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Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or Nomad, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions ( vertical transhumance), it implies movement between higher in summer and lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Generally only the travel, with a certain number of people necessary to tend them, while the main population stays at the base. In contrast, movement in plains or plateaus (horizontal transhumance) is more susceptible to disruption by climatic, economic, or political change.
Traditional or fixed transhumance has occurred throughout the inhabited world, particularly Europe and western Asia. It is often important to pastoralist societies, as the dairy products of transhumance flocks and herds (milk, butter, yogurt and cheese) may form much of the diet of such populations. In many languages there are words for the higher summer pastures, and frequently these words have been used as place names: e.g. hafod in Wales, shieling in Scotland, or alpine pasture in Germany, Austria and German-speaking regions of Switzerland.
Anatoly Khazanov categorizes nomadic forms of pastoralism into five groups as follows: "pure pastoral nomadism", "semi-nomadic pastoralism", "semi-sedentary pastoralism", "distant-pastures husbandry" and "seasonal transhumance".Anatoly M. Khazanov, Nomads and the Outside World (2nd Edition), University of Wisconsin Press, 1994, pp 19-23, Eickelman does not make a distinction between transhumant pastoralism and seminomadism, but he clearly distinguishes between nomadic pastoralism and seminomadism.Dale F. Eickelman, The Middle East and Central Asia: An Anthropological Approach, Prentice Hall, 2002, p. 11,
The prevalence of various groups of Hill people around the world suggests that indigenous knowledge regarding transhumance must have developed and survived over generations to allow for the acquisition of sufficient skills to thrive in mountainous regions. Most Droving are conversant with subsistence agriculture, pastoralism as well as forestry and frozen water and fast stream management.
The Morlach or Karavlachs were a population of Eastern Romance shepherds ("ancestors" of the Istro-Romanians) who lived in the Dinaric Alps (western Balkans in modern use), constantly migrating in search of better pastures for their sheep flocks. But as national states appeared in the area of the former Ottoman Empire, new state borders were developed that divided the summer and winter habitats of many of the pastoral groups. These prevented easy movement across borders, particularly at times of war, which have been frequent.
The leading of the sheep was preceded by magical procedures that were supposed to protect them from bad fate and from being enchanted. For this purpose, bonfires were lit and sheep were led through the fire. It began with the resurrection of the "holy fire" in the kolyba (shepherd's hut). Custom dictated that from that day on, it was to be kept burning continuously by the main shepherd – the shepherd. Next, the sheep were led around a small chevron or spruce tree stuck in the ground – the so-called mojka (which was supposed to symbolize the health and strength of everyone present in the hall) and they were fumigated with burning herbs and a połazzka brought to the sałasz. This was intended to cleanse them of diseases and prevent misfortune. Then the flock was herded around it three times, which was intended to concentrate the sheep into one group and prevent individual animals from escaping. Baca's task was to pull the sheep behind him, helping himself with salt which he sprinkled on the flock. With the help of dogs and whistles, the Juhasi encouraged the herd and made sure that the sheep followed the shepherd. Sheep that fell outside the circle boded ill. It was believed that the number of sheep that fell outside the circle would die in the coming season.
The stay in the pasture (hala) begins on St. Wojciech's Day (23 April), and ends on Michaelmas Day (29 September).
This method of sheep grazing is a relic of transhumant agriculture, which was once very common in the Carpathians. (Carpathian transhumance agriculture).
In the pastoral culture in Poland, Redyk was perceived as the greatest village festival. Farmers who gave their sheep to a shepherd for the entire season, before grazing in the pastures, listed them (most often by marking them with notches on the shepherd's stick, stick or beam), marked them and placed them in a basket made of tynin. In the Memoir of the Tatra Society from 1876, the way in which this is done is described: "(...) they herd sheep from the entire village to one agreed place, give them to the shepherds and shepherds one by one, then mix them together and count the number of the whole herd (flock).
The sheep of all the shepherds were gathered in one place at the foot of the mountains, and then one large herd was driven to the szalas. The entrance to the hala was also particularly emphasized: there was shooting, honking and shouting all the way. This was intended to drive away evil spirits from their animals and to keep the entire herd together.
