Tradition and Modernity in the Oukaïmeden Valley: Changes in the Rites and Practices of Seasonal Trasterminance

Abstract

Oukaïmeden valley is a high-altitude pasture reserve in the Moroccan High Atlas. Two groups of Berber shepherds, the tribes of Rheraya and Ourika, have been accessing the valley several centuries ago. The origins of the collective regulation that rules this summer access are found in religious practices previous to the conversion to Islam. This article focuses on the co-existence in the valley between tradition and modernity after the arrival of the tourism to Oukaïmeden, and the changes that modernity produce in Berber shepherds’ perception of their tradition. In order to do this, rites, traditions and use rights on pastures are described in relation to the results of an etnoarchaeological enquiry performed among modern Berber shepherds that reflects information about grazing and the agdal system as well as the view that they have about rock art, tumuli and other prehistoric remains scattered on the Oukaïmeden landscape. The main conclusion points out a kind of balance between tradition and modernity in the valley, in spite of the progressive decline of traditions and ways of living.