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African Culture
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TUAREG INTRODUCTION The Tuareg people are predominently nomadic people live in sahara desert-particularly in the parts that cover Algeria, Tunisia, Libya Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso-, and mostly in the Northern reaches of Mali near Timbuktu and Kidal. The Tuareg are often referred to as "Blue Men of the desert " - because their robes are dyed indigo blue. They live in small tribes with between 30 and 100 family members and keep camels, goats, cattle and chicken which graze the land. Many would think that Tuareg (sometimes spelled Touareg in French, or Twareg in English),are so named after their ancestor the great Muslim Berber leader Tariq bin ZIAD,However, some would think otherwise when they trace the name " Tuareg" back to an Arabic word widely used by the French, meaning "abandoned by the gods". According to other sources, the word Tuareg could be derived from Targa, the name of a city in south Libya (it belongs to the south Libyan region called Fezzan). Targa could be the old name of Fezzan too (there are different opinions).In fact,The meaning of the word Twareg has been long discussed, since it does not seem Berber,anyway ,The Touareg do not especially like this name and prefer to call themselves variously Kel Tamasheq, Kel Tamajaq "Speakers of Tamasheq" and Imouhar, Imuhagh, Imazaghan or Imashaghen "the Free people". "Speakers of Tamasheq" and Imouhar, Imuhagh, Imazaghan or Imashaghen "the Free people". _________________ Territory & population The Tuareg people inhabit a large area covering almost all the middle and western Sahara and the north-central Sahel. In Tuareg terms, the Sahara is not one desert but many, so they call it Tinariwen "the Deserts". Among the many deserts in north-west Africa there is the true desert Tenere. Then we can cite numerous deserts more and less arid, flat and mountainous: Adrar, Tagant, Tawat (Touat) Tanezruft, Adghagh n Fughas, Tamasna, Azawagh, Adar, Damargu, Tagama, Manga, Ayr, Tarramit (Termit), Kawar, Jado, Tadmait, Admer, Igharghar, Ahaggar, Tassili Nager, Tadrart, Idhan, Tanghart, Fezzen, Tibesti. Kalansho, Libian desert & cet. Their numbers are unclear, but estimates run between 300,000 and 3 million.(The following numbers are all estimates, and may exclude Tuareg who are assimilated into the general population of these countries). Niger: 720,000 (1998)
Mali: 440,000 (1991)
Algeria: 25,000 (1987)
Burkina Faso: 60,000 (1991)
Libya: 17,000 (1993) ___________________ Ethnicity & Language The Tuareg are classified as a Berber group, and are closely related to both Northwest African Berbers and West Africans , in terms of culture and ethnicity. At least some sources argue that the Tuareg are defined by language and culture, not by ethnicity, and that predominantly Tamasheq speakers qualified as "Tuareg" (and, presumably, by implication, individuals of Tuareg descent but who have assimilated into various countries and do not speak Tamasheq languages do not). This is probably part of the reason for the widely varying estimates of the number of Tuareg.,moreover Tuaregs are said to be probably distant relatives of Egyptians and Moroccans.They share with them their culture and their Islamic religion. In brief,Touarig are not Arabs, they are Berbers: they speak a dialect derived of the old Berber language, and share the same alphabet. Today, Tuaregs are a mixture of Whites (berbers) and Blacks (sub-saharian people). Their language is called Tamershak, to which there is a proper alphabet.having several dialects among the different regions. Berber is an Afro-Asiatic language closely related to Pharaohnic Egyptian and Semitic. (The language is called Tamasheq by western Tuareg in Mali, Tamaheq among Algerian and Libyan Tuareg, and Tamajeq in the Azawagh and Aïr regions, Niger. The Tamajaq writing system, Tifinagh(also called Shifinagh), descends directly from the original Berber script used by the Numidians in pre-Roman times.) _________________ Religion
Tuaregs have converted to Islam since the 16th century, but their beliefs has a higher part of traditional religious elements than in many other Muslim communities and even if religion plays an important role in their life, they are not considered very devout. The main points of the religion are respected, prayer, abstinence from pork meat, though some are lax in observance, more inclined to observe feasts than fasts. They combine Sunni Islam (specifically the Maliki madhab, popular in North and West Africa) with certain pre-Islamic animistic beliefs, including spirits of nature (Kel Asuf) and such syncetric beliefs as divination through means of the Quran. Tuareg believe in the continuous presence of various spirits (djinns). Divination is accomplished through means of the Koran. Most men wear protective amulets which contain verses from the Koran. Men also begin wearing a veil at age 25 which conceals their entire face excluding their eyes. This veil is never removed, even in front of family members. Women are not veiled. Christianity had a certain influence on them: (Tuareg blacksmiths sculpt beautiful crosses). _______________________ HISTORY Before French colonization, the Tuareg were organized into loose confederations, each consisting of a dozen or so tribes. Each of the main groups had a traditional leader called Amenokal along with an assembly of tribal chiefs (imaran, singular amar). The groups were the Kel Ahaggar, Kel ajjar, Kel Ayer, Adrar n Fughas, Iwllmdan and Kel Gres. In the early 19th century, the Tuareg resisted the French invasion of their Central Saharan homelands for the purpose of colonization. In fact ,French people had no interest in colonizing the Saharan territories, but did it in competition with the English during the colonial .French ruled north-west Africa as one distinct district .Their intention was to create a Saharan state, which could be assimilated to the Azawagh region in Mali, added to the south of Algeria and the whole central part of Sahara. Consequently ,Tuareg found themselves obliged to fight against French troops.However,broadswords were no match for the more advanced weapons