Joint Labor of Community Members
The community was managed by the elders of the village (ayil aksakals) - representatives of the older generation who held high social status and were identified by their names. The aksakals resolved economic and social issues, governed based on leadership qualities and real personal authority. They bore moral responsibility for the collective, established and developed inter-community contacts.
Wealthy landowners could form a relatively small community that employed hired labor. Affluent owners of large herds and flocks limited the number of families that migrated together due to the need to provide forage for their livestock. They preferred isolation, which allowed them to graze their herds freely over larger areas.
Joint labor and regular close social ties were most clearly expressed within lower-order communities. The pastoral community is primarily a labor collective: in the conditions of extensive farming, when pastures were commonly used, it was convenient to form sufficiently large herds that combined the livestock of several small families. This facilitated the division of labor, optimal organization of production, rational use of pastures, and ensured a certain level of safety for family members and the preservation of the herd.
Community members worked together to shear sheep, castrate animals, drive livestock to market, and gather fuel. During migrations with herds over long routes, where difficult sections had to be crossed (agiuu — pass, too suusu - mountain rivers, etc.), more people were always required than usual. Such tasks necessitated the use of a relatively large number of transport and pack animals, which also encouraged herders to cooperate.
Decisions related to the organization and execution of many types of economic work were made within the community.
It was important to rely on the rich experience accumulated by predecessors and contemporaries, skills based on collective empirical knowledge. Naturally, rational advice from folk experts was in demand here.
Joint labor was essential for conducting spring fieldwork and autumn agricultural tasks. Plowing fields, sowing, harvesting grains, threshing the harvest, and other types of work required the efforts of a larger number of people. Moreover, individual households borrowed draft animals from other members of the collective. Experienced individuals were invited for certain types of work (for example, for sowing).
The production of felt items and some other objects was also impossible without collective efforts. The production of ala kiyiz, orё kiyiz, shyrdak required the participation of at least four to five women, who needed assistance from children. Women always responded to calls for help from relatives and neighbors, as they often needed services themselves.
Social Relations of the Kyrgyz