“No people are an island -"
Paper for the IIIrd International Hindukush Cultural
Conference, Chitral 1995
by Birgitte Glavind Sperber
My
name is Birgitte Glavind Sperber. I am a Danish Geographer and Biologist with a
recent supplementary education in Anthropology. My family and I have been so
privileged that the Kalash_ have allowed us to live with them during many stays
- my own stays in total almost two years. These stays have enabled me closely
to study and follow the development of the Kalasha community and culture during
the last twelve years.
In this paper I
will try in brief to analyze how the Kalash through history socially as well as
culturally actively have responded to different situations and to the impact
from outside.
I will discuss
whether globalization is only a recent phenomenon or whether the actual term
also can be applied to the past?
Emphasizing on the
modern situation I will attempt an analysis of the surrounding world's interests
in the Kalash.
In this context I will discuss how conflicting views
of what "Kalasha culture" actually means lead to different views on
development.
Part of the
discussion will be based on the following case from among the Kalash:
At our first stay
in the Kalasha valleys we easily learned to distinguish Muslim houses from
Kalasha houses - the women's dresses of course were striking, It was also
obvious, though, that if there were chickens around a house it was not a
Kalasha house.
We soon learned
the myth explaining, why the Kalasha religion objects to chicken_.
We learned about
the Bashali system - a basic element of the religion: Women in the state of
menstruation and delivery are most impure and so have to be confined to protect
the community from defilement. During Chaomos in 1983 the Bashali women
complained to me that they could not take part in the festivities - it was
obvious that everybody obeyed the rules.
During the later
years I saw chickens gradually being taken into some of the Kalasha housholds.
I also heard that
some of the women began taking the Bashali rules less seriously. During the
latest years people worried very much because of a serious disease among the
goats which causes problems for the production of milk and cheese.
When I came back
this summer there were no chicken in the village.
Washlim Gul said
to me:
- In May all the
15 quasis_from all three valleys gathered. First they went to Birir, then they
went to Bomburet, and then they came here to Rumbour. They told the people, that if we didn't stop
keeping chickens, it would be the end of the Kalash.
The very same
night the fox came and ate all my eight chickens. The men killed it with sticks
- you can see the skin hanging there in the veranda.
I blame the Quasis
- I could have sold my chickens for 800 Rupees.
Quasi Khrosh Nawaz
said to me:
- All we quasis
gathered because of the problems with the goats: We realized why, and then we explained to the people:
- The goats are
dying because you don't observe the
customs: Some families keep chickens. Some women do not go to the Bashali when
they have to, and some men pray without wearing a hat!
Now again
everybody are following the custom, and soon the goats will be better!
Goats are
essential in the Kalasha religion and life and the condition of the goats
therefore perceived as a symptom of the state of the community. Were the goats
dying due to what Peter Parkes has called "cultural slackness"_ in
his description of a similar incident in 1975? Those days a shaman told the
people why and what to do.
Were the religious
heads in other words once again stabilizing the customs from the inside?
Can the classical
anthropological tradition of analyzing the so called "other" like
"islands" in this case be applied to the Kalash, or should the case
rather be seen as an active response to the fact that the Kalash are part of a
local, a national as well as a global world and have been so through history?
In anthropology
tribal societies have been analyzed as isolated units and their entity as a
"mosaic of cultures"_.
Even though
systemic views came in with Barth's classical analysis of ecological
interactions between groups in Swat_ -
"traditional" societies like the Kalash have also often been ascribed
a static culture and static time_ i.e.
being"without history" .
Has the Kalasha
culture ever been static?
Historic-economic
factors were taken into consideration, when the world system analysts_ incorporated individual communities into a
global entity, but there were still problems when accounting for
"culture".
Most recently the
consequences of the present global flux of information, values, people and
cultural elements of all kinds have been included into the world system
analysis_. The possible consequences of
the socalled "Globalization" are subject to a current debate in
anthropology:
- Will
globalization lead to uniformization: In
other words will in due time everybody in "The Global Village"_ be wearing blue jeans, while watching global
TV on their Sony and drinking Coke?
- Is something new
created when people living in "The global ecumene"_ are exposed to the elements of the global
flux, making choices and incorporating elements - often in a new way, giving
them new significance - "Creolization"_?
- Or - using the
nationalism-ethnicity-discourse - does exposition to globalization, contact
with other values, lead to a greater awareness of one's own values leading to
establishment of cultural or ethnic boundaries_?
These questions, I
think, can never be answered categorically in any area. They can just serve as
analytical tools.
History is
positional - i.e. the past is often reshaped into a version which fits the
needs of the present_ - also sometimes the needs of outsiders.
This is possible
in particular when the past is scarcely documented.
Where the Kalash
initially came from will probably forever be veiled in mists_.
