YORUK SACKS

Yörtürk Magazine (March-April)
Ersu PEKIN

     One of the most important social events of Turkish History is the passing from the civilization of migrating people in village and towns. In the different geographic areas, this changement of “Culture and Civilization” incident continued for hundreds of years, it caused difficult problems too hard to solve in every century.

     The reason of this is more or less being impossible to change the civilization of migrating people with horses, that comes from the old centuries of Turkish History into the order of settled people in a short period.

     Nowadays, all the social problems of immigrants is due to the difficult problems between Middle Ages and Contemporary Civilization that are impossible to solve. Because of their qualities even if they aren’t different, there is a very great gap between the old Turkish migrating civilization with horses and the Middle ages established-village and town civilization.

     To pass from one into other, it is necessary to change a lot of things in materialistic and virtual area.

     In these migrating communities who are extremely fond of their traditions, the biggest handicap is of course leaving the cattle dealing in a certain ratio and accepting the established civilization in a certain place.

     King Oguz epic poem and its rest Dede Korkut book are full of alive pages that describes the shapes of migrating people’s life, their personal understandings, traditions and custom. In the epic poem of King Oguz, in the civilization of migrating people the importance of the animals can easily be understood. They play very important role in both moral and materialistic life. By means of Totemizm and Þamanizm, civilization of immigrants with horses came to top level. In Þamanizm, a part of old Turkish religion, animals have symbolic meanings. Animal motives are dominant in the living of immigrants with horses. Ord. Prof. Dr. Anna Maria von Gabai the stated that animal motives had symbolic motives at the old Turkish art.

     Contemporary English historian Toynbee’s opinions about the living of immigration are the same in general. Of course the other researchers aren’t different, either. “ A study of History III. Part 13-18” named work.

     “Nomadism is better than farming in many ways. Beacuse, first of all taming the animals is certainly a much more important art than taming plants. Economically, farmers directly spend his grown crop, but immigrants get the animals to eat the grass that people can’t eat, change them into milk, meat and wool. Therefore, their bodies must be very strong, too. These effects makes the military skills improved as well as the skills of shepherd...”

     Toynbee continues by writing “The Nomad’s life is indeed a triumph of human skill.”

     “Nomad’s life is indeed a triump of human skill.” Between the years 1240-1322, because of Mongol invasion, a second wave of immigration came to Anatolia. There were scientists and dervishes amongst them, too. However the longer part was consisting of nomads who were feeding animal flock. These are also called the civilization of horsed nomads. These nomadic people coming from Turkistan, Horastan and Azarbaijan still continue to live recently.

     In this writing, “sacks” are told that we arranged at the researching trips amongst the Yuruk groups on Anamas Mountains which lies between Eðridir Lake and Beyþehir Lake at the altitude of 2980 m., the ones called Karakoyunlu, Karakeçili, Sarýabalý, Sarýkeçili, Honamlý Hayta, Kosaltý, Akkoyunlu, Ötkünlüler, Çoþlular, old Yuruks, who graze on the eastern Toros Mountains, Binboða and Soðanlý Mountains, Horzum, Saçýkara, Sarýkeçili, Tekeli, Göðebakanlý, Çavuþlu, Hacýçiller, Ottoman, Kölemenli, Ýzmirli, Güllüler, Satýrlar, Kelebekli, Dazkýrlý.

     In economies, amongst the societies belong to cattle dealing, especially the living of Yuruks is shaped according this situation. The changement occuring in our community generally effects the life of Yuruk. But still, with the habit of hundreds of years, there are crowds of Yuruks who continue to live as nomad. On the other hand, their population is decreasing day by day. Amongst the reason of this, cattle dealing can’t be used to the conditions of the age, production can’t reach other than themselves.