Okay, I'm impatient. I wanted to finish my anatomy course before doing my next batch of Dawn of Yangchen character designs, but it's taking FOREVER. I'm not even going to try a full body portrait now, so here's my current best at Tayagum's head lol:
I think he's based on the Aleuts (or the Unangan):
"'Tayagum'" the man responded "'Of the Orca Islands, after my cousin. My parents are Angtan and Taganak.'" (DOY 130).
I found two of these names in a book called Ancient Aleut Personal Names by Knut Bergsland:
The Aleuts have a distinct culture from the Inuit, the main inspiration for the Water Tribe, even though they are geographically close to one another. Kavik is from the Northern Water Tribe and has references to Inuit culture in his character (his name origin for example), and upon meeting Tayagum he notices that the two of them have different bending styles which hints at some separation. And of course, the Orca Islands potentially being based on the Aleutian Islands is helped by the fact that they're both islands.
Anyways, while reading about Aleut culture, I found a lot of elements that I don't think the ATLA universe has pulled inspiration from before, like their hunting headgear. There are three kinds: short and open-crown visors for beginner hunters, long and open-crown visors for experienced hunters (this is what I drew Tayagum in), and long and closed-crown hats for chiefs and high-ranking members. They are made of bentwood and customized with paint, ivory, beads, feathers, and more. My main source was aleutnativeart.com, check it out! These two pictures are from there: (I looked at loads for inspiration though)
Of course, I ATLA-ified Tayagum's visor. He has a turtle seal on his because regular seals don't exist in-universe. He also has Tui and La painted on his. Now that I'm explaining the design elements, I'm wondering why I didn't put an orca...
I just realized I drew his eye in the wrong perspective ;-; Don't think about it too hard!
