tipani clan members live in separate villages, their kelutral is their main settlement and the oldest known Hometree. Over 20,000 years old, the Tipani kelutral (right) is their spiritual and physical home. The tree itself is over 150 meters tall and its diameter is many times that of a giant sequoia. Its interior is distinguished by a massive helical core and boasts multiple levels upon which the Na’vi communally craft and enact their rituals and customs.
The Tawkami also have a kelutral but unlike the Omatikaya, many Tawkami live in caves and tents around the tree.