Did the Kalash, as
their oral tradition tells, come from "Tsiam" - their mythical
ancestral country said to be near Yarkhan, where people nowadays look and speak
so totally differently, since the area came under Chinese domination?
Does this fit into
the linguistic theories_ about Aryan migrations from Central Asia with the
Dardic speakers as an ancient side
branch?
Did the Kalash, as
their oral tradition also tells, descend from Alexander the Great's brave
general Shalak Shah from Tsiam, whom Alexander gave the Chitral valley as a
reward?
This myth at least
is essential for the romantic image promoted by the tourist industry: The fair
skinned often blond and blue eyed people living a pagan Dionysian life in a
country flowing with wine and honey.
Promotion of this
myth may be responsible for the strong attraction the valleys exerts on
tourists from other parts of the country.
This version of
the past might also be the reason why Greek scholars and developers are
attracted to the valleys it seems to be part of the "search for
roots" that for many people is a response to modernity.
Do the Kalash have
linguistic ties to the old Palestine as suggested by a linguist at the former
conference in Chitral? Or is this just another "search for roots"
theory - maybe meant to legitimize the conversion Christian missionairies want
so badly?
The origin of the
Kalash may be discussed forever.
Far less a matter
of discussion seems to be that once (probably around year 1500) the Kalash
were dominant in the entire region: The Kalasha oral tradition mentions eight
great Kalasha kings - the last one was Rajawai in Bomburet who even fought
victoriously in Nuristan. Local people often find remnants of buildings
revealing the past way of life. Scientific studies of languages and other
cultural traits give the evidence.
After this period
of domination, the Kalash gradually became subject to what might be termed a
first wave of "globalization" in terms of a "global" flux
of information, values, people and cultural elements: Islam spread from its
center of origin gaining a foothold over most of the old world prior to the age
of European renaissance and discoveries_.
Unlike the
globalization processes of today, though, this spread lasted for centuries, as
the speed of spread those days was determined by feet and not by electrons.
According to the
Kalasha oral tradition Islam in the Chitral region at first seems to have been
annected by kings who then converted their subordinates more or less forcibly.
The most persistant of the Kalash took refuge from conversion in the less
accessible side valleys like for example Rumbour.
As a result, Muslims
became dominant in Chitral and the formerly dominant Kalash became marginalized
- subjugated people bound to pay tributes and corvŽe labour_ to the
Mehtars, economically exploited by the
tricks of their eastern neighbours _ and subject to frequent robbery raids from
their western neighbours on the other side of the snowy peaks.
I have often
wondered how this little group of people was able to survive culturally under
such strong pressure from outside.
I have wondered
why the social structure of the Kalash changed from what the Cacopardos_ termed
a "Father society" (hierarchy during the kingdom period ) into a
"Brother society" (egalitarian, or rather with several competing
leaders).
I have also been
wondering why purification rites are so crucial in the Kalasha religious system
and practices.
Mary Douglas gives
a kind of explanation in her analysis of "Enclave cultures"_ which
Peter Parkes was the first to use in a Kalasha context:
Small groups
surrounded by strong enemies tend to make strategies which aim towards
preventing defection and keeping the group as a unity. It is done through
religous systems preoccupied with inner purity in regards to the surroundings
and maintaining the world order by means of purification and comprehensive
rites. A social demarcation vis ˆ vis the surroundings, that are strong due to
hierarchical social systems, makes the enclave egalitarian, which also means a
constant preoccupation with rivalry and factionalism.
This summer the
Kalasha historical and cultural expert Khrosh Nawaz explained to me that the
basic onjesta/pragata-dualism in the religion has been there from the very
beginning. This seems plausible, as it is a very ancient way of structuralizing
the world in pure/impure-, we/them- and Cosmos/Chaos-dualities.
Khrosh Nawaz also
said that after the Kalash settled in Rumbour (and thus became an enclave due
to marginalization), the purification rites increased mainly ordered by the great shaman Naga Dehar
- a confirmation of parts of Douglas' theory.
Consequently the
religious and social systems of the Kalash seem to be their active strategic
responses to change due to impact from outside.
The next exposure
to "globalization" came in the last centuries when the British
expanded their territories, people, ideologies and systems which had an
enduring impact everywhere. In this region a visual remnant from the colonial
period is the bagpipes and tartans of the Chitrali Scouts (an example of
Creolization).
To the Kalash and
other people in the region the daily contact with the administrative,
educational and legal systems of British origin is a result of this process.
Crucial to the
existence of the Kalash became the British Durand Line which made the Kalasha
valleys part of the Raj and so part of today's Pakistan. This prevented the
Kalash from being forcibly converted like the Afghan parts of Kafirstan. It was
in the British period, though, the Kalash had to accept that land in the upper
parts of the Kalash valleys was given to refugees from Nuristan.
