Deserts Learning Quest: Define

The Scenario: Protecting heritage while living sustainably in a desert In this Global Learning Quest small groups will investigate the culture and current issues faced by a group of desert people. The whole class will then come together as a forum of desert people to share ideas and learn about balancing traditional and modern lifestyles from each other. The forum will list a series of actions which desert people can take and others that your government can take to support a lifestyle which respects your culture, language and the environment. How can we protect desert livelihoods and traditions? Background For thousands of years groups of people have survived in harsh desert environments. They have developed unique lifestyles which flow with the seasons, surviving frequent droughts. Increasing population, government relocations, changing quality of life expectation and environmental degradation present new challenges to their cultural and economic survival. The International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (1995-2004) aimed to promote and protect the rights of indigenous people and empower them to make choices that enabled them to retain their cultural identity while participating in political, economic and social life that respected their cultural values, languages, traditions and forms of social organisation. The draft statement developed through a sharing of ideas is still working its way through the UN system. Perspectives on the Global Question Pitjantjatjara / Anangu of Central Australia The Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal people (or Anangu) live in the Central Desert region of Australia. Their Tjukurpa or Wapar, law, culture, history, and world view is an oral tradition passed down through a complex series of family relationships. For thousands of years they lived a nomadic life, hunting and gathering but now most of the 4,000 Anangu live in small communities scattered throughout their traditional lands. In the early 1950s those in the Maralinga area were forced off their land for the testing of atomic bomb testing. More recently they have gained recognition of their land rights and share in the management of the World Heritage Site Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park Mongol of Northern Asia The Mongols are a diverse ethnic group of about 8.5 million who live in Mongolia, the northern provinces of China and Russia. They traditionally herd camels, cattle, sheep and goats on the grassy plains moving their livestock between the low desert areas and the higher summer grasslands. The annual gathering for the Namad Festival is the highlight of the social year. Higher status was indicated by larger herds but increasing numbers and new demands for food has degraded the land and desert sands are engulfing villages. The government is encouraging people to move to the cities to reduce the pressure on the land but it is difficult to live a traditional lifestyle Thari people of Western Asia There are roughly one million people, of a variety of religious and ethnic groups living in the Thar desert of north western India and eastern Pakistan. Traditional groups lived from grazing of livestock, mostly sheep and goats. Bushmen / San of Kalahari, Southern Africa The San or Bushmen of the Kalahari are the most well known of the many tribes which live in this southern African desert. Traditionally they were hunter, gathers well known for their ability to track animals. They are equally well known for their dancing and music, the mimicking of birds and animals, their knowledge of plants as medicine, poison, and food. Only a few groups live in the traditional way as many have been forcibly moved to towns and make a living labouring or selling crafts. Bedouin of Northern Africa The Bedouin are the desert-dwelling nomads of the Arabia, Negev, and Sinai deserts. Traditionally they lived in small groups moving their herds of camels, sheep and goats to oasis to oasis so as not to overstretch the water and grassland. They fiercely protected their land but would offer hospitality to any visitors who managed to find them. As populations have grown and expectations have changed many Bedouins now live in cities making a living there.

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