Hi Jolly

Kerning Cultures

Kerning Cultures Network

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.9 • 529 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2022

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we're following the trail of an elusive camel herder called Hadj Ali (or, as the Americans called him; Hi Jolly). He was one of the first people from the Middle East to move to the USA, and although he died penniless, alone and almost entirely forgotten, he played a big role in America's westward expansion... all on camelback. It's a wild ride, so saddle up.

This episode was produced by Laith Majali, Dana Ballout and Alex Atack, and edited by Dana Ballout. Fact checking by Deena Sabry and additional support by Nadeen Shaker and Zeina Dowidar. Sound design and mixing by Mohamad Khreizat and Alex Atack.

A special thanks to Doug Baum, Marshall Trimble, Heba Afify and all of the cameleers who spoke to us for this story.

Support this podcast on patreon.com/kerningcultures for as little as $2 a month.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	So I've had herbie.
0:03.0	So I've had Herbie, it's going to be six years. Six years next month. Yeah.
0:25.6	And you've got Chico? Two years ago.
0:29.1	This is Jennifer Lagascar speaking to the filmmaker Leith Majali. Herbie and Chico are her camels and Jennifer is a camelier.
0:36.7	That's the term for very serious camel owners.
0:40.0	And Jennifer, Jennifer's a serious camel owner. Well, we got married. I came in on a camel.
0:45.7	We wanted to do a big carnival party event. We were both animal people. Both have a degree in biology.
0:53.2	Leith was speaking to Jennifer at a meetup of around 25 cameleers in the Mojave Desert,
0:57.9	about a three-hour drive east of Los Angeles, where I live, actually.
1:01.7	And some of them had driven for miles to be there, and their own custom-built camel trailers.
1:07.4	Yeah, just kind of like horses.
1:08.5	They have their custom-made kind of
1:12.1	trailers, yeah. It's a lifestyle. It's a lifestyle. But what attracted me so much to the
1:17.6	camel tribe, as we like to call ourselves, is the warmth and welcomeness that they all bring. And I love
1:26.7	that. All the trainers and I love that.
1:29.0	All the trainers and all the professionals. So as I've met the community of camel ears, what fascinated me is the multiple uses they found for camels.
1:37.2	So you've got a big group using camel milk for beauty products, everything from pills to animal shampoo to human shampoo,
1:50.1	soap bars.
1:51.9	I remember eating chocolate fudge made with camel milk.
1:57.1	What did it taste like?
1:58.5	Oh, it was great.
1:59.5	I love camel milk.
	...

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