From about 1800 Nationalism emerged as an ideology in
Europe and spread with the colonial powers and the local educated elites like a
global wave which still has a deep impact on the world of today_.
After the
formation of Pakistan in 1947 this new state entered a stage of nationbuilding:
Since then it has
been a goal for the national government to forge into a unit the multitude of
ethnic and religious groups as well as the multitude of environments in the
country.
The Father of the
Nation Qaid-i-Azam, the National Constitution_, the flag and the national
anthem are examples of national symbols of unity.
The tools for
linking the territories are roads, domestic flights, the administrative and
legal systems, the police and the army.
The tool for
joining the people is the creation of a national identity - directly through
the educational system and the national mass media - both promoting Urdu as a
common language.
The Kalash respond
differently to education:
Carriers of the
religious and oral tradition worry that education may lead to loss of the
spiritual purity which is needed for keeping contact with the divine. Thus
Quasi Pali Azam explained to me: "If people fill up their brains with
books they loose their capacity for dream-seeing!" Other people have told
me that they want to keep some of the sons out of school as shepherds. This
might be interpreted pragmatically, but also as a perceived need of pure minds
for guarding the pure goats that are so essential in the Kalasha religion.
Most people,
though, appreciate that education has come.
They consider it
an expansion of possibilities - for income and in particular for influencing
the community and its relations with the surrounding world by means of new
insight and language skills.
Education means
contact - not only with knowledge but also with values.
Deeply rooted in
the Kalasha tradition is that honour
first of all is acquired through giving and sharing. Education may lead to
change of values from communal concern into a preoccupation with personal gain
- which leads to less respect inside the community.
A few individuals
even use "traditional attitudes" as a pretext above their changed
values while charming contracts from donors from the outside.
In 1947 the Kalash
became citizens in a nation state. Nationbuilding has facilitated the intrusion
of influence and change from outside.
The most direct
impact on the Kalash has been the road construction.
In general roads
have been accepted positively along with the acceptance of hospitals and other
services outside the valleys.
Among the Kalash,
though, there is a great awareness and concern about the fact that the state
also has big economic interests in the valleys which are facilitated by the
roads:
First of all the
extraction of resources - timber for the less forested areas, but also mineral
prospecting is going on. The Kalash want their legal share of the incomes from
the resources and first of all direct influence on what and how much should be
extracted from the valleys. The Kalash perceive this as a pressure from outside
and have responded strategically with unity - even with the Muslim inhabitants
in the valleys.
Roads also
facilitate tourism, which can be considered part of the modern globalization
processes: Tourism is a result of globalization when "globalized"
people search for "originality" and want to see, what the global mass
media tell about.
At the same time
tourism is a major globalizing force, as it means contact
and exchange
between people_.
Tourism on a big
scale has to be controlled as it has the potential to destroy its objects.
The Kalash are a
major tourist object and so of great economic interest for the public and
private tourist industry. This is mainly outside Kalasha ownership and control,
which of course leads to concern and frustration among the Kalash - not
unanimously, but dependent on how much individuals are feeling harassed by or
are living from the tourists.
Tourism may be
destructive but on the other hand it may also be a culture saving factor in
encouraging cultural pride. This is obviously growing among the Kalash -
however mainly due to activities of their own leaders.
The Kalasha
culture has always responded to and evolved along with the surrounding world.
To some tourist interests saving the culture means freezing it into a museum of
the living past:
I have heard
influential people complaining that the Kalasha no longer wear hide straps
around their feet but have got shoes. Twelve years ago actually most of the
women walked bare-footed in the snow - - I have also heard people complaining
that stoves and electricity are replacing the romantic open fireplaces in the
houses.
For the Kalasha
women these innovations actually mean less eye diseases due to smoke and for
example a greater possibility of keeping the houses clean.
When outsiders
complain and the Kalash do not, even though they are very concerned about
keeping their own culture alive, it is because of different perceptions of what
"Kalasha culture" actually is.
When asked what
"Kalasha culture" is, a Kalash may reply "Homa Dastur!" -
"our
tradition"- in brief mainly words and ways, determined by the Kalasha
religion.
This is not what
matters to tourists:
Most tourists come
to see the "culture"and catch it with their camera - an extra
"eye". Thus tourist interests emphasize the spectacular - the big
communal rites and the material culture - dresses, houses and technology -
therefore the complaints about material changes.
The communal rites
are religious manifestations sustaining the world and the unityof the community.
If some day these
rites become reified as tourist objects (like now the dancing has been taken
out of the religious context and is done for money) the basic functions of the
rites might vanish along with the unity
and the world they maintain - -
An increasing
dependence on tourist incomes influences the material culture - the women's
dresses in particular: Once the women become extra picturesque, the incomes
increase, and once the incomes increase, money is used for extra decorations of
the women - -
The Kalasha women
are very aware of their role as cultural symbols. This fact increases their
pride but may also keep them "traditional", which later on might
become an undesired strait-jacket - -
Tourism means
increased contact - also with other values, sometimes causing frustrations.
