o - Aceh Books website

878 YORUK
large embroidered bags (made by women and passed from mother to son), with
the larger copper pot and tent poles strapped on top. Small infants, too, may be
part of the load, but otherwise the camels are not ridden. Each family's camels
are led either by a daughter, dressed in her best if she is of marriageable age,
or by the most recent bride (gelin) to have married into the household. The tent
itself, as emerged in one survey of 171 families, houses, on the average, eight
individuals. Residence is patrilocal, and extended families consisting of a man
and his married sons and their wives and children are common. Polygyny is
approved, despite modern Turkish statutes, but is not frequently practiced. Marriage
is highly endogamous, with virtually all marriages occurring within the
tribal section. Approximately 20 percent of all marriages are between young
men and their fathers' brothers' daughters; the Yoruk regard this as a preferred
match. Almost 25 percent of all marriages take place through elopement and
bride theft (kiz kachirma). This is frequently a source of conflict among households
as ideal marriages are carefully arranged, with a high brideprice negotiated
as part of the settlement.
Like their settled relatives, the Yoruk are part of the national market economy.
Virtually all their clothing and most of what they consume is purchased. Furthermore,
the pastures they visit have to be rented as today all pasturage is within
village borders or is owned privately. Average herd size is large (approximately
270 sheep per family) since the household must face heavy demands for cash.
Families whose herds fall much below 100 animals are likely to be forced to
settle for lack of sufficient income to rent pastures and buy food. Sources of
income are young animals sold each fall, wool sold in the spring and milk sold
to Yoruk entrepreneurs, who process it into white cheese for urban markets.
Currently the Yoruk herders of southeastern Turkey are heavily involved in
exporting livestock to Iraq, a trade which encourages further commercialization
of the animal industry. Thus, the nomadic Yoruk, although visibly much like
their forefathers, are very much a part of today's world in the Middle East.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Bates, Daniel G. "Nomadic Settlement in Turkey." In When Nomads Settle: Processes
of Sedentarization as Adaptation and Response, edited by P. K. Salzman. New
York: J. Bergin and Praeger, 1980.
. Nomads and Farmers: A Study of the Yoruk of Southeastern Turkey. Anthropological
Papers, No 52. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology,
1973.
. "Shepherd Becomes Farmer: A Study of Sedentarization and Social Change in
Southeastern Turkey." In Turkey: Geographic and Social Perspectives, edited by
Peter Benedict, Erol Tumertekin, and Fata Mansur. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1974.