The Tuareg people are nomads of the Sahara who speak various Tuareg languages. Of Berber descent they are also known as the Blue Men of the Sahara in reference to the blue robes they wear.

Tuareg may also refer to:

Other

Tuareg Rebellion (disambiguation)

Tuareg Shield, an area lying between the West African craton and the Saharan Metacraton in West Africa

Tuareg Sloughi, an African dog breed

Touareg tea, a kind of flavoured tea prepared in northern Africa and in Arabian countries

Tuareg, an Emacs mode for programming in Caml; presumably the name was chosen as a pun on ''camel''

Vehicles

Volkswagen Touareg, the second sport-utility vehicle manufactured by Volkswagen

cs:Tuareg de:Tuareg (Begriffsklärung) fa:طوارق (ابهام‌زدایی) fr:Touareg (homonymie) gl:Tuareg (homónimos) it:Tuareg (disambigua) ru:Туарег

The Tuareg (also ''Twareg'' or ''Touareg'', Berber: Imuhagh, besides regional ethnyms) are a Berber nomadic pastoralist people. They are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa.

They call themselves variously Kel Tamasheq or Kel Tamajaq; ⴾⴻⵍ ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵌⴰⵆ ("Speakers of Tamasheq"), ''Imuhagh'', ''Imazaghan'' or ''Imashaghen'' ("the Free people"), or ''Kel Tagelmust'', i.e., "People of the Veil". The name ''Tuareg'' was applied to them by early explorers and historians (since Leo Africanus).

The origin and meaning of the name ''Tuareg'' has long been debated with various etymologies advanced, although it would appear that ''Twārəg'' is derived from the "broken plural" of ''Tārgi'', a name whose former meaning was "inhabitant of ''Targa''" (the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as Fezzan. ''Targa'' in Berber means "(drainage) channel", see Alojali ''et al.'' 2003: 656, ''s.v.'' "Targa").

The Tuareg today are found mostly in North Africa and West Africa. Some historians claim they progressively moved south over the last 2000 years. They were once nomads throughout the Sahara. They have a little-used and ancient script known as the ''Tifinagh''. the Tuareg were subdued and required to sign treaties in Mali 1905 and Niger 1917. In southern Morocco and Algeria, the French met some of the strongest resistance from the Ahaggar Tuareg. Their ''Amenokal'', traditional chief Moussa ag Amastan, fought numerous battles in defense of the region. Finally, Tuareg territories were taken under French governance, and their confederations were largely dismantled and reorganized.

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 (''imɣaran'', singular ''amɣar''). The groups were the ''Kel Ahaggar'', ''Kel Ajjer'', ''Kel Ayr'', ''Adrar n Fughas'', ''Iwəlləmədan'', and ''Kel Gres''.

When African countries achieved widespread independence in the 1960s, the traditional Tuareg territory was divided among a number of modern nations: Niger, Mali, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Burkina Faso. Competition for resources in the Sahel have since lead to conflicts between the Tuareg and neighboring African groups, especially after political disruption and economic constraints following French colonization and independence. There have been tight restrictions placed on nomadization because of high population growth. Desertification is exacerbated by human activity i.e.; exploitation of resources and the increased firewood needs of growing cities. Some Tuareg are therefore 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 N'Fughas mountains in the 1960s, following Mali's independence. Several Tuareg joined, including some from the Adrar des Iforas in northeastern Mali. The 1960 rebellion was a fight between a group of Tuareg and the independent state of Mali, which was then only recently formed. The Malian Army suppressed the revolt. Resentment among the Tuareg fueled the second uprising.

This second uprising was in May 1996. At this time, in the aftermath of a clash between government soldiers and Tuareg outside a prison in Tchin-Tabaraden, Niger, Tuaregs in both Mali and Niger claimed autonomy for their traditional homeland: (Ténéré, capital Agadez, in Niger and the Azawad and Kidal regions of Mali). Deadly clashes between Tuareg fighters (with leaders such as Mano Dayak) 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, 1992 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. As of 2004, sporadic fighting continued in Niger between government forces and Tuareg groups struggling for independence. In 2007, a new surge in violence occurred.

