The topic of research is those shepherds working using traditional methods. The original scope of the study was to cover shepherds and their families who earn their living through traditional methods in the villages of the districts of Oltu, Olur, Senkaya, Uzundere and Tortum in Erzurum province. However, due to the difficulty of reaching people, only the village of Atyolu village in the Senkaya district was chosen as the sample. The reason why this village was chosen as an example is because sheperheridng is practiced ın this village as a profession. The area where the research was carried out is one of the villages that meets the needs of the shepherds. The aim of this study is to reveal the status of the shepherds working and earning income with traditional methods to determine their rights and interests in the modern period.

The method of our research is ethnographic and interpretive interactivity. Ethnographic research is the study of the material and spiritual cultures that emerge as a result of efforts to meet the economic and social needs of human communities in various times and places. In contrast, interpretive interaction is realized by interpreting the meaning of intension given by the person who performs the behavior. Data collection method was through participant observationin the research, which stand out as ethnographic and interpretive interactivity methods. The researcher continuously collected the data from both employer and employees. The observation period was between March 2017 and November 2018.

Shepherding is one of the rare professions that came from nomads time and exists till present days. It can be said that providing basic human needs such as food and clothing from animals is the biggest motivation for shepherding having existed as a profession for such a long time. From migratory to modern society, many changes have been experienced and this has affected the shepherding profession as well. The work of traditional shepherd, shaped according to agricultural society, continues in modern times as well. The job of the shepherd created the ways of a past the agricultural society does not adapt well to working conditions of the modern period because, working hours, forms of contracts, permits, responsibilities and rights of employees, which are prominent in terms of business law in the modern period, can be seen as an important factor in increasing the welfare of the shepherds.

The research consists of three main parts. In the first chapter, the definition, rights and obligations of the shepherd were determined. The Turkish language institution defines the shepherding as the grazing herds of sheep and goats. But in the area where the research is done it is called the herd grazing people. The variety of the herd is not important and there is separate name for each herd. The name of the herd is given by the firtst name beginning of shepherd so it is known to whom the flock belongs to. The wage comes first among the rights of the shepherd. A small fraction of the fee is given in an advance and the remainder one is given at the end of the period. Provision of accomadation is another important shepherd’s right. If the shepherd is not from the village, the village head and elders provide a place for them to stay in. As well as these two fundamental rights, there are also social benefits. Food and clothing are provided by many people, although they are not considered compulsory. The responsibility of the shepherd is grazing the animals. The main priority is to bring all the animals back to the barn in the evening . Other important obligations are the care of animals when they are ill searching for lost animals, notification of mating time, salt and water supply. In the second chapter, the status of the shepherd workers the village of was discussed.

A significant portion of the shepherd workers living in the village of Atyolu are working as shepherds in the villages outside for the reason that a small number of animals are in the village. Most of them go to agreed village in April, and when the term ends, they go back to their village. The working period is usually from May to November. This process is very much related to the earliest removal of the abdomen. In the third chapter, shepherds are evaluated in terms of labor law. In the study, it was revealed that the shepherds did not use their weekly leave, they made their contracts verbally, their working hours were twelve hours daily, the children of the shepherds did not receive sufficient education, they were not entitled to receive social security benefits and they worked on an informal basis. Morever, it is seen that the houses they live in are very small compared to other households, there is no bath and the toilets are outside the house. Fridge, oven, cooker, washing machine, dishwasher, television and iron which are considred as main necessities today are not genrally found in their homes. While television, refrigerator and tube cookers can be found at times other modern appliances simply arent available at all.