Transcript The Basseri - Fullerton Union High School

The Basseri
Kimberly Mahr
Period 2
Where it all started…
• “The Basseri have always been. We
have always been on this land; we
were created from its dust.”
The Basseri People
• Their population is 16,000 people
• They are nomadic, pastoral people
Location
• They are located in southern
Iran where the migrate to the
east, north and south by
mountains and steppes
• Territory is diverse from
mountains to desert
• Mountains get more water
causing them to have more
vegetation
• The south has usable pasture
land for the animals
Animals
• Animals are key to the Basseri
• Every family has a herd of about 100 animals
• Sheep and goat provide food and things they
need
• Donkeys serve as pack animals and are ridden
by women and children
• Men ride horses
• Also sheep and goats provide hide for their
homes, weaving, and for making sleeping mats
• Camels are used to carry items as well
• Economic survival is placed on animals
Wealth
• Wealth is shown by the
amount of animals are in
your herd
• As you herd grows so
does your wealth, but as
this happens their capital
value is less; this is
because people can’t
watch the herds as well
so there is theft and
carelessness
• Also leasing land lead to
wealth security along with
social status
Food
• Milk is a key part of
their diet
• They mix sheep and
goat milk (heat it)
• From the milk they
take out the curds
and make butter or
buttermilk—which
they sell and they
also eat themselves
Trade
• They trade to get wheat—to make
unleavened bread
• They also receive sugar, tea, fruits and
vegetables
• They trade butter, wool, hides and
occasionally animals
Tents
• Large tents are for longer stay
• In tents you have nuclear families—father,
mother and their children
• In their camps there are 30 to 40 tents
• If there is an argument tents are set on
opposite sides of village. When the
argument ends, the tents will move closer
Roles of the Family
• Women: prepare
most of the food, sew
and washing clothes
• Boy: haul water and
wood
• Men and Women are
also milkers—milk
animals
Lifestyles
• Every year the Basseri migrate
on a trail called the il-rah
(“tribal road”)
• They constantly migrate to
keep their animals healthy by
giving them land to graze in
• The average daily trek is about
3 hours
• Families with smaller tents and
fewer things leave first. The
larger tent families leave an
hour and a half later. This
helps split up the group and
they also move at different
paces.
Marriage
• Sexual activity is forbidden before marriage. If caught kissing, girls
are beaten
• Most elaborate ceremony: first there is the ritual feasting, then the
bathing of the Bride and Groom where they are shaved, bathed and
oiled. After the ceremony they go to the Bride’s tent to check her
sheets for blood, if there is blood it symbolizes she is not a virgin.
• Mullah (Holy Man)—performs the marriage ceremonies
• Upon marriage, the women will stay with her husband’s family in
their tent, but this is only temporary. They then make their own
nuclear tent—but they must be able to support themselves.
• When gone a groom’s brother or father will step in—daughter-in-law
meaning “my bride”
• The groom’s father must pay a bride-price or “milk-price”. Some of
that money will go for buying rugs, blankets, and cooking utensils.
• Divorce is rare
Kinship Ties
• Patrilineal
• Inheritance is father to son
• “Anticipatory Inheritance”: when son gets
married he receives part of his father’s herd
• Male bonds strongest respect
• A women receives no membership rights to her
own tribe on her offspring
• But there is a strong matrikin—bond between
Mother and child
• Women are important economically and socially
Chiefs
• Chief is the head of everyone
• They are suppose to descend from noble
lineage
• they receive respect and authority from the
people
• They make decisions, settle disputes, organize
migration patterns and represent the tribe
• Gifts are given when the Chief is seen
• He does not maintain a nomadic lifestyle
• Headmen are appointed by the Chief and are his
representatives
Taxes
• To pay taxes, they
pay with sheep and
butter
Outsiders
• The Basseri people rarely communicate or
come in contact with outsiders
• Sometimes the Chief would meet with
hostile tribes
• In this occasion decorative tents are put
up and large animals hunted
Sedentarization
• When people go from migrating to settling
year-round
• Some people settle because they have
land, wealth and no heirs
• The main reason people settle is because
they are poor. They have either lost their
herd or got left behind.
• Typically, they become agricultural
laborers or the make trade goods
Religion
• Shiah Moslems but they were referred to
as “indifferent” and “uninterested”
• They do not celebrate holidays or pray
• The only thing the Moslem calendar
affects is good luck or misfortune
• They go more by the Solar Calendar
because it is how the migration plan is set
• They celebrate the seasons
Beliefs
• Beliefs are based good luck and bad luck
of their herds
• The evil eye is envy
• People get sick or die from being envied
• Blue eyes are suspicious
• Children or animals are used to distract
when doing things
Birth
• Usually the first born of each family are
celebrated
• For 3 days and weekly for a month they
cut with a razor the nose, neck and chest.
• They do the to prevent blood from later
pollution
• Boys are circumcised as infants or at the
age of 6 or 7
Death and Burial
• For death there is minimal ceremony
• The family grieves in their tents for a few hours
and then the body is taken away
• The body is washed before it is buried
• At the burial it is silent
• Sorrow and love are showed by gifts of sweets
every Friday for extended amount of time
• Graves of important of holy men are showed
with respect when passed during migration