of French squadrons, and after numerous massacres, the Tuareg were subdued and required to sign treaties in Mali 1905 and Niger 1917. In southern Algeria, the French met some of the strongest resistance from the Ahaggar, Tuareg. Their Amenkol, traditional chief Moussa ag amstan, fought numerous battles in defense of the region. Finally, Tuareg territories were taken under French governance and their confederations were largely dismantled and reorganized. Relationships between the two people, French and Tuaregs, were difficult because of the hard way French people ruled the proud Imashagen. Problems included: numerous taxes, exploitation of Tuareg labour and resources essentially for transportation, conscription as soldiers in the French Army, dispossession of resources (e.g. livestock), interference with trade (trans Saharan food/salt trade) and in Tuareg conflicts with neighbors (Zarma, Toubou tribes). However, the French also attempted to ban ancestral slavery and razzias which Tuaregs made on neighbouring camps (Rezzous). Following the independence of African countries in 1960s, Tuareg territory was artificially divided into modern nations: Algeria, Libya Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. Long-standing competition for resources in the Sahel has impacted Tuareg conflicts with neighboring African groups, especially after political disruption and economic constraints following French colonization, tight restrictions placed on nomadization, and desertification exacerbated by global warming and the increased firewood needs of growing cities. Today, some Tuareg are experimenting with farming; some have been forced to abandon herding, and seek jobs in towns and cities. In Mali, a Tuareg uprising resurfaced in the Adrar Nfughas mountains in the 1960s, following Mali's independence. In May 1990, in the aftermath of a clash between government soldiers and Tuareg outside a prison in Tchin-Tbardin Niger, Tuaregs in both Mali and Niger claimed autonomy for their traditional homeland: (Tenere, capital Agadez, in Niger and the Azawad & Kidal regions of Mali). Deadly clashes between Tuareg freedom-fighters and the military of both countries followed, with deaths numbering well into the thousands. Negotiations initiated by France and Algeria led to peace agreements (January,11,1990 in Mali and 1995 in Niger). Both agreements called for decentralization of national power and guaranteed the integration of Tuareg resistance fighters into the countries' respective national armies. Major fighting between the Tuareg resistance and government security forces ended after the 1995 and 1996 agreements, but in 2004, sporadic fighting continued in Niger between government forces and groups struggling to obtain Tuareg independence. For more information on French colonization and Tuareg rebellion ,please visit: http://tuaregs.free.fr/ __________________ ECONOMY,SOCIETY& CULTURE Economy: For thousands of years, Tuareg economy revolved around trans-Saharan trade. There are basically five trade routes which extend across the Sahara from the northern Mediterranean coast of Africa to the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara. Tuareg merchants were responsible for bringing goods from these cities to the north. From there they were distributed throughout the world. Because of the nature of transport and the limited space available in caravans, Tuareg usually traded in luxury items, things which took up little space and on which a large profit could be made. Tuareg were also responsible for bringing enslaved people north from west Africa to be sold to Europeans and Middle Easterners. Many Tuareg settled into the communities with which they traded, serving as local merchants and representatives for their friends and family who continued to trade.
Generally, Tuareg had 3 principal sources of income :
1-taxation of caravan routs crossing Sahara. .2-plundering settled neighbouring peoples 3-pastoral activities These activities have been strongly reduced due to stronger state structures, border control, and need for control over citizens in the modern state. Hence a large part of today's Tuaregs have now moved into cities. In recent times, the Tuareg have been abandoning their nomadic way of life and take up sedentary lifestyles. Drought and government policy are threatening their traditional way of life but Tuaregs and their camel-caravans still appear unexpectedly on the horizon before melting into the desert again. Many Tuareg today are either settled agriculturalists or nomadic cattle breeders; though there are also blacksmithes and caravan leaders. Society &Family roles: Traditionally, Tuareg society is strongly hierarchic, divided into nobles, vassals and serfs (descendants of slaves that have faced problems breaking free from their inherited social status). The work of pastoralism was specialized according to social class: imúša, warrior-aristocrats who organized group defense, livestock raids, and the long-distance caravan trade; ímad, vassal-herdsmen who pastured and tended most of the confederation's livestock; ìnhædæn, blacksmith-clients who fabricated and repaired the saddles, tools, household equipment and other material needs of the community. After the adoption of Islam, a separate class of religious clerics, the marabout, also became integral to Tuareg social structure. Traditionally, the traders had a higher status than all but the nobility among their more settled compatriots to the south. With time, that difference has eroded, corresponding to the economic fortunes of the two groups. Formerly - like most other Africans - the Tuareg also held èklan "slaves", often war prisoners darker than the generally brown-skinned Tuareg, who are also known as the Bella. In the Tuareg societies ,just like most of primitive societies,Women process milk, make butter, prepare animal skins, make clothes and bedding from skin, collect firewood and water.However, woman have a strong and free position and she decides over her own life. Men, not women, wear veil in public but this has more to do with practical needs than with moral attitude — as men move more around in the desert than women, they have more need for covering and protecting their face.