At the end of the ceremony, there was music and dancing together. The musicians played traditional instruments: gajdas and violins. To the accompaniment of music, the Sałashniks performed the oldest individual dance – the owiedziok, the owczarza, the kolomajka, the swinszczok, the masztołka.
Redyk included many local practices, rituals and celebrations. In modern time it is mainly a part of local traditional entertainment. The modern spring and autumn Redyk (sheep drive) has the character of a folkloric spectacle addressed to locals and tourists, but also to the highlanders themselves, who to identify with their traditions. Sometimes common redyk was organised also in Czechia, Slovakia and Romania. In Poland, the organisers was the Transhumant Pastoral Foundation.
This system of transhumance has generally not been practised for almost a century; it continued in Snowdonia after it ceased elsewhere in Wales, and remnants of the practice can still be found in rural farming communities in the region to this day. Both "Hafod" and "Hendref" survive in Wales as place names and house names and in one case as the name of a raw milk cow cheese (Hafod). Today, cattle and sheep that summer on many hill farms are still transported to lowland winter pastures, but by truck rather than being driven overland.
A network of droveways, or cañadas, crosses the whole peninsula, running mostly south-west to north-east. They have been charted since ancient times, and classified according to width; the standard cañada is between wide, with some cañadas reales (meaning royal droveways) being wide at certain points. The land within the droveways is publicly owned and protected by law.
In some high valleys of the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains, transhumant herding has been the main, or only, economic activity. Regulated passes and pasturage have been distributed among different valleys and communities according to the seasonal range of use and community jurisdiction. Unique social groups associated with the transhumant lifestyle are sometimes identified as a remnant of an older ethnic culture now surviving in isolated minorities, such as the "Valles Pasiegos" in Cantabria, "Cagot" in Navarre, and "Vaqueiros de alzada" in Asturias and León.
The Mont Perdu / Monte Perdido region of the Pyrenees has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site by virtue of its association with the transhumance system of agriculture.
The common mountain or forest pasture used for transhumance in summer is called seter or bod / bua. The same term is used for a related mountain cabin, which was used as a summer residence. In summer (usually late June), livestock is moved to a mountain farm, often quite distant from a home farm, to preserve in valleys for producing hay. Livestock is typically tended during the summer by girls and younger women, who also milk and make cheese. cattle usually remain at the home farm. As autumn approaches and grazing is exhausted, livestock is returned to the farm.
In Sweden, this system was predominantly used in Värmland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Hälsingland, Medelpad and Ångermanland.
The practice was common throughout most of Norway, due to its highly mountainous nature and limited areas of lowland for cultivation.
While previously many farms had their own seters, it is more usual for several farmers to share a modernised common seter (fellesseter). Most of the old seters have been left to decay or are used as recreational 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, säter. The place name appears in Sweden in several forms as Säter and Sätra, and as a suffix: -säter, -sätra, -sätt and -sättra. Those names appear extensively across Sweden with a centre in the Mälaren basin and in Östergötland. The surname "Satter" is derived from these words.
In the heartland of the Swedish transhumance region, the most commonly used term is bod or bua (the word is also used for small storage houses and the like; it has evolved in English as booth); in modern Standard Swedish language, fäbod.
The oldest mention of seter in Norway is in Heimskringla, the saga of Olaf II of Norway's travel through Valldal to Lesja.
The practice of summer farming at fäbod and seter in Sweden and Norway has been included in UNESCO's Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2024.
In the second half of the 20th century, migration for work from the Pontic mountains to cities in Turkey and western Europe, and from the northern Caucasus to Moscow, dramatically reduced the number of people living in transhumance. It is estimated, however, that tens of thousands of rural people still practice these traditions in villages on the northern and southwestern slopes of the Caucasus, in the lesser Caucasus in Armenia, and in the Turkish Black Sea region.
Some communities continue to play out ancient migration patterns. For example, the Pontic Greeks visit the area and the monastery Sumela in the summer. Turks from cities in Europe have built a summer retreat on the former yayla grazing land.
