The group of pastoral people of India that particularly interested me the most was the Raika. They are truly an extraordinary group of people; they live in and around Rajasthan, in north western India. This region is a semi-desert, a perfect environment for the main animal they herd, the camel. Their entire culture is centered on the noble desert creature, in their stories on the creation of their people it is said that lord Shiva created them in order to tend and protect the camels of Pavrati (n.d. Protocol). They aren’t a fully nomadic people, there semi-nomadic group (2008, April 27). They naturally consume lots of milk and milk products like cheeses and yogurts, because of their camel herding history. Their diet is centered on camel milk and other herd animals milk essentially. The Raika are neither an ethnic nor a linguistic group themselves, rather they represent an extensive endogamous caste community. Their culture is heavily emphasized on herding camel, but they also heard a variety of other species beside that one. Those species include cattle, goats, and sheep. They for ov...
The Makah were very creative and smart. They were successful in making clothing, and shelter. They were able to hunt and gather food for themselves. The Makah were able to make good medicine and very good wood work. There real name is Qwidicca-Atx which means people who live among seagulls. The Makah live on the northwest coast. This is on the Pacific Ocean. Let us see what the Makah did.
Within this paper, a glimpse into the Yupiaq society will hopefully be accomplished by answering a few questions. First question, what is the Yupiaq worldview? Next, what are the core values that are essential to the success of Yupiaq society? And finally, how are those values expressed in their approach to subsistence behaviors and knowledge of their environment?
Throughout ancient history, many indigenous tribes and cultures have shown a common trait of being hunter/gatherer societies, relying solely on what nature had to offer. The geographical location influenced all aspects of tribal life including, spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices. Despite vast differences in the geographical location, reports show various similarities relating to the spirituality, healing philosophy and healing practices of indigenous tribal cultures.
Taking a deeper look at the meaning behind food through the eyes of traditional societies reveals nothing more than absolute complexity. Sam Gill, in Native American Religions, indisputably shows the complexity through detailed performances and explanations of sacred ceremonies held among numerous traditional societies. Ultimately, Gill explains that these societies handle their food (that gives them life), the source in which the good is obtained, and the way they go about getting their food are done in extreme symbolic manners that reflect their cosmology, religious beliefs, actions, and respect for ancestors/spirits that live among them. All of which are complexly intertwined. These aspects are demonstrated through the hunting traditions of the Alaskan Eskimo and the agricultural traditions of the Creek.
The Hopi is an Indian tribe indigenous to Northeastern Arizona and New Mexico. They live in four different villages, those being: the Oraibi, New Oraibi, Bakavi, and Hotevilla. (Brandt, 1954: 17). The villages are located on top of mesas, surrounded by rocks and desert land. The dry land allows them to grow an abundant amount of maize, beans, squash, and primarily blue corn. Hopi men and women are both responsible for different tasks in the tribe. While the men do the farm work, hunting, religious ceremonies, and sheepherding, the women have the authority to own houses, farmlands, and cisterns. Their society is matrilineal; Hopi households revolve around the women of the family. As a result of this, children are always part of the mother’s clan (Nanda & Warms, 2012: 111, 170).
Unlike the Paleo-Indians, the Archaic Indians lived in large groups which they needed to be stationary for most of the year. This being said, the Archaic Indians had to change their lifestyle. While the Paleo-Indians were known as a hunting and gathering group, the Archaic people were the ones to introduce agriculture. Agriculture was the most important feature of the Archaic tradition. Cultivating their own food required the Archaic people to gain knowledge of their environment; they learned about the seasonal cycles. Another important feature is their subsistence farming and tools. The Archaic people adapted to what their environment provided and made use of everything. In the coastal area of Arica, the Chinchorro adapted to their environment by living mainly on products from the sea. Besides the food provided from farming, the native people hunted animals for their meat, but they didn’t the other parts of the animal to go a waste. They carved the animals’ bones into tools and used their fur for clothes or shelter. These features represent environmental religions because the Archaic people wisely used their environment’s resources; this demonstrated respect to the Earth.
