Outline Week 3
I. Introduction In this paper I will give you information on who the Basseri are, how they live, how their kinship system, their political organization works, and I will tell you about their sickness and healing rituals. Before 1957 little was known about the Basseri of Iran. We now know about their kinship system, their political organization, their sickness and healing rituals and much more.
II. This is how and where the Basseri live.
The Basseri are pastoralist nomads. In the late 1950’s there were an estimated 16,000 Basseri living in Iran. They speak a dialect of Farsi. Very few Basseri speak anything else but some do speak Turkish or Arabic. (Johnson, 1996) Twice a year they travel a strip of land “approximately 300 miles long and 20-50 miles wide, running in a fairly straight north-south line from the slopes of the mountain of Kuh-i-Bul to the coastal hills west of Lar”. (Barth, 1961) They are also described as “tent dwellers”. The tents they speak of are how they keep count of their people and describe their camp. Each tent consists of a mother, a father, and their children.
III. The Basseri kinship system is not very complex and does not always go by who is actually related to one another.
The kinship system of the Basseri does not always go by blood kin. While their tents consist of a mother, father, and their children some tents combine for more efficient herding purposes. The tents that combine do not go by kin but by the expediency of organization of other tents. In winter these tent groups can be anywhere from two to five combined tents and are separated from the others by three or four kilometers. Other times of the year the camps are larger usually ranging from ten to forty tents. Each tent has a herd of sheep and goats as well as donkeys, horses and camels. The sheep and goats are their main subsistence. The donkeys are for riding by the females and children, the horses are for riding by the men and camels are for heavy transport and for
II. This is how and where the Basseri live.
The Basseri are pastoralist nomads. In the late 1950’s there were an estimated 16,000 Basseri living in Iran. They speak a dialect of Farsi. Very few Basseri speak anything else but some do speak Turkish or Arabic. (Johnson, 1996) Twice a year they travel a strip of land “approximately 300 miles long and 20-50 miles wide, running in a fairly straight north-south line from the slopes of the mountain of Kuh-i-Bul to the coastal hills west of Lar”. (Barth, 1961) They are also described as “tent dwellers”. The tents they speak of are how they keep count of their people and describe their camp. Each tent consists of a mother, a father, and their children.
III. The Basseri kinship system is not very complex and does not always go by who is actually related to one another.
The kinship system of the Basseri does not always go by blood kin. While their tents consist of a mother, father, and their children some tents combine for more efficient herding purposes. The tents that combine do not go by kin but by the expediency of organization of other tents. In winter these tent groups can be anywhere from two to five combined tents and are separated from the others by three or four kilometers. Other times of the year the camps are larger usually ranging from ten to forty tents. Each tent has a herd of sheep and goats as well as donkeys, horses and camels. The sheep and goats are their main subsistence. The donkeys are for riding by the females and children, the horses are for riding by the men and camels are for heavy transport and for
References: Barth, F. (1961) Nomads Of South Persia Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company Retrieved from Internet Archive http://archive.org/stream/nomadsofsouthper002252mbp/nomadsofsouthper002252mbp_djvu.txt Johnson, Ronald. "Basseri." Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 1996. Retrieved May 27, 2013 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3458001469.html Johnson, (n.d.) Basseri - Kinship and Sociopolitical Organization Retrieved from Countries and Their Cultures http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Basseri-Kinship-and-Sociopolitical-Organization.html