GABRA- Order

In one of the most inhospitable regions of the world, a desert straddling the border of Kenya and Ethiopia, a nomadic people known as the Gabra track the passage of the season with strict ritual observances. It’s a way to find a rhythm of life while living in an unpredictable environment. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Right now we’re listening to music associated with one of the Gabra’s seasonal celebrations.

“There is so much that is unreliable about their life. The rain is capricious. It doesn’t come very often. And if it comes it might come in one place and not in another.”

John Wood is a professor of anthropology at Emory University.

“And, in a sense, by having a very organized liturgical year that imposes a kind of order on the seasons and a kind of order on the universe and an order in their relations with the Divine, perhaps they are seeking to impose a kind of order that they don’t experience in fact. That certainly was my sense being with them, that there is so much that is capricious about their life except that they are very particular about rituals and prayers and that they be done in the right way and in the right order. And so one senses that that they’re trying to kindle a sense of order and a sense of security out of a life that is otherwise very capricious and dangerous and hostile.”

For transcripts of this and other programs in our series, please visit our web site at www.pulseplanet.com.

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

GABRA- Order

In the traditions of the nomadic Gabra people, order is kept through strict attention to ritual observances.
Air Date:08/13/1998
Scientist:
Transcript:

In one of the most inhospitable regions of the world, a desert straddling the border of Kenya and Ethiopia, a nomadic people known as the Gabra track the passage of the season with strict ritual observances. It's a way to find a rhythm of life while living in an unpredictable environment. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Right now we're listening to music associated with one of the Gabra's seasonal celebrations.

"There is so much that is unreliable about their life. The rain is capricious. It doesn't come very often. And if it comes it might come in one place and not in another."

John Wood is a professor of anthropology at Emory University.

"And, in a sense, by having a very organized liturgical year that imposes a kind of order on the seasons and a kind of order on the universe and an order in their relations with the Divine, perhaps they are seeking to impose a kind of order that they don't experience in fact. That certainly was my sense being with them, that there is so much that is capricious about their life except that they are very particular about rituals and prayers and that they be done in the right way and in the right order. And so one senses that that they're trying to kindle a sense of order and a sense of security out of a life that is otherwise very capricious and dangerous and hostile."

For transcripts of this and other programs in our series, please visit our web site at www.pulseplanet.com.

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the American Museum of Natural History. Additional funding for this series has been provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.