Transhumance related to sheep farming is still practised in Georgia. The shepherds with their flocks have to cross the high Abano Pass from the mountains of Tusheti to the plains of Kakheti. Up until the dissolution of Soviet Union they intensively used the Kizlyar plains of Northern Dagestan for the same purpose.
In Nuristan, the inhabitants live in permanent villages surrounded by arable fields on irrigated terraces. Most of the livestock are goats. They are taken up to a succession of summer pastures each spring by herdsmen while most of the villagers remain behind to irrigate the terraced fields and raise millet, maize, and wheat; work mostly done by the women. In the autumn after the grain and fruit harvest, livestock are brought back to spend the winter stall-fed in stables.Jones (1974). Men of Influence in Nuristan. Seminar Press, London & New York
The pastoral Gujars of northern India rely on state forests for pasture but face increasing restrictions from the government. This has led to significant impoverishment as they lose traditional grazing land and fall into debt. Transhumant pastoralism, guided by traditional ecological knowledge (TEK), helps the Kinnaura community in Himachal Pradesh adapt to harsh high-altitude conditions. However, this age-old practice is under threat due to socioeconomic, policy, and environmental changes, risking the erosion of pastoralism-related TEK.
The Qashqai people (Kashkai) are a Turkic tribe of southern Iran, who in the mid-20th century still practised transhumance. The tribe was said to have settled in ancient times in the province of Fars province, near the Persian Gulf, and by the mid-20th century lived beyond the Makran mountains. In their yearly migrations for fresh pastures, the Kashkai drove their livestock from south to north, where they lived in summer quarters, known as Yaylak, in the high mountains from April to October. They traditionally grazed their flocks on the slopes of the Kuh-e-Dinar, a group of mountains from , part of the Zagros chain.
In autumn the Kashkai broke camp, leaving the highlands to winter in warmer regions near Firuzabad, Kazerun, Jerrè, Farashband, on the banks of the Mond River. Their winter quarters were known as Kishlak/Qishlaq/Gishlak. The migration was organised and controlled by the Kashkai Chief. The tribes avoided villages and towns, such as Shiraz and Isfahan, because their large flocks, numbering seven million head, could cause serious damage.
In the 1950s, the Kashkai tribes were estimated to number 400,000 people in total. There have been many social changes since that time.
Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Pakistan all have vestigial transhumance cultures. The Bamar people of Myanmar were transhumance prior to their arrival to the region. In Mongolia, transhumance is used to avoid livestock losses during harsh winters, known as . For regions of the Himalaya, transhumance still provides mainstay for several near-subsistence economiesfor example, that of Zanskar in northwest India, Gujjar and Bakarwals of Jammu and Kashmir in India, Kham Magar in western Nepal and Gaddis of Bharmaur region of Himachal Pradesh. In some cases, the distances travelled by the people with their livestock may be great enough to qualify as nomadic pastoralism.
Transhumant grazing is an important aspect of the cultural heritage of the Australian Alps, an area of which has been included on the Australian National Heritage List. Colonists started using this region for summer grazing in the 1830s, when pasture lower down was poor. The practice continued during the 19th and 20th centuries, helping make pastoralism in Australia viable. Transhumant grazing created a distinctive way of life that is an important part of Australia's pioneering history and culture. There are features in the area that are reminders of transhumant grazing, including abandoned stockman's huts, stock yards and stock routes.
The classic, "fixed" transhumance is practiced in the Ethiopian Highlands. During the cropping season the lands around the villages are not accessible for grazing. For instance, farmers with livestock in Dogu'a Tembien organise annual transhumance, particularly towards remote and vast grazing grounds, deep in valleys (where the grass grows early due to temperature) or mountain tops. Livestock will stay there overnight (transhumance) with children and a few adults keeping them.