Contact with western women for example may mean contact with feminist ideas,
which may cause the Kalasha women to change their frame of reference:
In 1990 a woman
proudly said: "We Kalasha women are very free: We can go to Birir and
Bomburet, whereas the Muslim women have to wear the veil and stay in their
houses."_Ê This summer she was very frustrated that her husband would not
allow her to travel outside the valleys with foreign friends. Now she feels
trapped between modernity and tradition, whereas her husband due to his outside
contacts needs to take into consideration the norms of the surrounding world,
where a local woman travelling freely around will be subject to a great
disrespect - -
It is no longer
tourists alone who perceive capacity for travel as a symbol of freedom.
Democracy as an
ideology can be considered part of globalization and has become a symbol of
modernity. Sometimes democracy emerges
due to pressures from below, sometimes from above - frequently even from
outside as a precondition for aid or political support on the global arena.
Part of democracy
is parties and debate. To the Kalash this has become synonymous with
politicians and conflicts: The quest for seats done by outside politicians
means an often aggressive quest for votes which again has caused a deep
disruption of the unity of the Kalasha community.
As the national
elites and decisionmakers to a very high degree are turned outwards, they also
use the global "Development
ideology" as a tool in the nationbuilding process - this is often done
uncritically:
Development
introduced from outside always means change.
"The
developed", though, do not always perceive development defined by
outsiders as improved conditions of life _ : People may lose influence on their
own situation and perhaps also their "roots"during the development
process and are at risk of reaching a "point of no return" - -
Above I have given
examples of globalizing elements and forces - all apparently homogenizing the
cultures of the world, some of them disrupting the unity of small communities.
Are the Kalash
heading towards a point of no return - is the Kalasha culture and community
maybe at the edge of an abyss?
That of course
depends on factors in the outside world as well as on the inside:
The government
should have an interest in sustaining and not destroying the potential_ of
tourist incomes: This demands attentive
control of and influence on the tourist enterprizes delegated to the Kalasha
community. It also means education of the visitors - from this country too.
Sustaining this
economic potential should also be taken literally in the sense of sustaining
resources - land, wood, pasture land - a strong economic argument in favour of
the Kalasha struggle for their resources.
Some people might
think that sustaining the Kalasha culture means that the valleys rather should
be kept as a game reserve for researchers and maybe heavily paying tourists to
enjoy?
Saifullah Jan has
said to me "Man has been to the moon, then why should we be kept in
darkness?" Of course the Kalash do not want to be kept like wild animals.
They know about
the outside world. They may not want to go to the moon, but they want
development on their own conditions.
Development of
course means change, which has always occurred. Maybe the outside world should
listen to how the Kalash define their own culture ("our tradition"),
and forget worrying about material
changes:
"When the
kerosene lamp replaced the torches, did it then destroy our culture? So why
should electricity?" (Saifullah Jan)
Now back to the
initial questions about the consequences of Globalization:
Is it a threat to
the Kalasha community and culture?
Globalization
means contacts between values and ideas, but not necessarily amalgamation: In
many places contact has lead to greater awareness of one's own values, and even
to a strengthening of these, like for instance when young daughters of Muslim
immigrants to the West put on the veil. In the globalized world of today ethnic
consciousness is increasing, and "ethnic boundaries"_ frequently
drawn anew.
This is, what
happened in the case in the beginning of this paper:
Like most of the
Kalash the religious heads are concerned about the tradition, which is what
keeps the people united above political factionalism and daily petty conflicts
- the communal rites like festivals and funerals in particular serve as uniting
forces and should not be reified into
tourist objects.
Chickens to be
sold to tourists for money, as well as new ideas, like that going to Bashali is
oppression of the women, was obviously interpreted as harmful intrusions from
outside which might lead to a gradual cultural decay. The goats are fine
indicators and gave the evidence that
something was wrong. The quasis gave their advise, and apparently everybody
obeyed. They did so, as in the Kalasha religion the individuals share the
responsibility for the entire community, because individual religious offence
may lead to communal disaster.
So beside the
basic resources, the religious tradition is imperative for the survival of the
Kalasha community.
At present the
Kalash know this very well, they even strengthen the tradition from inside - a
kind of ethnic boundary making - as shown in the example.
Through their
outward activities and also internally through their culture the Kalash respond
actively to the impact from the outside world as they have always done.
The Kalash are not
victims of globalization, but active actors on the national and global stage.
"What is going to happen in a hundred years we
don't know, but then we are all dead anyway!"
(Saifullah
Jan 1994)
Birgitte
Glavind Sperber
August 1995