Traditional social stratification

Traditionally, Tuareg society is hierarchical, with nobility and vassals. Each Tuareg clan (''tawshet'') is made up of several family groups, led by their collective chiefs, the ''amghar''. A series of tribes ''tawsheten'' may bond together under an Amenokal, forming a ''Kel'' clan confederation. Tuareg self identification is related only to their specific Kel, which means "those of". E.g. Kel Dinnig (those of the east), Kel Ataram (those of the west).

Nobility

The work of pastoralism was specialized according to social class. Tels are ruled by the ''imúšaɣ'' (''Imajaghan'', ''The Proud and Free'') nobility, warrior-aristocrats who organized group defense, livestock raids, and the long-distance caravan trade. Below them were a number of specialised métier castes. The ''ímɣad'' (''Imghad'', singular ''Amghid''), the second rank of Tuareg society, were free vassal-herdsmen and warriors, who pastured and tended most of the confederation's livestock. Formerly enslaved vassals of specific ''Imajaghan'', they are said by tradition to be descended from nobility in the distant past, and thus maintain a degree of social distance from lower orders. Traditionally, some merchant castes had a higher status than all but the nobility among their more settled compatriots to the south. With time, the difference between the two castes has eroded in some places, following the economic fortunes of the two groups.

''Imajaghan'' have traditionally disdained certain types of labor and prided themselves in their warrior skills. The existence of lower servile and semi-servile classes has allowed for the development of highly ritualised poetic, sport, and courtship traditions among the Imajaghan. Following colonial subjection, independence, and the famines of the 1970s and 1980s, noble classes have more and more been forced to abandon their caste differences. They have taken on labor and lifestyles they might traditionally have rejected.

Client castes

After the adoption of Islam, a separate class of religious clerics, the ''Ineslemen'' or ''marabouts'', also became integral to Tuareg social structure. Following the decimation of many clans' noble ''Imajaghan'' caste in the colonial wars of the 19th and 20th centuries, the ''Ineslemen'' gained leadership in some clans, despite their often servile origins. Traditionally ''Ineslemen'' clans were not armed. They provided spiritual guidance for the nobility, and received protection and alms in return.

''Inhædˤæn'' (''Inadan''), were a blacksmith-client caste who fabricated and repaired the saddles, tools, household equipment and other material needs of the community. In most communities, the ''Inadin'' were freedmen drawn from the servile ''éklan'' caste and considered outsiders by the other classes.

Bonded castes and slaves

The Tuareg once held slaves (''éklan'' / ''Ikelan'' in Tamasheq, ''Bouzou'' in Hausa, ''Bella'' in Songhai).

Tuareg moved south on the continent in the 11th century AD, taking slaves from other groups. These ''éklan'' once formed a distinct social class in Tuareg society. Some Tuareg noble and vassal men married slaves, and their children became freemen. ''Eklan'' formed distinct sub-communities; they were a class held in an inherited serf-like condition, common among societies in precolonial West Africa.

When French colonial governments were established, they passed legislation to abolish slavery, but did not enforce it. Some commentators believe the French interest was directed more at dismantling the traditional Tuareg political economy, which depended on slave labor for herding, than at freeing the slaves. Historian Martin Klein reports that there was a large scale attempt by French West African authorities to liberate slaves and other bonded castes in Tuareg areas following the 1914–1916 Firouan revolt. Despite this, French officials following the Second World War reported there were some 50,000 "''Bella''" under direct control of Tuareg masters in the Gao - Timbuktu areas of French Soudan alone. This was at least four decades after French declarations of mass freedom had happened in other areas of the colony. In 1946, a series of mass desertions of Tuareg slaves and bonded communities began in Nioro and later in Menaka, quickly spreading along the Niger River valley. In the first decade of the 20th century, French administrators in southern Tuareg areas of French Soudan estimated "free" to "servile" Tuareg populations at ratios of 1 to 8 or 9. At the same time the servile "''rimaibe''" population of the Masina Fulbe, roughly equivalent to the ''Bella'', made up between 70% to 80% of the Fulbe population, while servile Songhai groups around Gao made up some 2/3 to 3/4 of the total Songhai population. Klein concludes that roughly 50% of the population of French Soudan at the beginning of the 20th century were in some servile or slave relationship.

While post-independence states have sought to outlaw slavery, results have been mixed. Traditional caste relationships have continued in many places, including the institution of slavery. According to the Travel Channel show, ''Bob Geldof in Africa'', the descendants of those slaves known as the ''Bella'' are still slaves in all but name. In Niger, where the practice of slavery was outlawed in 2003, a study found that almost 8% of the population are still enslaved.

