GABRA – AlmadoHere’s a program from our archives.Music: Gabra Where do holidays come from? Well, one possibility is that they’re reflections of man’s relationship with nature– that our human rituals of labor and celebration, of feasting and fasting, mimic the Earth’s own cycle of death and regeneration.I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.The songs we’re listening to are part of the Almado festival– a New Years celebration taking place this month in the desert along Kenya’s border with Ethiopia. Celebrating Almado are the Gabra, a nomadic people whose very survival depends on the strict ritual observance of their annual calendar.”Almado is a fire festival which marks the beginning and the end of the solar new year.” Aneesa Kassam is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Durham in England.”It is one of the most important rituals of peace and expiation celebrated in the whole year. It is a ceremony through which peace is restored. But more than this, it plays a very important role in the way that the Gabra record time. They begin counting 365 days following Almado. The Gabra are able, in this way, to keep track of the seasons and can predict when the rains will come. Based on this count, they move their herds to different pastures. A miscalculation can result in the tragic loss of livestock. So Almado is basically a festival which marks the beginning and the end of the annual cycle of time.”We like to hear about the way that you observe and celebrate the rhythms of your year. Our email address is pulse@igc.org. We’ve been listening to a program from our archives. Check out our website, pulseplanet.com for a link to my latest project – a novel. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.
The Gabra
This time of year, the Gabra of Northeast Africa celebrate a holiday which commemorates human dependence on seasonal cycles.
Air Date:11/30/2020
Scientist:
Transcript:
GABRA - AlmadoHere's a program from our archives.Music: Gabra Where do holidays come from? Well, one possibility is that they're reflections of man's relationship with nature-- that our human rituals of labor and celebration, of feasting and fasting, mimic the Earth's own cycle of death and regeneration.I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.The songs we're listening to are part of the Almado festival-- a New Years celebration taking place this month in the desert along Kenya's border with Ethiopia. Celebrating Almado are the Gabra, a nomadic people whose very survival depends on the strict ritual observance of their annual calendar."Almado is a fire festival which marks the beginning and the end of the solar new year." Aneesa Kassam is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Durham in England."It is one of the most important rituals of peace and expiation celebrated in the whole year. It is a ceremony through which peace is restored. But more than this, it plays a very important role in the way that the Gabra record time. They begin counting 365 days following Almado. The Gabra are able, in this way, to keep track of the seasons and can predict when the rains will come. Based on this count, they move their herds to different pastures. A miscalculation can result in the tragic loss of livestock. So Almado is basically a festival which marks the beginning and the end of the annual cycle of time."We like to hear about the way that you observe and celebrate the rhythms of your year. Our email address is pulse@igc.org. We've been listening to a program from our archives. Check out our website, pulseplanet.com for a link to my latest project - a novel. I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet.