One of the Seven Guardian Tribes of Neterios, keeping their own island in the Guardian Islands since long before Heliopoly existed to need guarding.
The tribe's men
The tribe's womenIn the game
The Kowan keep one of the Guardian Islands — a limited, sacred parcel that yields far more than ordinary land on the Green Reaches or a shaft on Planet 65. Mining it pulls Tellurium, Graphite, Lithium, Manganese and Cobalt, feeding the energy industries of Planet 65 and the Foundry; farming it grows medicinal herbs and rare flowers, refined into perfumes that lift a whole settlement's mood.
No tribe works an island alone. At least two Guardians — even from two different tribes — have to be assigned and present before a settler can start a project there at all. It's a rule that keeps the Seven Tribes cooperating whether they mean to or not.