Cultural Change
|
In recent years, especially in Mali, the Tuareg have gone through substantial cultural change. Since the 2012 rebellion by the MNLA rebel faction, life has become very difficult for the Tuareg people.
In Mali, the UN has become increasingly alarmed about the lack of security. The Tuareg (especially the MNLA) have been targeted by Islamists and the Malian government in many cases; human rights groups have reported these violations and killings. Tuareg civilians have been victims of discrimination, possibly due to the Malian government automatically associating them with the small group of Tuareg rebels. The Malian government has been urged by Tuareg civilians to not discriminate against them for the MNLA's actions. Worse than discrimination is that Mali is now subject to a high degree of violence as the MNLA, Malian government and Islamist groups fight. Tuareg civilians have been forced to cross borders for their own safety. In the refugee camp of Mentao in Burkina Faso, there are many frightened Tuareg refugees. They are stranded and though they may be safe, they are going hungry, as there is not enough food to feed all 12,000 of them at this camp. 20 million people in the Sahel region of the Sahara desert face food insecurity right now. Bad droughts currently have many, including the Tuareg, struggling to just survive. In spite of the hardships that the Tuareg are facing, they have hope. Minority Rights Group International, along with Amnesty International are calling attention to the plight of the Tuareg people. They are supporting the Tuareg people in their bid to escape discrimination and to be safe in Mali. Although a stable peace has not yet been reached between the Tuareg rebels and the Malian government, they are slowly working toward that goal. Sources: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/111028/tuaregs-5-things-you-need-know http://www.minorityrights.org/5315/mali/tuareg.html http://www.wrmea.org/1992-march/special-report-central-sahara-fighting-pits-tuareg-rebels-against-north-african-armies.html http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mali-tuareg-rebellion-fight-independence-blue-people-1449176 http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-crisis-in-mali-a-historical-perspective-on-the-tuareg-people/5321407 http://bridgesfrombamako.com/2013/02/25/understanding-malis-tuareg-problem/ http://www.voanews.com/content/after-coup-mali-tuaregs-fear-discrimination-143846476/180429.html http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/mali-tuareg-burkina-faso-sahel-famine-poverty-war-AQIM-MNLA-701 |
Video clip from a documentary about the current struggles of the Tuareg people
Religion
The Tuareg practice the Maliki sect of Sunni Islam, which came from the prophet El Maghili in the early 16th century. They do have daily prayers to Allah, but they do not subscribe to the rest of the traditional Muslim traditions such as fasts, particularly the one during Ramadan, possibly due to the fact that they are constantly traveling. On the contrary, they observe feasts with much gusto. Outside their belief of Allah, the Tuareg have practiced animism for many years (since their earliest days). They still believe in these elements (souls), notably spirits, or djinns, as they call them. Today, they have just merged Islam into their worship due to its commanding presence in Northern Africa. Interestingly enough, Tuareg means 'the abandoned of God' in Arabic.
Sources: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/111028/tuaregs-5-things-you-need-know http://www.minorityrights.org/5315/mali/tuareg.html |
Political/Social Control
The Tuareg's political organization has chiefdoms; the chiefs of each clan is called the amghar. The Tuareg have been fighting for autonomy for quite some time, especially in Mali.
