SIGNIFICANCE OF SHEPHERD’S TRAIL FOR REGIONAL CULTURE AND ECONOMY EXPLAINED

Maria & Omero

For our fifth program of the year, former AMHS President Maria D’Andrea-Yothers gave a fascinating and informative talk on the transumanza and traturri, a phenomenon that has profoundly influenced the economy, culture and history of Abruzzo and Molise. The event, which was attended by 45 AMHS members and guests, took place on September 23, 2018, at Carmine’s Restaurant, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch before Maria’s talk.

So important is the transumanza that Italy has made a bid to have it added to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) list of intangible cultural heritage. UNESCO’s decision is reportedly expected in November 2019. (Note: An article by Lucio D’Andrea on the UNESCO bid appeared in the May 2018 Notiziario).

Our speaker Maria is AMHS Immediate Past President and a long-time member of the Society. She was our president during years when the Society expanded its membership and activities and became affiliated with the National Italian American Foundation. She is a 2nd generation Italian-American: her mother was born in Pacentro, Abruzzo and her father in Roccamandolfi, Molise. Maria was recently appointed to the Board of the National Christopher Columbus Association, to serve a 3-year term. In her professional life, Maria is Director, Office of Textiles and Apparel, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. She is responsible for domestic and trade policy issues, and her country portfolio includes Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

As Maria explained using an informative Powerpoint presentation, the transumanza is the traditional twice-yearly migration of sheep and cows from the highlands to the lowlands, and back. The word literally means “crossing the land” (from the Latin trans meaning “across” and humus meaning “land”). The regional pastoral economy was based on the seasonal transfer of herds of sheep to the green pastures of the higher Apennines in Abruzzo and Molise in summer, and to the green plains of Puglia and Lazio in winter. The routes followed by the shepherds are known as tratturi.

Although the tratturi are not always visible, Maria explained that 5 main tratturi have been identified. They are generally about 360 feet wide and extend 100-200 miles, and the trails provided the layout for the nearby towns and villages.

So then Maria explained how the ancient tratturi (plural of tratturo) is one of the main features of the Molisani and Abruzzse landscape, an essential aspect of the regional identity. For example, numerous tratturi cross Molise from north to south, east to west, with each one offering rich and unique occasions for immersion in the culture and history of the region.

We learned about how, from the pre-Roman era up until just a few centuries ago, ancient Italians traveled these trails from season to season. The transporting of livestock, the principal mainstay of the population, was based on this rigorous journey from the cool mountain pastures of Abruzzo to the hot and humid Apulian plateaus.

Undertaken mainly by the Samnites since the 6th century B.C., the practice of transhumance enjoyed a period of resurgence under the Romans, who expanded the tratturi “grid” to better connect the Empire’s urban centers. Many of the tratturi run next to the stone-paved ancient Roman roads. In those ancient times, they were provided for under edits of the governors. Although they were unsafe during the Middle Ages and fell somewhat into misuse for a while during the Middle Ages, the trails were restarted by the Benedictine monks in response to the need by Europe’s leading wood producers. Surprisingly, these green trail ways are still almost entirely intact today. Nowadays, tourists, hikers and nature lovers can walk the same ancient paths that shepherds once followed with their herds.

As Maria showed in her interesting presentation, shepherds take about 3 weeks or more to reach their destination. It’s a hard life - a life that is mostly isolated, spent living out in the open or in tiny enclosed stone “homes” for 11 months out of the year. Maria noted that many of these shepherds are Macedonian and they are accompanied by the Abruzzo sheep dog - a mastiff which is one of the best protectors of sheep in the world.

At the end of Maria’s presentation, she read the English translation of the poem “I Pastori” by the famous Abruzzese poet Gabriele D’Annunzio, and then AMHS Past President Omero Sabatini read the poem in Italian and offered his thoughts on the significance of the poem.