Definition of Nomad: A member of a people that travels from place to place to find fresh pasture for its animals and has no permanent home. Oxford Dictionaries
Gypsies, Bedouins, Aborigines, Red Indians
Not everybody wants to live in a house; I do, but then I wasn’t born into the nomadic way of life. I’ve met Gauchos in Argentina, Bedus in Arabia, Red Indians in America and Gypsies in the Algarve and I have to say, I have found each of them to be friendly, courteous and, in some cases, rather patronising of my way of life.
Sadly, most of the nomadic peoples of this world have been forced into abandoning their traditional cultures, but a few do still remain. Their lives have always been a struggle but now they have bureaucracy to contend with. Borders are difficult to cross, papers are demanded, distrust has to be overcome and, worst of all for many of them, their land is taken from them.
Gypsies
The Romani people arrived in Europe in the 14th century; originating from India, they were not accepted, even distrusted as possible spies, due to their dark skins and foreign ways. They had to keep moving on as they were spurned wherever they went. This evolved into them becoming travellers, insular and clannish.
Being mostly illiterate, their history has been passed down by word of mouth in poetry and song. They make their living by:
Hawking – selling home made products such as clothes pegs
Tinkering – repairing pots, pans and farm goods
Horse trading
Seasonal harvesting
Entertaining – dancing, singing and playing musical instruments
Fortune Telling
Gypsies used to travel and live in horse-drawn wagons and tents, but nowadays, if they are on the road, they are more likely to use motorised caravans and lorries. Their diets consist mainly of snared meat (often poached), fruit and vegetables from harvests, nuts and berries.
Gypsies can be found in most European countries and many have been forced to settle in one place. Those that have laid roots now live in houses; they have jobs, their children go to school and learn trades, but they still tend to be clannish.
Bedouins
This sprawling tribe of nomads consider themselves (and are considered by the majority of Arabs) as the true, original Arabs; a cut above the rest. However, they too are being slowly but inexorably forced to settle in one place.
For centuries, these people have survived by herding camels, goats and sheep; travelling from one oasis to the next across vast areas of desert.
Travelling Bedouins live in goat hair/camel hair tents. They eat rice and various breads, goat and camel meat, honey, figs and dates. With an uncanny knack of knowing where to cross the unforgiving sands and how to find water where none seems to exist, they live simple but hard lives.
A close knit, devout Sunni Muslim clan, they have no schooling, jobs or need of such things. They need no mosque to pray, a simple prayer mat facing Mecca suffices. With no records as such, their ancestry is passed down by word of mouth.
Aborigines
For more than 40,000 years, Aborigines were the sole occupants of Australia; today they are only 3% of the population. Their traditional way of life has all but disappeared except maybe in the homelands.
They once lived off the land without crops or herds of domestic animals. Aborigines survived by hunting, fishing and gathering, moving with the seasons, spending up to eight hours a day finding food. Then along came Captain Cook and the British invasion began. Misunderstood and ridiculed for their tough but simple lifestyle, they slowly but surely lost their culture and their lands.
Red Indians
This is another classic example of a nation being taken over by invaders.
When Christopher Columbus landed on an island off the coast of America, he mistakenly thought he had found India and called the natives Indians, and the name stuck. Ironically, he and those that followed were welcomed by the Indians.
In the north, the Indians fished and hunted deer and other wild animals. The pelts and fur were used for clothing as well as coverings for their summer tents. In the winter they built snow houses for shelter.
Plains Indians (native Americans) were also great hunters and Buffalo meat was a staple for them. They too used the pelts and furs for clothing and coverings for their tents.
The Indians that settled in the south west had beans, corn and squash for their staples and many of them built brick houses to live in and continued to survive by camping and foraging.
Weaving was a tradition for all the tribes and beautiful blankets and clothes were made from their woven cloth. Painting was not only done for its beauty, but as a record of their lives. Colourful beads were woven into intricate designs and worn with pride. Pottery making and painting was predominant in the south.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take the newcomers long to establish their hold on the ancient tribal lands and the Indians were banished to reservations, often the “bad lands” where they languished, unable to continue their own culture.
The end is nigh
It’s truly regrettable that these ancient wandering tribes are a dying breed. They live in harmony with the land and Mother Earth. They own no property, their possessions are just the things they need to survive and they show no interest in power. Apart from the Bedouin they hold no religion as we know it. Instead they commune with the Spirits.