The first clash occurred in 1960 when Mali obtained its independence. The Tuareg protested that Mali was discriminating against them and their nomadic lifestyle. They were repressed by the regime of President Modibo Keita in the 1960s and they also suffered a devastating drought that started in 1968 and ended in 1974. 40% of the country's livestock was lost, forcing many Tuareg to abandon the nomadic lifestyle in favor of moving to cities, camps or adjacent countries. Another period of bad drought and famine occurred in the 1980s, but the government did not aid the Tuareg. It was at this point that some Tuareg fled to Libya and became mercenaries for Dictator Qaddafi. Returning to Mali with weapons in 1990, these separatists attacked government facilities in Gao. This attack was met with a swift and forceful response from the Malian army. A cease-fire that was negotiated by Algeria in January 1991 disintegrated quickly. Mali's Alpha Oumar Konare, who was elected in 1992, had a main priority of getting on good terms with the Tuareg rebels in northern Mali. To this effect, he made several concessions to them; despite these measures, the Tuareg separatist rebellion persisted. This was partially due to factors such as race and ethnicity (particularly skin color). The Tuareg still felt ostracized by the other Malian citizens, as the majority of the black Malians considered themselves to be Arab or Libyan and they held a grudge towards the Tuareg because of their past enslavement of blacks. In 1994, Libya and Qaddafi backed the rebels to attack Gao again and the Malian army responded with great force. The country seemed to be on the brink of a civil war, but Konare managed to appease the Tuareg and reach a new peace settlement with them in 1995. Then, a demilitarization period for both the Tuareg and Malian army began in 1996. After a decade of tenuous peace, the fires of rebellion broke out again with a former separatist attacking a garrison under the banner of a new rebel movement called the Democratic Alliance for Change. Algeria negotiated another peace agreement in July 2006 that stipulated that development be done in Mali and that the Tuareg be reintegrated into the Malian military. This agreement did not last, as small skirmishes between the Malian army and the Tuareg prevented this from happening. In 2009, the government dismantled rebel bases to help with continuing peace negotiations. From 2009 to 2012, the Tuareg resented the Malian government for their actions and once this combined with political factors, the Tuareg started a new rebellion against the Malian state. On April 6, 2012, the Tuareg involved with the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared the Azawad region an independent nation. However, the international community did not recognize it as its own entity. The MNLA claimed that they were unified, but divisions between these rebel groups and extremist Islamic groups inevitably led to the rebellion's demise. Eventually, French and Malian forces retook control of the north. Today, there is again an uneasy peace with intermittent skirmishes, as the Malian government/military and the Tuareg separatists try to reach a lasting peace agreement. The Tuareg people as a whole have been persecuted for the actions of a minority of Tuareg rebels (MNLA fighters). There have been allegations of human rights violations; these have come from the MNLA as well as the Tuareg who are fugitives trying to escape the violence. Looting, rape and harsh Sharia law are purported to have been some of the Malian army's actions towards the Tuareg. Right now, the other Tuareg people (almost 12,000 of them) are struggling to survive, as they face poverty, famine and disease in camps in Burkina Faso, 30 miles from Mali's border. All they want is for peace to be reestablished in Mali, as the violence there right now makes it impossible for them to be heard. Sources: http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-crisis-in-mali-a-historical-perspective-on-the-tuareg-people/5321407 http://www.minorityrights.org/5315/mali/tuareg.html http://www.wrmea.org/1992-march/special-report-central-sahara-fighting-pits-tuareg-rebels-against-north-african-armies.html http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mali-tuareg-rebellion-fight-independence-blue-people-1449176 http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jul/06/mali-war-over-skin-colour |
|
Social Stratification -Please regrade this section, as I fixed it from Checkpoint #3
The Tuareg do suffer from racism today in the Sahelian region, but it important to note that Tuareg is a diverse ethnic term. Tuareg range from the light-skinned Berbers to the dark-skinned Africans and intermediate shades of these extremes. Some analysts have posited that the turmoil in Mali amounts to a war on skin color. The Tuareg historically has had black slaves; many Malian's identify as this, so they discriminate against the Tuareg due to resentment about the past. The Tuareg not only has had slaves, but they were under French colonial rule in the 19th and early 20th century. However, they despised the French, as they did not feel like they helped them any (especially during droughts). Thus, they resisted the colonial influence and eventually broke free of it (in the early-mid-20th century). Not being under colonial rule had its challenges, as they needed to learn how to survive in droughts of ever-increasing severity. This ultimately forced them to become semi-nomadic, which they remain to this day. While some sources report that the Malian government is just putting down violent Tuareg rebellions that have happened in recent years, still others consider it to be attempted cultural genocide of the Tuareg people. This is still a matter of debate today.
Many of the Tuareg have to contend with poverty due to displacement due to the violent conflict between the Tuareg separatists and the Malian government. The Tuareg are almost treated like second-class citizens in Mali and it has been that way for the last 60 years. Life for the Tuareg is very difficult and full of strife. Tuareg society is highly stratified and has a variety of classes: the nobles, known as the imajeren; the imrad, those below the nobility; the ineslemen, who are the religious leaders; the ikelan, who are slaves and the inadan are a class of artists/craftsmen who live outside typical Tuareg society. They wander from Tuareg camp to camp to also serve as soothsayers and medics. The Tuaregs also have several tribes: the Kel-Air, Kel-Gress, Iwilli-Minden, and the Immouzourak. The nobility are those who have the most animals and consequently, money, whereas the other classes are less prosperous. There are also slaves, the ilekan, who sing at weddings and other social gatherings. However, slaves are not nearly as common today as they were in the past. The Tuareg social dynamic has certainly changed, as they are not as nomadic as they used to be; now they settle in small communities and trade from them. This altered lifestyle has led to some Tuareg moving away from animal husbandry (just because there is only so much fertile grazing land in one place) in lieu of more craftsman-related endeavors. Sources: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/tuareg.htm http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_music_lo.html http://www.minorityrights.org/5518/niger/tuareg.html http://www.minorityrights.org/5518/niger/tuareg.html http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/tuareg/inadan.html |
Gender - I only added a picture, so I don't think that this will get me the last point on the gender section
Gender plays a big role in how well-regarded one is in Tuareg society. Women enjoy high social status and many songs sing their praises. The Tuareg have a matrilineal descent system that is well-entrenched, as they have had it for many years; thus, the women own their homes and property, As well, they have the majority of the social and economic power (but marginal political power). An interesting manifestation of the women's influence comes out in the music of the Tuareg. Women are the best players of the imzhad, a Tuareg instrument that is similar to the violin. Tuareg women also are known for their distinctive trilling, which occurs at weddings, among many other social gatherings. One Tuareg musical group/band is Tartit and their strength/independence really shine through in the below video.
