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
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