, a preferred destination for transhumance]] For instance, the cattle of Addi Geza'iti () are brought every rainy season to the gorge of River Tsaliet () that holds dense vegetation. The cattle keepers establish enclosures for the cattle and places for them to sleep, often in rock shelters. The cattle stay there until harvesting time, when they are needed for threshing, and when the stubble becomes available for grazing. Many cattle of Haddinnet and also Ayninbirkekin in Dogu'a Tembien are brought to the foot of the escarpment at Ab'aro. Cattle stay on there on wide rangelands. Some cattle keepers move far down to open woodland and establish their camp in large caves in sandstone.
The Maasai people are semi-nomadic people located primarily in Kenya and northern Tanzania who have transhumance cultures that revolve around their cattle.
Cattle fulfil multiple roles in agro-pastoralist communities, providing meat, milk and draught power while sales of stock generate income and provide insurance against disasters. They also play a key role in status and prestige and for cementing social relationships such as kinship and marriage. For pastoralists, cattle represent the major household asset.
Pastoralism, as a livelihood, is coming under increased pressure across Africa, due to changing social, economic, political and environmental conditions. Prior to the 1950s, a symbiotic relationship existed between pastoralists, crop farmers and their environment with pastoralists practising transhumance. During the dry season, pastoralists migrated to the southern parts of the Guinea savannah zone, where there was ample pasture and a lower density of crop farmers. In the wet season, these areas faced high challenge from African animal trypanosomiasis transmitted by tsetse flies, so pastoralists would migrate to visit farmlands within the northern Sudan savannah zone, supplying dairy products to the local farming community. Reciprocally, the farming community supplied pastoralists with grain, and after the harvest, cattle were permitted to graze on crop residues in fields leaving behind valuable manure.
A portable, dome tent, called a Matjieshut (Afrikaans for "mat house") or Haru Oms (meaning "rush house" in Nama) is a feature of Khoikhoi culture. These dwellings are used in their seasonal camps in the Richtersveld. It consists of a frame traditionally covered with rush mats. In the 21st century, the people sometimes use a variety of manufactured materials. In recognition of its significance, the Richtersveld has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Transhumance, in most cases relying on use of public land, continues to be an important ranching practice in the western United States. In the northern areas, this tradition was based on moving herds to higher ground with the greening of highland pastures in spring and summer. These Upland pasture are part of large public lands, often under the jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service. In the winter, herds use lowland steppe or desert, also often government land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management.
In California and Texas, a greater proportion of the range is held as private land, due to differing historical development of these areas. The general pattern is that in summer, ranch families, hired shepherds, or hired cowboys travel to the mountains and stay in a line camp during the summer. They may also visit the upland ranch regularly, using trailers to transport horses for use in the high country.
Traditionally in the American West, shepherds spent most of the year with a sheep herd, searching for the best forage in each season. This type of shepherding peaked in the late nineteenth century. Cattle and sheep herds are generally based on private land, although this may be a small part of the total range when all seasons are included. Some farmers who raised sheep recruited Basque shepherds to care for the herds, including managing migration between grazing lands.Starrs, P. F. (1998). Let the Cowboy Ride. Johns Hopkins University Press. Workers from Peru, Chile (often Native Americans), and Mongolia have now taken shepherd roles; the Basque have bought their own ranches or moved to urban jobs. Shepherds take the sheep into the mountains in the summer (documented in the 2009 film Sweetgrass) and out on the desert in the winter, at times using crop stubble and pasture on private land when it is available. There are a number of different forms of transhumance in the United States:
The Navajo began practicing transhumance in the 1850s, after they were forced out of their traditional homeland in the San Juan River valley. They maintain many sheep.
In California, the home ranch tends to have more private land, largely because of the legacy of the Spanish land grant system. For this reason, extensive acreages of Mediterranean oak woodlands and grasslands are stewarded by ranches whose economy depends on summer range on government land under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service.
Transhumance is currently practised at least in Argentina, Chile, Peru and Bolivia, as well as in the Brazilian Pantanal. It mainly involves the movement of cattle in the Pantanal and parts of Argentina. In the Altiplano, communities of indigenous people depend on raising Lamini, especially llamas. Herds of are managed by transhumance in North Neuquén and South Mendoza, while sheep are more used in the plains. Criollo people and indigenous peoples use transhumant practices in areas of South America.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Short mention of transhumance in North America
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