NOMADIC - PAGE 2

Nomadic people (or nomads) are people who move from place to place, rather than living in one place. The best known examples of nomads are gypsies, Roma, Sinti, and Irish travellers. Many other ethnic groups and communities are traditionally nomadic; such as Berbers, Kazakhs, and Bedouin. People are nomads for many reasons, most nomads are husbandmen herding their livestock, such as cattle, or horses from pasture to pasture. These people have to change places according to the weather. Other nomads are traders and craftsmen (people who make things) traveling to exchange goods or to practice their craft where it is needed. Nomads who follow their herds usually live in tents with few things inside, like Mongols. Nomads who trade or practice crafts usually have wagons in which they travel, because wagons are better for carrying goods. The Sami of Lapland have been mistaken in the past, as a nomadic tribe following a herd of reindeer. However, they are a migratory people who lead their own specific herd of reindeer to specific winter feeding grounds and then return them in the spring to a specific feeding ground close to a permanent home base, where their family lives. This cycle continues annually. Nomadic people must work hard to live, and sometimes it is difficult to do so.