Nomadism

Nomadism is a way of life in which peoples (nomads) move from place to place, often in a cyclic manner, without any fixed abode. They subsist as hunter-gatherers, pastoralists, or traders and move on when there is a reduction in the local resources. Hunter-gatherers, such as the Pigmies of the Congo and the Inuit of the Arctic, move as small extended-family groups within a well-defined area in which they are familiar with the location of resources such as food plants and potential food animals. Hunter-gatherers[Page 339] usually avoid places where they might come into conflict with dominant sedentary populations.

Pastoral nomads specialize in domesticated animal herding and move seasonally to locate places with good predictable pastures and a supply of water. The Rwala Bedouin, for example, move south in the winter to find pastures on the northern edge of the Nafud desert in Saudi Arabia, which is watered by rain-bearing winds tracking in from the Mediterranean. In the spring, they move back north into southern Iraq as the desert pastures become parched by the summer heat.

Pastoral nomads herd goats, sheep, camels, horses, and cattle, often in sensitive marginal environments not suitable for permanent settlement. Uncontrolled livestock numbers have led to widespread overgrazing and soil erosion around encampments, as in Saudi Arabia. In general, the more marginal the environment, the more often the herd must be moved on, although things are slowly changing. In the Middle East, the bedouin camp now has a water tanker that is filled from wells or local village supplies, and so good grazing becomes the single factor determining movement.

Although pastoral nomads depend on their animals for food, their animals are inextricably linked to social status and cultural practices. The number of livestock in the herd, for example, typically is a marker of social status and ultimately power. Pastoral nomads are not completely self-sufficient and come into contact with sedentary populations to trade animal products for goods such as cereals, oil, salt, and rice.

A third type of nomadic lifestyle is that of the peripatetic traders, that is, entertainers, craftsmen, fortune-tellers, acrobats, and casual workers who travel from village to village seeking customers. They meet the limited demand for services and goods that the settled community does not provide for itself. The gypsy travelers of Europe have mostly managed to maintain this type of nomadic existence in spite of the pressures to settle.

All nomads are opportunistic and resilient. Their mobility gives them advantages over settled communities in the face of environmental hazards, but in most parts of the world the nomadic lifestyle is in decline as more and more nomads seek jobs, education, and healthcare.