On saying all that and as much as I pity them for their losses, I’m still glad to have a roof over my head, a car in which to travel and a job to pay for it all.
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.
Nomadic way of life
by Sun’s Dragon
Definition of Nomad: A member of a people that travels from place to place to find fresh pasture for its animals and has no permanent home. Oxford Dictionaries
Gypsies, Bedouins, Aborigines, Red Indians
Not everybody wants to live in a house; I do, but then I wasn’t born into the nomadic way of life. I’ve met Gauchos in Argentina, Bedus in Arabia, Red Indians in America and Gypsies in the Algarve and I have to say, I have found each of them to be friendly, courteous and, in some cases, rather patronising of my way of life.
Sadly, most of the nomadic peoples of this world have been forced into abandoning their traditional cultures, but a few do still remain. Their lives have always been a struggle but now they have bureaucracy to contend with. Borders are difficult to cross, papers are demanded, distrust has to be overcome and, worst of all for many of them, their land is taken from them.
Gypsies
The Romani people arrived in Europe in the 14th century; originating from India, they were not accepted, even distrusted as possible spies, due to their dark skins and foreign ways. They had to keep moving on as they were spurned wherever they went. This evolved into them becoming travellers, insular and clannish.
Being mostly illiterate, their history has been passed down by word of mouth in poetry and song. They make their living by:
Gypsies used to travel and live in horse-drawn wagons and tents, but nowadays, if they are on the road, they are more likely to use motorised caravans and lorries. Their diets consist mainly of snared meat (often poached), fruit and vegetables from harvests, nuts and berries.
Gypsies can be found in most European countries and many have been forced to settle in one place. Those that have laid roots now live in houses; they have jobs, their children go to school and learn trades, but they still tend to be clannish.
Bedouins
This sprawling tribe of nomads consider themselves (and are considered by the majority of Arabs) as the true, original Arabs; a cut above the rest. However, they too are being slowly but inexorably forced to settle in one place.
For centuries, these people have survived by herding camels, goats and sheep; travelling from one oasis to the next across vast areas of desert.
Travelling Bedouins live in goat hair/camel hair tents. They eat rice and various breads, goat and camel meat, honey, figs and dates. With an uncanny knack of knowing where to cross the unforgiving sands and how to find water where none seems to exist, they live simple but hard lives.
A close knit, devout Sunni Muslim clan, they have no schooling, jobs or need of such things. They need no mosque to pray, a simple prayer mat facing Mecca suffices. With no records as such, their ancestry is passed down by word of mouth.
Aborigines
For more than 40,000 years, Aborigines were the sole occupants of Australia; today they are only 3% of the population. Their traditional way of life has all but disappeared except maybe in the homelands.
They once lived off the land without crops or herds of domestic animals. Aborigines survived by hunting, fishing and gathering, moving with the seasons, spending up to eight hours a day finding food. Then along came Captain Cook and the British invasion began. Misunderstood and ridiculed for their tough but simple lifestyle, they slowly but surely lost their culture and their lands.
Red Indians
When Christopher Columbus landed on an island off the coast of America, he mistakenly thought he had found India and called the natives Indians, and the name stuck. Ironically, he and those that followed were welcomed by the Indians.
In the north, the Indians fished and hunted deer and other wild animals. The pelts and fur were used for clothing as well as coverings for their summer tents. In the winter they built snow houses for shelter.
Plains Indians (native Americans) were also great hunters and Buffalo meat was a staple for them. They too used the pelts and furs for clothing and coverings for their tents.
The Indians that settled in the south west had beans, corn and squash for their staples and many of them built brick houses to live in and continued to survive by camping and foraging.
Weaving was a tradition for all the tribes and beautiful blankets and clothes were made from their woven cloth. Painting was not only done for its beauty, but as a record of their lives. Colourful beads were woven into intricate designs and worn with pride. Pottery making and painting was predominant in the south.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take the newcomers long to establish their hold on the ancient tribal lands and the Indians were banished to reservations, often the “bad lands” where they languished, unable to continue their own culture.
The end is nigh
It’s truly regrettable that these ancient wandering tribes are a dying breed. They live in harmony with the land and Mother Earth. They own no property, their possessions are just the things they need to survive and they show no interest in power. Apart from the Bedouin they hold no religion as we know it. Instead they commune with the Spirits.
On saying all that and as much as I pity them for their losses, I’m still glad to have a roof over my head, a car in which to travel and a job to pay for it all.
Brought to you by Meravista – the place where smart people search for Algarve property for sale.