This article continues from part
1:
Trekking through the lands of the Iranians
nomads
Seasonal
migrations
Men and their
cattle are constantly on the move to make the best use of the unstable natural
conditions. High up in the mountains there are pasture lands formed upon the
thawing of the snow. These cold regions are
known as "Sard Sir". All the mountain regions in
Iran are
suitable for raising cattle with the exception of a small area. When the hard
winter set, the cattle-raisers have to move from the high altitudes to the
lower-lands called "Garmsir" where the winters are mild. So when the summer
comes these people has to move on due to the heat. In April and May the
nomads are crossing the Zagros
Mountains to be prepared for the summer in
the altitudes.
Traditional
costumes
The most
distinguished about the nomads are the material and
style of the costumes. The style of dress differs from tribe to tribe and this
variation can be seen in the costumes of both men and women. The beauty and
decoration of the women's dress is however usually more
noticeable. The function and design of the different types of costumes
of men and women in these tribes symbolise their socio-cultural identity.
The main reasons
for wearing clothes come from the principles of modesty and for protecting
themselves against the sun and cold weather. However, in some cultures, clothes
bear additional functions. Amongst the tribesmen, simply wearing clothes is
now sufficient. Extraordinary ornamentation such as colourful glass
beads, coins and attractive purling, are used in special occasions and symbolise
the tribesmen's social position and the cultural-economic status, such as age or
economic prestige of the wearers. In addition to its decorative purpose,
the ornamentation on the women's costumes may also include a charm or a written
prayer to ward off evil, and the whole represents both the aesthetic and
ideological dimensions of the nomad tribes.
Also in the
nomad tribes the black chador is very much part of Iranian tradition.
As I noticed at the paintings in Golestand
Palace in
Tehran the women
didn't suddenly start wearing them when the revolution in 1979 begun. It's
interesting to observe that the women still wear this traditional dress while
men are allowed to drop multiple layers of garments as they used too in the
past. If the women go unveiled from top to toe they will be hardly punished.
They also need to cover their head.
Compared with
other Islamic countries the most obvious difference is the way men and women
dress. The dress code is very strict in
Iran. The
other thing is the absolute sexual segregation of society. Examples of this are
separate queues for men and women, separate tents, separate places in the buses
(men have to sit in the front and women in the back of the buses). If a man sits
beside an unmarried woman in a car, he could be arrested and put in prison. It's
allowed to sit in a taxi together with a woman, and there are the one of the
best places for man and woman to meet for flirting, and perhaps for
more.
Carpets and
rugs
The Iranians
have weaved carpets for more than 2500 years. The nomadic women weave
beautiful carpets of high quality and big variety in design. They make beautiful
kilims (a double sided flat-woven mat without knots), gagims and other
types of rugs. They exchange these with the traders in villages which they pass
through on their annual migrations. The patterns they use to weave their carpets
and rugs are transferred from generation to generation, and they still use the
old method of processing the natural dyes.
| Photo.
Women from a Bakhtiari tribe make wool. |
 |
Their handmade carpets have different colours, and it's made by wool
from sheeps, goats and sometimes camels. The wool is spun by hand, then rinsed,
washed and dried. It has natural colours, and is derived from herbs, skins of
fruit and vegetables and plants. The colours on the carpets are well preserved
against rain and sunlight. It's possible to wash it without losing its colours.
Carpet designs decorate the tents to the nomads.
The women don't use any specification for designing the pattern when
they weave. They have the pattern in their mind and make it without advanced
equipment. Many of these carpets are small due to practical reasons. They need
to be easy to transport during the migration, so the women use horizontal looms.
The Iranian weaving speciality is taking the knot loops around one
horizontal thread and under the next. As mentioned one different kind of carpet
or rug which the nomad women weave is the
beautiful kilims (a double sided flat-woven mat without mats). These rugs are
thinner and softer than knotted carpets and rarely
used as floor coverings. They are often used as prayer mats (kilim is Turkish
for "prayer mat") and wall hangings.
Intertribal
warfare
So far I have
heard there has been no fighting between the nomad tribes in
Iran, but
within the tribes, clans and family groups there have been several serious
clashes. The only problem I have heard about is conflicts between the Iranian
government and Kurdish separatists. The neighbouring countries as
Turkey and
Iraq have
the same problems.
After the
Islamic Revolution in 1979, the government has taken much over the tribe's
traditional gazing land for agricultural development. This has forced many of
the nomad tribes to search for pastures other places for their cattle, or
fight about the less pieces of land. Based on experiences the
nomads will be weak if they were forced to settle down. They have their
lifestyle and wandering in their blood and genes. The government lack
understanding for the nomads need. As one wise man
said it: "If you give bones to a donkey and grass to
a dog, they both will be sick. It's not useful for
none of them".
If the nomads were forced to settle
down in towns and villages they will be weak. They have their lifestyle and
wandering in their genes and blood, so it can not be changed
easily.
The government
has taken away land from the nomad tribes, the people who
need it most, and given it to others. Now a days the government give land to
people from cities whom are educated in agriculture. As the tribes considered
it, the people from the cities have limited skills in growing crops. It's just
wasted to give these people land.
I visited a
group of nomads who lived high up on a hill. The surroundings were full of
volcanic stones. After I have been guided around in the area I could understand
that these people own a land area with incredible natural resources. They had
both springs of water and salt. In addition they had several kinds of minerals.
