Historic settlements and pastoralism in the Arctic and Tibetan Plateau: towards a comparison

ABSTRACT

Historic settlement processes of, respectively, the Northern Sámi and Western Tibetan pastoralists have so far not been subjected to any comparative social science analyses. This study contributes to such a conceptual platform, drawing on the constructs dwelling, settlement, herding unit, pastoral landscape and the labour–animal–pasture triangle. Ethnographic and archival evidence of transitions from sedentary/semi-sedentary to full-fledged pastoralist societies and transitions from a pastoral adaptation to sedentary and semi-sedentary life are analysed and debated in light of the influential theoretical proposition of a categorical difference between a nomad’s and a farmer’s dwelling. At the core of this, comparative inquiry is two highly dynamic pastoral herding societies. It is argued that a comparative approach to the study of settlements requires a theoretical and analytical reframing – informed by a more adequate comprehension of the dwelling–settlement nexus. This preliminary scrutiny of dwelling designs and settlement practices of Sámi and Tibetan pastoralists indicates that nomads in both regions internalized and activated different spatial models and inventively mediated between different spatial models according to seasonal or irreversible shifts of leaving the nomadic adaptation altogether. Further rigorous empirical inquiry into accommodation, innovation and possible failures to mediate gaps in the making/remaking of dwellings and settlements are called for.

KEYWORDS:

• Pastoralists
• Northern Sápmi
• Western Tibet
• dwellings
• settlements
• herding units

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 The notion “first and third pole” originated in contemporary scientific discourse on global environmental change. The term presupposes that effects and processes of climate change on the South and North Poles and in the “third pole” – the extended Himalaya and Tibetan Plateau – shows notable similarities. The Tibetan Plateau is the largest high-altitude landmass on the globe. The third pole is the globe’s water towers with the third largest fresh water reserve after Arctic and Antarctic.

2 I like in particular to acknowledge the invaluable comments of my project lead partner and colleague Dawa Tsering, Senior Scholar at Tibet Academy of Social Science (TASS) in Lhasa (TAR). The Network for University Co-operation Tibet–Norway has solicited essential external financial support. Other institutional support was provided by UiT – The Arctic University of Norway.

3 The notion landscape has an arch-European origin in Dutch landscape painting, landskip in Dutch and landskap in Norwegian.