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Celebrating Multi-Religious Co-Existence in Central Kurdistan: the Bio-Culturally Diverse Traditional Gathering of Wild Vegetables among Yazidis, Assyrians, and Muslim Kurds

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Abstract

An ethnobotanical field study focusing on traditional wild vegetables was conducted in 22 villages of Central Kurdistan among three ethno-religious groups: Yazidis, Christian Assyrians, and (Sunni) Muslim Kurds. Through 91 interviews with elderly informants, we recorded the folk uses of 54 identified botanical taxa. We also observed important differences among these three groups in the use of wild vegetables that reflect the historical prevalence of pastoralism versus horticulture among Kurds and Assyrians, respectively. The preservation of the peaceful co-existence of different cultural and religious groups in the study area is crucial for the maintenance of the rich wild plant food local heritage.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks are due to all the study participants, who agreed to share their folk plant knowledge despite the tremendous obstacles and psychological difficulties a few families have had to face (among those Yazidis who escaped from Sinjar); and to Xalid Rasul, for his attentive logistics assistance.

Funding

This study was funded by the University of Gastronomic Sciences, Italy, the Estonian Science Foundation (Grant IUT22–5), and the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund (Center of Excellence in Estonian Studies, CEES).

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Author notes

  1. Renata Sõukand

    Present address: Department of Enviornmental Sciences, Informatics, and Statistics, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9, I-12042, Bra/Pollenzo, Italy

    Andrea Pieroni

  2. Estonian Literary Museum, Tartu, Estonia

    Renata Sõukand

  3. College of Science, University Salahaddin-Erbil, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq

    Hawraz Ibrahim M. Amin

  4. College of Science, University of Raparin, Ranya, Kurdistan, Iraq

    Hawre Zahir

  5. Estonian University of Life Sciences, Tartu, Estonia

    Toomas Kukk

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  1. Andrea Pieroni
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  2. Renata Sõukand
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Correspondence to Andrea Pieroni.

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Prior informed Consent was always verbally obtained before each interview and the Code of Ethics of the International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE 2008) was strictly followed.

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Pieroni, A., Sõukand, R., Amin, H.I.M. et al. Celebrating Multi-Religious Co-Existence in Central Kurdistan: the Bio-Culturally Diverse Traditional Gathering of Wild Vegetables among Yazidis, Assyrians, and Muslim Kurds. Hum Ecol 46, 217–227 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-018-9978-x

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