An Ethnographical Research on the Subsistence Strategy of Olad-e Mohammad Karim Tribe, Southern Zagros

Olad-e Mohammad Karim is a small branch of Laboo Mohammadi tribe, and this tribe belongs to the larger tribe of Arab-e Jabbareh. The Arab-e Jabbareh tribe itself belongs to the larger clan of Fars’ Ilat-e Khamseh. In the past years, the Olad-e Mohammad Karim used to migrate seasonally in the eastern Fars province from north to south. From the early days of Pahlavi I era, Olad-e Mohammad Karim were forced to stay in the northern Fars and since then they have changed their subsistence strategy from full-time nomadic pastoralism to the semi-nomadic pastoralism in order to maintain their lives. On the other hand, during the last century the accelerated wave of industrialization has affected their use of technology dramatically. This research tries to combine ethnographical data with those from landscape, geography and human bioenvironmental research to investigate to what extend cultural adaptations could be responsible in order to maintain the subsistence strategies. Astonishingly enough our study indicates that in spite of the introduction of different aspects of modern technologies, the subsistence pattern of Olad-e Mohammad Karim has not changed affectedly even to these days.