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Mongolia is still a fabulous place, incredibly beautiful.
Am fascinated that the nomad tribes are constantly on the move, even under huge pressure from the Russian government; to give up their lifestyle and settle in villages; they clung to their traditional lifestyle.
David quoted a man from the Reindeer people as saying "My ancestors are here, the meaning of my life and family is here, my happiness is here."
It's this contrast between owning very little and having no permanent home - so there is this perception that they have no attachments - and yet being deeply, deeply tied to the land and it's history to the point where they would rather die than leave. If *I* was told my children and flocks would survive if I moved to a village, and it was health related as opposed to status / wealth related I would not hesitate to move.
The questions and answers were flowing freely, and we were delving into a discussion about the sheer number of nomad children who go to the 'big city' to study and then never return to their more traditional lives. This losing touch with the culture was also made worse by the Russian government attempting to make people settle in villages, and give up their religion and language.
A voice piped up from the crowd asking about their "innate culture" and from what I could gather she was saying that even if a couple of generations lost touch with their roots, the culture was innate and could be regained - she used the aboriginal dreaming as an example.
Now I was taking random notes at the time and can't help noticing I have "blithering idiot" scribbled beneath "innate culture".
Innate to what?
If a Mongolian disappears in a forest, does Mongolia still have a culture?
Am fascinated that the nomad tribes are constantly on the move, even under huge pressure from the Russian government; to give up their lifestyle and settle in villages; they clung to their traditional lifestyle.
David quoted a man from the Reindeer people as saying "My ancestors are here, the meaning of my life and family is here, my happiness is here."
It's this contrast between owning very little and having no permanent home - so there is this perception that they have no attachments - and yet being deeply, deeply tied to the land and it's history to the point where they would rather die than leave. If *I* was told my children and flocks would survive if I moved to a village, and it was health related as opposed to status / wealth related I would not hesitate to move.
The questions and answers were flowing freely, and we were delving into a discussion about the sheer number of nomad children who go to the 'big city' to study and then never return to their more traditional lives. This losing touch with the culture was also made worse by the Russian government attempting to make people settle in villages, and give up their religion and language.
A voice piped up from the crowd asking about their "innate culture" and from what I could gather she was saying that even if a couple of generations lost touch with their roots, the culture was innate and could be regained - she used the aboriginal dreaming as an example.
Now I was taking random notes at the time and can't help noticing I have "blithering idiot" scribbled beneath "innate culture".
Innate to what?
If a Mongolian disappears in a forest, does Mongolia still have a culture?
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