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2005 Apr 30 • 315
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The Nomads (called Nomen in their native tongue), known collectively known as the The Clan of the Nomads, is a confederation of tribes that make up one of the largest nation-less ethnic groups in the world, and are one of the very few groups that successfully fended off colonial powers in the early 1900s.

Nomad tribes have no chiefs, leaders, or headmen. While the elder members generally inherit privileges to waterhole locations for the use of their extended families and friends, there are no wholly dominant figures in Nomad societies. Instead of having leaders, the Nomads pool together the ideas and the energy of all members, whether they be male or female, young or old. Their traditional political organization has become a classic example of an indigenous anarchist political structure without a single leader or leader group.

Being hunter-gatherers, the Nomads do not live in a fixed, unchanging society but on the contrary in one that is constantly re-tuning itself to new conditions. The nomadic nature of the Nomads enables their tribal communities to change and re-shape easily over time. For example, elder children who find themselves in conflict with their parents often leave to spend time with a relative in another camp. The act of visiting friends and family in other locations becomes an important yearly, if not monthly, activity for Nomad adults.

Perhaps the most fascinating activity of the Nomads is that of tracking. Many adult Nomads possess a very fine-tuned ability to interpret information about the activities of living things through the physical patterns of movement recorded on plants and in the sand. This skill is so highly developed in expert Nomad hunters that they can correctly guess the species, gender, age, physical state, and mental state of an animal just by the tracks that it leaves behind.

Culture
The Nomads are organized into sietches. Each sietch has a naib, whose word is law unless someone is willing to challenge him for leadership. The Fremen practice polygamy, apparently as a means of pinpointing male infertility. Each sietch has a sayyadina, a wise woman who serves as the acolyte of a Nomads.

Justice
The Nomad system of justice always relies ultimately on trial by combat. The naib of the tribe is someone who killed the previous naib in single combat. Anyone may challenge another in a duel to the death over matters of etiquette, law, or honor; the winner of the duel is responsible for the wife, children, and certain possessions of the loser, as well as the right of the circumstances leading to the duel.

Water Conservation
The most notable custom of the Nomads is their water conservation. Living in the desert with no natural sources of water has spurred the Nomads to build their society around the collection, storage, and conservative use of water. Because of their culture's focus on water conservation, it is generally considered a great sign of respect (though often interpreted otherwise) for a Nomad to spit before a person.

Economics
The basis of nomads economics rests on the concepts of

Thus spoke Zarathustra.

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2006 Feb 27 at 12:31 PST