Transhumance
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Note transhumanism is a different concept with a similar name.
Transhumance is a term that has two accepted usages:
- Older sources use the term transhumance for vertical seasonal livestock movement, typically to higher pastures in summer and to the lower valleys in winter. The herders have a permanent home, typically in the valley. Only the herds and a subset of people necessary to tend them travel. This is termed fixed transhumance below.
- Some recent studies consider nomadism, where livestock move to follow grazing over considerable distances following set seasonal patterns (with the whole family of herders living in temporary shelters which move with the herds all the year round), a form of transhumance. This is termed nomadic transhumance below.
Traditional or fixed transhumance, in which livestock ascend to mountain pastures in summer and descend to relatively warm areas in the valleys, foothills, plains or desert fringe in winter, occurs throughout the world, including Scandinavia, France, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, Georgia and Lesotho. It is also practiced amongst the more nomadic Sami people of Scandinavia. Transhumance is based on the difference of climate between the mountains (where the herds stay during the summer) and the lowlands (where they remain the winter). Its importance to pastoralist societies cannot be overstated. Milk, butter and cheese — the dairy products of transhumance — often form the basis of the local population's diet.
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[edit] Fixed transhumance in Europe
In the past transhumance was widespread throughout Europe. In many areas — such as the Isle of Lewis in Scotland — it has faded out, but was practiced within living memory. Today much transhumance is carried out by truck.
[edit] Scandinavia
In Scandinavia, transhumance is practiced to this day, although the arrival of motorized vehicles has changed its character. The seter is the term for a common mountain or forest pasture used in the summer for transhumance and the mountain cabin which was used as a summer residence. In the summer (usually late June) the livestock is moved to the mountain farm, often quite distant from the home farm, preserving the meadows in the valleys for use as hay. The livestock were typically tended for the summer by girls and younger women, who milked and made cheese. The bulls usually remain at the home farm. As fall approaches, once the grazing is no longer adequate, the livestock are returned to the home farm.
In Sweden, this system was predominantly used in Värmland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Hälsingland, Medelpad and Ångermanland.
Due to Norway's highly mountainous nature, it was common to most regions in Norway. “The Gudbrandsdal area include lateral valleys such as Gausdal, Heidal, Vinstradal, and Ottadal. The area comprises lowland parishes 200 m above sea-level and mountain parishes 800 m above sea-level, fertile soil in the main valley and barren summits in Rondane and Dovrefjell. Forests surround the farms, but higher up the woods give way to a treeless mountain plateau. This is the seterfjell, or summer farm region, once of vital importance both as summer pastureland and for haymaking” (Reference: Welle-Strand).
While previously many farms had their own seter, today it is more usual for several farmers share a modernized common seter (fellesseter). Most of the old seters have been left to decay or are used as cabins.
The name for the common mountain pasture in most Scandinavian languages derives from the old Norse term setr. In (Norwegian) the term is sæter or seter. In (Swedish) the term säter is used. The place name appears in Sweden in several forms Säter and Sätra and as a suffix: -säter, -sätra, -sätt and -sättra. The names appear extensively over Sweden with a centre in the Mälaren basin and in Östergötland. In most of Sweden, it used to mean "forest pasture at a distance from the settlement", whereas it in western Sweden meant "mountain pasture".
[edit] The Pyrenees
The transhumance in the Pyrenees involves relocation of livestock (cows, sheep, horses) to the high mountains for the summer months, because farms in the lowland are too small to support a larger herd all year round. The mountain period starts in late May and early June, and ends in early October. Until the 1970s the transhumance concerned mainly dairy cows, and cheesemaking was the important activity. In some regions up until this century, nearly all the members of a family decamped to the higher mountains with their cows, living in rudimentary stone cabins. This system, which evolved during the Middle Ages, lasted into the 20th century, but broke down under the pressure of industrialization with concomitant depopulation of the countryside.
[edit] The Alps
The traditional economy of the Alps was based upon rearing cattle. Seasonal migration between the valley and the high pastures was critical in feeding an increased number of cattle and supporting a higher human population. The practice has shaped a lot of the landscape in the Alps, as without it, most areas below 2000 m would be forests.
While tourism and industry contribute today much to the economy in the Alps, the seasonal migration to the high pastures is still practiced in Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland, except in the most frequented tourist centers. In some places, the cattle are taken care of by the local farmer families who move to the higher places, in others, this is the job of herdsmen who are employees of the cooperative owning the pastures.
Austria has over 12 000 sites where 70 000 farmers take care of about 500 000 cattle. Alpine pastures amount to a quarter of the farmland.
Bavaria has about 1400 sites hosting 50 000 cattle, about half of them in Upper Bavaria and the other half in the Allgäu.
In Switzerland, about 380 000 cattle including 130 000 cows as well as 200 000 sheep are in summer on the high pastures. The milk from the cows is usually made into local cheese specialities, handmade using traditional methods and tools. The alpine pastures amount to 35 percent of the farmland. Transhumance contributes a lot to traditional Swiss culture, e.g. Yodel, Alphorn or Schwingen are closely connected to the high pastures.
