Lunchtime Seminar – 11 March – Gwendoline Lemaitre

When it takes three to make a baby. Generation and regeneration in eastern Georgia. 

Gwendoline Lemaitre (MIASU Visiting Scholar/Fyssen)

For several centuries, shepherds and Tush families in eastern Georgia have periodically migrated between the high mountains of the Caucasus and the fertile plains of the foothills. In this context, human and sheep offspring often receive similar treatment in different locations: men manage sheep and their lambs on pastures far from family homes, while women care for the children. They are wrapped in renowned wool, given specific food and transported in saddlebags on horseback. Above all, they are taken to the mountains of Tusheti as early as possible, a region described as the crucible of collective identity. The Tusheti terroirs are indeed necessary for the health of the Tush people and their domestic animals. Young people and non-human animals are expected to spend as much time there as possible, especially in cases of prematurity or health problems, which are common.I will discuss data collected from Tush women regarding premature or unwell children and from Tush men regarding lambs. In both cases, the survival and good health of babies is crucial for the regeneration of the collective. Paradoxically, mobility is also often supposed to regenerate their fragile health. As the Tush were displaced from the mountains to the plains during the 20th century, new mobility takes them from the plains to the mountains — or to specific high-altitude locations in the case of lambs separated from the flock — and is perceived as difficult and dangerous.