Subsistence Strategies:

Pastoralism

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A Story of Sididi Ag Inaka

Pastoral Nomad, Mali

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Animal Husbandry 10,000 years ago Diversity: camels, reindeer,

cattle, sheep, goats, llama, alpaca, yaks

                                                                     

     

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Traditional pastoralist regions during the late 19th and early 20th centuries

                                                                             

Traditional pastoralist regions during the late 19th and early 20th centuries

llama, alpaca

reindeer

camel

cattle

sheep,

goat,

cattle,

horse

yak

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Unlike Horticulturalists… Mostly nomadic Occupy grasslands Commitment to animals

Usually don’t plant crops (may look down on cultivators) Maasai

Often hierarchical sociopolitical organization

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Political Organization Tribes or Chiefdoms Tribes: Formal Institutions to

unify dispersed groups Lineages, Clans (kinship) Sodalities (non-kin)

Provides united front Rights to grazing lands, herds

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Nuer

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Nomadic or Sedentary Nuer (Sudan) – Horizontal

migration (wet/dry seasons) Importance of cattle

Payment to settle feuds (Dinka)

Bride price Inheritance via clan

membership

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Individuals & Cattle Names

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Nuer History Nuer were one of few groups

who fended off colonialism Evans-Pritchard

British bombing of Nuer camps

Hanging of Nuer profits

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Basseri

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Basseri (Iran) – Vertical migration Transhumance

Summer—highlands, Winter—lower elevations

Do not raise crops Chiefdom Tents

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Functional Consequences Fluid Groups

Fusion in wet, Fission in dry

Also depends on resources, social conflict

Rarely kill animals

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Not self-sufficient Symbiotic relationship to settled communities Peaceful trade Purchase land, hire tenants Tribute Raiding

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Division of labor based on sex & age

Little specialization Often social stratification Territoriality Often hierarchical political

organization May be authority to settle disputes, lead raids, coordinate migrations

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Fueding & warfare common Ancestor veneration

Rights to grazing lands & herds determined by descent

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Compared to Cultivation Pastoralism is less efficient Desert, Grasslands, Savanna,

Mountains Animals transform plants into

meat, blood, milk, cheese Risk reduction vs. drought

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10% Rule Food energy & the food chain Plants are at the base Herbivores convert 10% plant

energy into flesh & blood Carnivores convert 10% At each level energy is lost

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Maasai

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Maasai Cattle herders, Kenya,

Tanzania Cattle bring prestige

Feared warriors Internal conflict, drought, disease

Resistance to sedentarization

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Semi-permanent settlements

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Maasai do not cultivate Sacrilege to break the earth Large portion of diet is cow’s milk & blood

Meat eating is restricted to ceremonial occasions

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Maasai warriors raid, steal cattle & women

“Moran” = Warriors live as age grades

Hallucinogens to prepare for raids

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Male Age Sets Childhood Boyhood Warrior Elder

Initiation of Age Sets Gender differences

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Maasai Beliefs All cattle put on earth by Ngai,

all belong to the Maasai Raiding is thus return of cattle to

rightful owners Change: Resistance to

colonization, tests of manhood forbidden, restrictions to grazing lands,

settlement

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Taureg

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Taureg Mali, Niger The tent camp

Few possessions Sharing Mobility

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Taureg nomads & drought Forces for change

Past wealth, camel caravans

Uranium & Tourism Taureg Rebellion U.S. Role

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Wodaabe

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Wodaabe Nigeria, Niger History & religious wars Trade routes

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Women & weaving Men & political office

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Bakhtiari

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Bakhtiari (Iran) Pastoral Nomads & Governments

Concern with National Unity Pahlavi Dynasty:

Reza Shah Pahlavi (1925-41)

Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi (1941-79)

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Bakhtiari Don’t pay taxes Allegiance is to chief Don’t recognize national boundaries

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1925-41: Shah’s Policy

Pacification & sendentarization Killed tribal chiefs,

19th C. British opened oil fields in winter pasturelands

1941 U.S., Britain, USSR invade

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Mohammed Reza Pahlavi Nationalized oil Converted pastures to

agriculture Bakhtiari become tenant

farmers, sharecroppers, wage laborers

Sedentarization is not complete Loss of herds when don’t

migrate

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BedouinEgypt,Iraq,Israel,Jordan, Lebanon, Libya,Saudi

Arabia,Syria

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Bedouin Traditionally nomadic

pastoralists Territorial defense &

hospitality

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Gender Differences Separation of tent

Retained in settled houses

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Social Change Settled communities Acquisition of material goods But cultural identity is in

tactGenealogy, Tribal organization, Kinship relations, Code of morality

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Role of Women in Muslim Society

Inequality & dependence Loyalty to tribe Polygyny Purdah (seclusion) & Veiling

Social status Resistance

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Women as danger when not subjected to male authority

Honor & Shame Importance of chastity where

inheritance is through the male blood line

Modesty, deference

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Importance of Blood Relations

"I against my brothers, I and my brothers against

my cousins,

I and my brothers and my cousins against the

world"

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BEDOUINS & THE WAR IN IRAQ

US Army 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor passing Bedouin family in the desert March 23, 2003

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A US Army tank speeds past a Bedouin’s camel in the southern

Iraqi desert

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US soldier attached to the 101st Airborne Aviation Brigade throws crackers to two Bedouins

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Bedouin Campsite

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Pastoralists: The Original Capitalists

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“Natural Capital” Entrepreneurial activities Reliance on increasing herd size Importance of wool to early

capitalism Textile industries relied

on animal products in the early phase of industrialization

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Pastoralists contributed to growth of the world economy

Yet their lives are in crisis today