Men drive the animals take responsibility for selling. Men will take camels to towns to sell them, returning with millet which they use as flour for bread making. Other purchases will include sugar and tea. Most outputs, however, are consumed by the family.
ARTS:
Tuareg music is beautiful, hypnotic, and the rhythm sounds like Berber music. Music is often played during tea time. Accompanied with hand clapping and a chorus of women.
The texts are often impressions of the composer about the desert, women, mountains or villages, and are simple but poetic and passionate. Tuareg music is often played in a very simple way: just a poem sung with the amzad, played in the evenings around a fire or during caravan stops. The Tuareg versification is very rigorous. There are many kinds of poems: so called 'seienin', 'in-aller-Ialla', and 'aliuen'. The last one: aliuen was only played by women during weddings.
For each form there are particular melodies and structures played with the amzad. This music is similar to that of certain tribes in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. The amzad is only played by women. A woman who played well, was considered well educated. The amzad was taught by the mother or an aunt. Some players were well-known, and people traveled across the whole desert to hear their beautiful music. Today the amzad is infrequently played. The tobol is progressively replacing the amzad. It is played by men during great meetings or weddings. It is more rhythmic and is closer to the sub Saharan music played by the Black tribes. This music comes from the Adrar-des-Ifoghas. Tichioué is another kind of very interesting music, with male artists singing beautiful arabesque for a women, taking emotions as they come. It can be a song about the past Tuaregs wars too. Tuaregs now play guitar or a kind of oud and sing. They can be accompanied by percussion and hand claping in a Berber rhythm. Women sing the chorus. This is the most modern style of Tuareg music, as played in southern Algeria by sedentary Tuaregs of Djanet for example. But the typical Tuareg music is the Tindé. A female soloist sings and beats the rhythm on a drum and a female chorus answers to each sentence. The voices mix with hand clapping and sometimes the sweet sound of water drums.
There are two kinds of Tindé : the Nomnas Tindé (songs of Praise ) and the n´Goumas Tinde (songs of possession). The Tuareg tribe are excellent craftsmen renowned for their indigo cloth, gold and silver jewellery and carved wooden masks. _____________ DO U KNOW? *Tuareg belong to the Maliki sect of Islam, resulting from the teachings of the great sheikh, El Maghili, who came among them in the early 16th century. *The most famous Tuareg leader was a woman, Tin Hinan, heroine and spiritual leader who founded a legendary kingdom in the Ahaggar mountains. Other confederation leaders followed under the title of Amenokal (Chief); among the famous:Karidanna, of the Iwillimmidan Balkhu, of Kel Ayr Musa Ag Amastan, of Kel Ahaggar *For over two millennia, the Tuareg operated the trans-Saharan caravan trade connecting the great cities on the southern edge of the Sahara via five desert trade routes to the northern (Mediterreanean)coast of Africa. *The Tuareg adopted camel nomadism along with its distinctive form of social organization from camel-herding Arabs about two thousand years ago, when the camel was introduced to the Sahara from Saudi Arabia. Like numerous African and other groups in pre-modern times, the Tuareg once took captives, either for trade or for domestic purposes; those who were not sold became assimilated into the Tuareg community. Captive servants and herdsmen formed a component of the division of labor in camel nomadism. *The Tuareg are sometimes called the "Blue People" because the indigo pigment in the cloth of their traditional robes and turbans stained the wearer's skin dark blue. Today, the traditional indigo turban is still preferred for celebrations, and generally Tuaregs wear clothing and turbans in a variety of colors. *The sword is a Tuareg's most valued possession. Many are passed from generation to generation and said to be protected by the victories of its past owners.
*Tuarega are proud race of people, famous for their fighting abilities and artwork, now staring urbanisation and resettlement in the face.
Arranged & prepared by : Hatim Alansary(Hassouna) References: 1-http://lexicorient.com/e.o/tuareg.htm 2-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg 3-http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Tuareg.html 4-http://tuaregs.free.fr/ _______________________________ Previous Topics: 1-BAGANDA:to view it,just click on this link : http://hassouna.i8.com/baganda.html 2-WOLOF:to view it ,just click on this link: http://hassouna.i8.com/wolof.html
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