|
![Picture](/uploads/4/6/1/8/46180191/6196200_orig.jpg)
The men are the primary political leaders, but overall, the women have more influence in society. Curiously, unlike some of the Arab cultures, men rather than women are required to wear head veils. As the veils are blue, this is where the Tuareg get their secondary name, the Blue men of the desert. Although the women have more authority than men in the social arena, Tuareg society is actually very egalitarian. Tuareg society is very much based on equality of both males and females and they consider this to be a cornerstone of solid families. This could be due to the fact that they live in such a harsh climate; it just makes more sense to collaborate for the community to survive.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_music_lo.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_history2_lo.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_customs_lo.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_lo.html
http://explodie.org/writings/matrilineal-descent-patterns-contemporary-cultures.html
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_music_lo.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_history2_lo.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_customs_lo.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_lo.html
http://explodie.org/writings/matrilineal-descent-patterns-contemporary-cultures.html
Family
Families live in the same tent in the same camp. Unlike many other cultures of the world, the family structure of the Tuareg is centered around the mother. This system of matrilineal descent grants women some power over men in the social arena. The institution of marriage is considered to be very important and the wedding celebrations take eight days at the bride's family's camp. The nuclear family is the common kinship form that is found among the Tuareg. Historically, the Tuareg have married close cousins; however, this trend is decreasing in the modern age, as more Tuareg live in civilized rather than rural areas. The Tuareg has not changed a great deal today, although the transition from nomadism to semi-nomadism may have actually strengthened the Tuareg familial unit. There do not seem to be any current problems with the Tuareg family.
Source:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/tuareg.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_music_lo.html
Source:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/tuareg.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_music_lo.html
Economy and daily life
The economy of the Tuareg is based on livestock breeding, agriculture and trade. Due to the harsh climate, Tuareg resorted to animal husbandry. The rains are concentrated on the desert fringe, so this is where they pasture their animals. In addition, as a part of the Tuareg adaptation to the environment, livestock is traded between friends and family members. The Tuareg trade salt, dates and animals. The Tuareg also provide escort and transport services for trans-Saharan caravans. There was also a historical Tuareg slave trade, but this has disappeared with the increasing urbanization of Tuareg society. Tuaregs are known to smuggle contraband such as gas and cigarettes to supplement their income.
Even though the Tuareg are a hardy people who have weathered a harsh and arid climate for many years, there are several problems that face them today. The root cause of these problems is climate change. Rising temperatures have contributed to greater desertification of the region that the Tuareg inhabit. As they already have had to contend with the desert lifestyle, this puts a greater strain on their already limited resource supply. It contributes to greater food insecurity for them. This and the growing Tuareg population both have the potential to cause great conflict. This problem is compounded by the poor relations between the governments of Mali and Niger. The Tuareg are still bitter about colonial domination. In addition, ever since a severe drought killed large numbers of Tuaregs in the 1960s-70s and the government ignored them, they do not feel positive about the governments. They do not believe that they have done enough to help or represent them, currently in regards to Tuareg poverty. The Tuaregs have had violent rebellions in the recent past (as recent as 2008), in an effort to either get more rights or to form their own independent state. They have not been successful to this point, especially as the Mali government has cracked down on violent rebels. However, there is hope that lasting peace will be orchestrated soon. Sources: http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/MALI-NOMAD.html http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/tuareg.htm http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/tuareg.htm |
Language - please regrade this section, as I have fixed it since Checkpoint #2
The primary language of the Tuareg is Tamasheq (alternatively spelled Tamachek). There are two dialects of the language, the Ghat and Hoggar forms. These are used in different parts of their general geographic distribution in the Sahara desert. Most of them still use this language. They also use French to a lesser degree, as this is a legacy of the previous French colonial presence. They read and write in an ancient script called Tifinar (alternatively called Tifinagh). Tamasheq is taught in schools in Mali and for the most part, Tuaregs do have a formal education, in spite of their nomadic past. UNESCO has helped to preserve Tifinar (sort of endangered) with the Tuareg people by teaching it to them in African schools. The only area where the Tuareg are losing their language is in heavily urbanized regions, especially the youth. They are adopting more modern languages (such as French) and thus, losing their culture. However, schools, mainly in Mali, are helping to combat this cultural decay.