[edit] Lesotho
The traditional economy of the Basotho in Lesotho is based upon rearing cattle. Seasonal migration between the valley and the high plateaus of the Maloti (basalt mountains of Lesotho) is critical in feeding an increased number of cattle and supporting a higher human population. The pressure on pasture land has increased due to the construction of large storage dams in the mountains, to provide water to South Africa's arid industrial heartland.
While tourism is starting to contribute to the economy of Lesotho, and more people are moving permanently into the Highlands, the seasonal migration to the high pastures is still practised. This is the job of herdsmen who are employees of the farmers who own the herds. The growing pressure on the pastures is contributing to the degradation of the sensitive grasslands and could contribute to the sedimentation of the man-made lakes.
[edit] Nomadic transhumance
Often traditional nomadic groups settle into a regular seasonal pattern, which has been described by some anthropologists as a form of transhumance. An example of a normal transhumance cycle in the northern hemisphere follows:
- Spring — (early April to the end of June).
- Summer — (end of June to late September).
- Autumn — (mid-September to end of November).
- Winter — (from December to the end of March).
These movements in this example are about 180 to 200 km from the desert plains in the winter to the higher plateau of the summer pastures, with spring and fall spent in transition. The camps are established in the same place each year; often semi-permanent shelters are built in at least one place on the migration route.
These regular patterns are distinguished from those of pastoral nomads, who follow a seasonal migratory pattern which varies from year to year. The timing and destinations of migrations are determined primarily by the herds' grazing needs. Such nomadic societies create no permanent settlements, but live in tents or other movable dwellings the year round. Pastoralist nomads are often self-sufficient, producing their own food, shelter and other needs.
Nomadic transhumance was historically widespread throughout the less fertile regions of the world. It is found in areas of low rainfall such as the Middle Eastern Bedouins and the African Somali people or in areas of harsh climate, such as the Arctic Sami people.
The Mongols in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China and the Tatars or Turkic people of Eastern Europe and Central Asia were nomadic peoples who practiced nomadic transhumance on the harsh Asian steppes. Some remnants of these populations are nomadic to this day.
The nomadic Sami people, an indigenous people of northern Finland, Sweden, Norway, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia, practice a form of nomadic transhumance based on the reindeer. In the 14th and 15th century, when the population was sufficiently reduced that the Sami could not subsist on hunting alone, some Sami, organized along family lines, became reindeer herders. Each family has traditional territories on which they herd, arriving at roughly the same time each season. Only a small fraction of the Sami have subsisted on reindeer herding over the past century; as the most colorful part of the population, they are well known. But as elsewhere in Europe, transhumance is dying out.
[edit] Worldwide transhumance patterns
Transhumance developed on every inhabited continent. Although there are substantial cultural and technological variations, the underlying practices for taking advantage of remote seasonal pastures are similar.
[edit] Africa
The Berber people of northern Africa were traditional farmers, living in the mountains relatively close to the Mediterranean coast, or oasis dwellers; however, the Tuareg and Zenaga of the southern Sahara practice nomadic transhumance. Some groups, such as the Chaouis, practiced fixed transhumance.
The Maasai and Kĩkũyũ, semi-nomadic peoples located primarily in Kenya and northern Tanzania, have pastoral transhumance cultures that revolve around their cattle. The dependence was historically very strong, with even the huts of the Maasai built from dried cattle dung. They are related to the Zulu, a people who live mainly in South Africa who were also formerly semi-nomadic.
[edit] North America
Transhumance, relying on the use of public land, continues to be an important source of livestock feed in the western United States. The American tradition was based around moving herds to higher ground with the improvement in highland pastures in the spring and summer. It was based on a semi-nomadic cowboy or the nomadic shepherd who often traveled with the herd. The Mexican charro, is a continuation of this tradition to the south.
[edit] South America
South American transhumance relies on "cowboy" counterparts, the gaucho of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and (with the spelling "gaúcho") southern Brazil, the llanero of Venezuela, the huaso of Chile.
[edit] Asia
Transhumance practices are found in temperate areas, above ~1000 m in the Himalaya–Hindu Kush area (referred to below as Himalaya); and the cold semi-arid zone north of the Himalaya, through the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau and northern China to the Asian steppe.
Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan all have vestigial transhumance cultures. For regions of the Himalaya transhumance still provides the mainstay of several near-subsistence economies — for example, that of Zanskar in northwest India.
[edit] Kyrgyzstan
In Kyrgyzstan transhumance, which never died out during the Soviet period, has undergone a resurgence in the difficult economic times following independence. It is integral to the culture of the nation and how the Kyrgyz people see themselves. The felt tent used on these summer pastures (or jailoo) is known as the yurt and its main structural component is symbolised on the national flag. One of the prized products of the herds is the fermented mare's milk drink kumis; an implement used in its production lends its name to the capital, Bishkek.
[edit] Australia
In Australia, which has a large ranch (station) culture, stockmen provide the labor to move the herds to seasonal pastures.
[edit] Reference
Adventure Roads in Norway by Erling Welle-Strand, Nortrabooks, 1996. ISBN 82-90103-71-9
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Discussion on Asia
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Discussion on Africa
- Transhumance and 'The Waiting Zone' in North Africa
- limited traditonal transhumance in Australia
- Pastoralism
- short mention of transhumance in North America
- Swiss land registry of alpine pastures (German)]
