Dormancy and Revitalization: The fate of ethnobotanical knowledge of camel forage among Sahrawi nomads and refugees of Western Sahara

Abstract

cidental. Se analiza también la distribución de estos conocimientos a través de un análisis de consenso cultural, y se desarrolla una explicación para la variación intra-cultural basada en el cambio de los procesos de transmisión de conocimientos entre los refugiados. En total, 100 especies de plantas fueron enumeradas por los informantes, con cinco especies (Acacia tortilis (Forssk.) Hayne, Nucularia perrinii Batt., Astragalus vogelii (Webb) Bornm., Panicum turgidum Forssk., and Stipagrostis plumosa Munro ex T.Anderson) culturalmente muy relevantes. Las plantas forrajeras se clasifican en cinco categorías que son necesarias para la gestión de camellos en el desierto del Sahara occidental. Los saharauis reconocen 25 plantas forrajeras que influyen en el sabor y las propiedades de la leche de camella, hecho que muestra cómo los valores culturales, tanto como las funciones de supervivencia, sustentan los sistemas de conocimientos locales. Tal como era de esperar, la edad y la experiencia nómada están correlacionadas con el conocimiento de plantas forrajeras. El desplazamiento y Dormancy and Revitalization: The fate of ethnobotanical knowledge of camel forage among Sahrawi nomads and refugees of Western Sahara Gabriele Volpato and Rajindra K. Puri Research AbstractKnowledge about forage is fundamental to the survival of pastoral populations around the world. In this paper, we address the knowledge of camel forage of Sahrawi nomads and refugees of Western Sahara. We analyze the distribution of this knowledge through cultural consensus analysis and develop an explanation for intra-cultural variation based on changing processes of knowledge transmission. In total, 100 plant species were free-listed by informants, with five species (i.e., Acacia tortilis (Forssk.) Hayne, Nucularia perrinii Batt., Astragalus vogelii (Webb) Bornm., Panicum turgidum Forssk., and Stipagrostis plumosa Munro ex T.Anderson) found to be culturally highly salient. These five represent five local categories of forage that are necessary for camel management in the Western Sahara desert. The Sahrawi listed 25 forage plants that influence the taste and properties of camel milk, demonstrating that cultural values, as much as survival functions, underpin local knowledge systems. Perhaps unsurprisingly, age and nomadic experience are positively correlated with forage knowledge. Forced displacement and sedentarization are hypothesized as causes of progressive non-use of this knowledge and the lack of its transmission to younger generations of refugees. Nonetheless, across the study area, refugees are re-engaging with pastoralism and nomadism, which is leading to a revitalization of forage knowledge and its transmission. This should be regarded as an adaptation pathway for refugees. ResumenPara las poblaciones pastorales de todo el mundo, el conocimiento de las plantas forrajeras es fundamental para su supervivencia. En este trabajo se aborda el conocimiento sobre forraje de camellos entre los nómadas y los refugiados saharauis del Sáhara Oc- Published:...

The material and cultural recovery of camels and camel husbandry among Sahrawi refugees of Western Sahara

“…As with other pastoral populations across the world, including the neighbouring Tuareg (Antoine-Moussiaux et al 2007), over the centuries, Sahrawi pastoralists have accumulated, shared and transmitted knowledge of camel husbandry in the desert environment of Western Sahara, including ethnobotanical knowledge about camel forage (Volpato and Puri 2014), ethnoveterinary knowledge required to diagnose and treat camel diseases (Volpato et al 2013a) and ethnoecological knowledge about weather and rainfall patterns, soils, the location of wells and water points, distances and trajectories for transiting the desert and many other types of knowledge. With forced displacement, herd loss and sedentarization in refugee camps, knowledge transmission was disrupted.…”

“…Younger people's disengagement with camels and the desert environment led to a lack of both the need and opportunities to learn. Decades of restrictions on access to nomadic territories meant there were no encounters with the learning environments in which camel and desert-related knowledge was transmitted, and knowledge acquisition and transmission became dormant (Volpato and Puri 2014). A shift in values associated with formal education, emigration and exposure to mass media and to development schemes further alienated younger refugees from camel husbandry and the associated knowledge and cultural heritage, which some have even come to regard in negative terms.…”

“…The sources of this knowledge, principally older refugees and those who remained nomads, are involved in both vertical and horizontal knowledge transmission paths (Volpato and Puri 2014). Recipients are not only those refugees who re-engage in camel husbandry but also political organizations and NGOs that support refugees.…”

“…The SADR's Ministry of Information produces educational and informational material for refugees that stress this contrast in terms of language, food, dress and women's roles (Allan 2010) and, as a result, 'many aspects of everyday Saharawi existence become cultural markers' (Chamberlain 2005, p. 27). This is also the case with ethnobotanical knowledge associated with the desert environment and camel husbandry (Volpato and Puri 2014), which contrasts with Morocco's agricultural traditions. The dispute over Western Sahara territory thus aims to 'hegemonise a collective social imaginary about what it is to be Saharawi, who the Sahrawis are and who the 'others' are that delineate the frontier of 'our Sahara' (San Martin 2005, p. 587).…”

“…In continuity with their nomadic past, some refugees gained access to camels and resumed camel husbandry. These processes revitalized camel-associated traditional knowledge and the material and cultural bonds between refugees and their homeland (Volpato and Puri 2014). The camel was re-appropriated as a symbol of a shared nomadic heritage and cultural identity, and camel products and associated knowledge and practices were deployed in the Polisario's and refugees' nationalistic discourse vis-à-vis Morocco as well as to reinforce national and ethnic unity.…”