Nomadic Herders in Altai Mountains 阿尔泰山游牧者

This book is an ethnographic report completed by the author on the basis of more than four years of fieldwork in the Fuyun County, Altai Mountains. Based on the Kazakh nomadic society in the Altai Mountains, the book systematically studies “nomadic knowledge” around “nomads, grasslands, and livestock” in the context of grassland ecological changes, and mainly discusses the generation and development of this “local knowledge” system. For a long time, many people’s understanding of nomads has remained in the thinking that nomads are always looking for grasslands and water sources. In fact, nomadic pastoralism for thousands of years has not been “free and loose,” but has a sophisticated and extensive local cognitive system, that is, nomadic knowledge system. This local knowledge system has already faced many difficulties in the context of globalization, and it has also had a profound impact on nomadic society and grassland ecology. The author believes that nomadism is the most effective means of livelihood for the Kazakhs to adapt to the grassland environment, and it is also the source of nomadic knowledge; this local knowledge system is a dynamic balance adjustment mechanism formed after the interaction between nomads, grasslands and livestock. Nomads and their cultural traditions play an important role in the balance of grassland ecosystems; with changes in social, economic and political systems, such as communalization, dual contracting of grass and livestock, etc. The author’s research does not stick to the knowledge atmosphere of traditional nomadic culture, but seeks the best combination of traditional nomadic knowledge systems or local knowledge systems and modern scientific knowledge. At present, there are relatively few cases of Kazakh studies based on the long-term field of anthropology, especially the case of systematic research on its nomadic knowledge.