Pastoralism is the form of agriculture where the domestication and use of animals are used for the primary means of food production. There is a relationship among the animals and humans. The humans give the animals’ protection and guaranteed reproduction. Animals give humans food and other products. Most pastoral groups are loose tribes moving around, yet the household is the primary organization.
There is also the Hindu tradition, where a meatless way of life has gone on for thousands of years (until the invasion by foreign rule,...
[18] Households and Women in Tibetan Pastoral Region, Chinese Sociology and Anthropology, vol. 35, no. 2, pg 4
The five main subsistence patterns are generalized foraging, specialized foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, and agriculture. It is possible to categorise people based on where and how they get their food. A generalized forager is someone who gets their food from a variety of plant and animal species that they collect themselves. Generalized foragers typically live in small groups (less than fifty) and are very mobile. Specialized foragers also eat a wide variety of plants and animals but have a primary dependence on one resource. Pastoralism is when a diet relies on herded animals such as cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. Signs of pastoralism are a diet relying heavily on one or two animals. Horticulture is when plants are farmed using hand tools. Finally, agriculture involves intensive plant cultivation. Evidence of agriculture includes more
The survival of nomads is crucial however most nomads live in countries with the lack of resources which may cause some of nomads to suffer. A key essential the nomads need is to have a successful agriculture because it plays a large role in their lives. The first step that the nomads had to do is they would need to
From the time human society has divided the labor and agrarian societies emerged, the type of relationships between nomadic and sedentary societies can be characterized as hostile, warlike and suspicious. There might be a number of prerequisites for such kind of relations. Firstly, nomads’ economies were not entirely self-sufficient. The fact that their sources of food (mostly meat and milk) and clothing (wool and leather) were not diverse enough pushed them to continuous interactions with and dependence on sedentary societies’ goods. Therefore, incursions were common part of the relations. However, trading markets were also used in order to perform the exchange of nomadic products to sedentary. Secondly, nomads needed to expand their lands to have enough space to pasture livestock, which was their primary source of food, clothing and could be used in warfare. At the beginning of the nomadic – sedentary relationships, nomads were obviously more developed in military way, while sedentary societies were in the low level of military preparedness. Ancient sources, like Herodotus’, prove that nomads were “invincible and unapproachable” stating “They have so devised that none who attacks them can escape, and none can catch them if they desire not to be caught”. However, the change in the dominance occurred with time. In the long run sedentary societies managed to accumulate wealth and achieve economic stability through trade and various governmental taxes. This allowed them to hire warriors and defend themselves from nomadic raids. In addition, science was developing dynamically in the cities, what encouraged invention of many technological advances, later successf...
The Maasai People from Kenya represent a pastoral society. They rely on the taming and herding of livestock as a means for survival. Those responsible for herding livestock are the Maasai warriors and boys, especially during drought season. They had cattle, goats and sheep as their livestock. I did notice a social transformation in their society. Each individual has their job to complete daily. For example, the women formed the houses, milked the cattle, cooked for the family and supplied them with water. The men made the fence around the Kraal and secured the society and the boys were responsible for herding livestock. These multiple duties, commanded by the elderly, eventually started emerging to new and different customs such as trading with local groups. This was
Livestock grazing or herding is a human activity that has been taking place for thousands of years in Africa. Pastoral lifestyles emerged in Africa about nine thousand years ago with the arrival of domesticated herbivores like goats, sheep, and aurochs from Asia. Pastoralism thrived in its early stages in Africa because these ...
In culmination, the nomadic and pastoral societies demonstrate definite contrasts with the urban-based civilizations. Looking at gender relations, economic growth, and political organization alone paints a vivid image of the striking differences between these two ancient society types, as well as the commonalities they share. Understanding these concepts remains crucial to our understanding of the ancient way of life and how it can affect us