Our local guide from the group told us that he has been fighting with his uncle
about the land. His uncle fired 5 shots against him. One of them hit him and
injured him seriously as we could see on his leg. The tribesmen I met around
maintained that they had legal weapon. It was for hunting and defending
themselves, they said.
It's sad to see
so many tribe people live on an existing minimum struggling to maintain their
lifestyle and culture. The government prosecute anyone hunting endangered
animals without the permitted hunting period. Hunts are conducted in a strict
secrecy. Now it's maybe too late for this because many species of animals, as
for example the lions and tigers, are already extinguished. It's few left of
others. It's said that it's still few panthers and leopards in the deep forests.
Perhaps there can be some pumas around in the high mountains too, but they are
difficult to spot. He went to a kind of court in the tribe, but he didn't get
support from the so called jury. The men just said that his uncle was little bit
confused and didn't mean to harm him.
For 20 years ago
there were one family. Now it is about 50 members in his group. So when the
people increase in number, land will not be sufficient for all of
them, and then the problems occur. It's the same with the cattle. They need more
cattle to sustain the people, and if the pasture fields are
not big enough, they have to buy
expensive food for the animals.
The population
have grown fast the last 10 years. Earlier they had up to 10 children in a
family. Now they have 3-4 children in a family. More people mean more land to
share and harder exposure on the nature. One person said that the ecological
system will collapse within 10 years, and he feared that it will cause a
disaster for the people.
Our nice guide
from this nomadic group also invited
us to his wedding few days later, but unfortunately we didn't have time to go
there.
Is it hope for the
future?
As one person
look at it: "If a
man stands in a river, and the water reach up to his knees, there is possible to
help him. It's also possible to save him if the water reaches up to his hip,
shoulders and neck. But if his is below water, he will be taken away to ocean
and then he will disappear forever".
Today many
nomads gradually settle down in towns and villages to find work. It
causes high pressure in the central areas. Both social and unemployment problems
occur and the life it's not easy for them all. Now a
days many nomads visit often the
markets in towns to sell their products. For them it's a new way of surviving.
The life in
general in Iran is
difficult, especially for the young people, who are "babyboomers" from the
Islamic revolution. Over 70 % of Iran's
population is under 30 year. The unemployment is extremely high among them.
Totally the rate of unemployment at the moment (July 2004) it's estimated to be
27 %.
Many
nomads who have settled down in town and villages spend part of the
years in pasturelands with their livestock. One person meant that the morality
has been lower among tribesmen the last years. It was because of that they have
been influenced by some bad persons in the towns, he said.
Iran has also one of the
highest densities of nomad tribes in the world. Since many of them live in high
mountains and vast landscape, they lifestyle and culture has almost been
untouched, but for how long? Many fears that there will come a day where the
only remain from the nomads will be the colourful
hand-woven craft, each symbolizing a tribe's colour, their land and myth in the
design. The future will show how many nomads are crossing the
Zagros Mountains.
Stein Morten
Lund, 3 August 2004
Additional
information
Information
sources:
In addition to
my own experiences, gathering of information and impressions, I have based my
articles on several sources:
Nomads of
Iran (book;
reprinted 1995 - 2001) - Photos: N. Kasraian. Text: Z. Arshi.
Culture shock!
The guide to customs and etiquette (Maria O`Shea;2001).
Pars Tourist
Agency (www.key2persia.com): especially thanks
to my excellent guide Ali Hussein Manoochehri (from Pars Tourist
Agency (P.T.A), Shiraz,
Iran) who
contributed with information and translation.
Lonely Planet
(www.Lonelyplanet.com)
Facts about
Iran:
Formal country
name: Islamic Republic of Iran.
Area: 1.64
million sq km.
Population:
68.27 million.
People: Persian
(Farsis) (65%), Azari (25%), Arab (4%), Lors (2%), Turkmen (2%), Kurdish,
Armenian, Jewish.
Language:
Persian, Kurdish.
Religion:
Shi'ite Muslim (89%), Sunni Muslim (10%), Zoroastrian, Jewish, Christian, Baha'i
(1%).
Government:
Islamic republic.
****************************************************************************************************************
Pars
Tourist Agency (P.T.A.), Iran
Presentation:
It`s a
private Persian incoming agency. It's located in Shiraz under the license
number 1/47026 issued by Iran Travel & Tourism Organization (ITTO) (www.farstourism.org). They organise a
wide variety of tours for individuals as well as groups such as inbound
historical, cultural, anthropology, mountaineering, trekking, adventure and
natural excursion tours.
Speciality - exploring nomad tribes:
For real adventurers P.T.A.
arranges expeditions in to rural areas to search for nomad tribes in Iran's high
mountains. Some of the tribes are Bakhtiari, Lor, Qashqai. They live in a
beautiful landscape that will take your breath away. You will be able to explore
the tribe's daily life and unique culture in a natural way. Sometimes you will
experience a wedding, birth, fighting game, dancing, festival or other things.
Take your time and see what happens. Then it will be an experience of a
lifetime.
Contact info:
Phone: 0098-711-2223163 and 0098-711-2240645. Mobile
Phone (around the clock) 0098-9171118514.
Fax: 0098-711-2229693
Letters:
Pars Tourist Agency (P.T.A), Zand Street 71358, Next to Iran Cinema, Shiraz,
Iran.
Website: www.key2persia.com
E-mail: info@key2persia.com
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