The language diversities of the three main countries of the Tuareg, Mali, Niger and Algeria, all vary. According to the NatGeo Language Diversity Index (LDI) world map, Algeria has an LDI of 0.2 - 0.4, Niger has an LDI of 0.6 - 0.8, and Mali has an LDI greater than 0.8. This LDI trend is inversely proportional to the population of these countries, according to the Ethnologue. Algeria has 18 languages, Niger has 21 languages and Mali has 66 languages. Algeria has two dying languages and seven languages in trouble. Niger only has one language in trouble. Though it has the most language diversity, Mali has 6 languages in trouble. As the principal language of each of these countries is French, it is almost a necessity for the Tuareg people to learn it. Thus, while their language is still alive, it is not near being the dominant language in their countries. Tamasheq is considered more of an immigrant language, which is ostensibly due to the nomadic nature of the Tuareg people. Sources: http://www.ethnologue.com/language/thv http://www.ethnologue.com/country/DZ http://www.ethnologue.com/country/NE http://www.ethnologue.com/country/ML http://mapmaker.education.nationalgeographic.com/?lg=5&b=1&f=491&bbox=119.30559%2C-31.42866%2C57.78215%2C77.89726&ar_a=1&ls=000000040000&t=1 http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/tuareg.htm http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/endangered-languages/dynamic-content-single-view-project/news/reviving_tifinagh_the_ancient_script_of_the_tuareg/#.VRHEeOGVRps |
Map and country information
This a map of Northern Africa that shows the major countries in which the Tuareg are found: Algeria, Libya, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Due to their nomadic nature, they are not all settled in one country; however, their general geographic distribution is in the Saharan region of Africa. They have formed independent federations in these different countries and have a total population of 1.5 million. All of these countries have arid climates as they are in the Saharan region of Africa. The majority of the Tuareg population lives in the area of intersection of Algeria, Mali and Niger, called the Sahelian region. Algeria boasts the highest population of the Tuareg people. Its landscape consists of dry desert plains, rugged grasslands and volcanic mountains. The harsh climate has shaped the Tuareg people to be tough, as they subsist on livestock herding and salt/metal trading.
Videos
This video explores a day in the life of a Tuareg farmer, especially his conflict with elephants.
This video showcases some traditional Tuareg tribal music, which contains a nice drum beat, rhythmic clapping and shrill, rolling ululations.
This video gives an overview of the Tuareg people and what challenges they face in their daily lives - it is a nice and short introduction to the Tuareg people.
Photos
A Tuareg caravanner walks down a desert dune with a string of camels in tow.
A young Tuareg shepherd boy keeps the group's donkeys in line with his whip.
A Tuareg man obtains water from a well in the desert of Northern Africa. It is crucial that the Tuareg have access to water so that they may survive in such a dry and inhospitable environment as the Sahara desert.
This photograph depicts a group of Tuareg women gathering for a baby naming ceremony around a bowl of macaroni noodles (bottom center), as is their tradition.
This photograph shows several Tuareg women doing some domestic tasks near their tents before sunset.
Resources: (some of these are used for this checkpoint and others will be used for the later checkpoints)
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/sahara-tuareg/stirton-photography#/
http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/tuareg.htm
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/tuareg/
http://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce5bc.html
http://www.rain4sahara.org/our-work/who-we-help/tuareg
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/thv
http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/tuareg/who.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_lo.html
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Tuareg.html
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/sahara-tuareg/stirton-photography#/
http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/tuareg.htm
http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/tuareg/
http://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce5bc.html
http://www.rain4sahara.org/our-work/who-we-help/tuareg
http://www.ethnologue.com/language/thv
http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/tuareg/who.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/sahara/sahara_people_lo.html
http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Tuareg.html