Desert Regions: Nomads and Traders

Duration: 600

Year Published: 1980

Creator: BFA

Complete Record: Focuses on the American Navajo Indians of Monument Valley and the Bedouins of Jordan. Shows how each group has adapted to its desert region and developed its own culture. Notes that 20th Century technology and lifestyles are beginning to affect the traditional ways of both groups. This is a story of how people live in desert regions as nomads and traders: Images and topics: Southwest U.S. Navajos; hogan housing design (logs and clay); maize cultivation; rug weaving and silver-smithing; the trading posts; education; tribal rodeos. Segment #2: Deserts of Arabia: Bedouins nomads. Camels to herd flocks of goats; the search for food and water; goat-hair tents; camels for transportation; wool-spinning and sewing; water and firewood acquisition; bread-making; bread, rice and meat are their basic foods; coffee and tea; modernization and social transition with transistor radios, permanent houses, trucks, manufactured products (salt, soap, hardware and “drinks”). There are new roads, new opportunities for school for children