Greece Culture: Music and Dance: The Sarakatsani People

Both nineteenth century travelers and some modern Greeks have made the mistake of confusing the Sarakatsani with the Vlachs, due to their similar transhumant shepherd way of life. Looking at the past of only a few decades ago though, even this apparent similarity was inaccurate. Unlike the Vlachs, who were semi-nomadic, having mountain villages to return to in between journeys in search of pasture for their flocks, Sarakatsans were true nomads, whose only shelters were wicker and rush huts. The two groups also have different languages, the Vlachs speaking a Latin based tongue related to Romanian, though the Sarakatsani speak Greek (and in a consistent dialect all over Greece, unmixed with the dialects of other groups). They practice endogamy (not marrying with other groups) and avoid what they call 'contamination' by other groups. Elements of early Greek culture are present in the motifs found in their weaving's and embroidery. The nomadic way of life is now a thing of the past. Though some are still shepherds, the Sarakatsani were forced by the government to settle in villages during the last 60-70 years and no longer make the bi-annual journeys with their families to summer mountain pastures and back, with all their families and possessions (something also done by the Vlachs, though they had villages to return to in winter). The fine book by Englishman, Tim Salmon, 'The Unwritten Places' (Lycabettus Press), details both the history of this trek , and describes his personal experience with Vlachs who still summer in the Pindos mountains with their flocks.

The Sarakatsani hold large gatherings in summer in Thessaly, Ipiros, and in eastern Macedonia, where they re-enact their former nomadic life, along with singing and dancing, and cultural societies also exist to educate the younger generation about the traditional life of their people. The singing of klepht songs (the klephts being freedom fighters against the Turks) by Sarakatsani have been described as being very powerful. Their dances are the same as those found all over the central and southern mainland-sta tria, syrto-kalamatiano, and tsamiko, the latter perhaps the most popular. Sarakatsani ariations of common mainland dances are sometimes presented in performances, though many have died out.