Territory

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 Africa, there is the true desert ''Ténéré''. Other deserts are more and less arid, flat and mountainous: Adrar, Tagant, Tawat (Touat) Tanezrouft, Adghagh n Fughas, Tamasna, Azawagh, Adar, Damargu, Tagama, Manga, Ayr, Tarramit (Termit), Kawar, Djado, Tadmait, Admer, Igharghar, Ahaggar, Tassili n'Ajjer, Tadrart, Idhan, Tanghart, Fezzan, Tibesti, Kalansho, Libyan Desert, etc. While there is little conflict about the driest parts of Tuareg territory, many of the water sources and pastures they need for cattle breeding, get fenced off by absentee landlords, impoverishing some Tuareg communities. There is also an unresolved land conflict about many stretches of farm land just south of the Sahara. Tuareg often also claim ownership over these lands and over the crop and property of the impoverished Rimaite-people, farming them. they were also nomads that lived in the deserts.

Confederations, political centers, and leaders

At the turn of the 19th century, the Tuareg territory was organized into confederations, each ruled by a supreme Chief (''Amenokal''), along with a counsel of elders from each tribe. These confederations are sometimes called "''Drum Groups''" after the Amenokal's symbol of authority, a drum. Clan (''Tewsit'') elders, called Imegharan (wisemen), are chosen to assist the chief of the confederation. Historically, there are seven recent major confederations:

Kel Ajjer or Azjar: center is the oasis of Aghat (Ghat).

Kel Ahaggar, in Ahaggar mountains.

Kel Adagh, or Kel Assuk: Kidal, and Tin Buktu

Iwillimmidan Kel Ataram, or ''Western Iwillimmidan'': Ménaka, and Azawagh region (Mali)

Iwillimmidan Kel Denneg, or ''Eastern Iwillimmidan'': Tchin-Tabaraden, Abalagh, Teliya Azawagh (Niger).

Kel Ayr: Assodé, Agadez, In Gal, Timia and Ifrwan.

Kel Gres: Zinder and Tanut (Tanout) and south into northern Nigeria.

Kel Owey: Air Massif, seasonally south to Tessaoua (Niger)

Historic leaders

The most legendary of Tuareg leaders was ''Tin Hinan'', heroine and spiritual leader, believed to have ruled in the fourth or fifth century AD. Tin-Hinan was a Berber princess and often accompanied by her sister Takamat. They came from the Tafilalt mountains in Morocco (Ataram) and founded a legendary kingdom in the Ahaggar mountains. Other confederation leaders followed under the title of ''Amenokal'' (Chief), some ''amenokal'' and other iconic leaders include:

Amattaza, of the Lisawan

Abou Ag Ajacko, of the Temisguidda

Afadandan, of the Lisawan

Karidanna, of the Iwillimmidan

Waisimudan, of Iwillimidan

Aljilani Ag Ibrahim, of Iwillimidan

Busari Ag Akhmad, of Iwillimidan

Musa Ag Amastan, of Kel Ahaggar

Ibrahim Ag Abakkada, of Kel Azjar

Amud, of Kel Azjar

Makhammad Ag Katami, of Iwillimmidan

Balkhu, of Kel Ayr

Wan Agoda, of Kel Faday (Kel Ayr)

Ahitaghal, of Kel Ahaggar

Akhanokhan, of Kel Azjar

Khadakhada, of Iwillimidan

Alkhurer, of Iwillimidan

Bazu, Iwillimidan

Makhammad Wan Ag Alkhurer Iwillimidan

Abdurrakhman Tagama, of Kel Ayr

Hammed Almomin Iwillimidan

Fihrun Ag Amansar, of Iwillimidan

Atisi Ag Amellal of Kel Ahaggar

Akhamok Ag Ihemma of Kel Ahaggar

Bay Ag Akhamok of Kel Ahaggar

Khamzata Ag Makhammad, of Iwillimidan

Edaber Ag Makhammad the new Amenokal of Kel Ahaggar

Culture

The Tuareg are "largely matrilineal". Tuareg women have high status compared with their Arab counterparts and with other ''Berber'' tribes; for further information see the Tuareg section of the ''Matrilineality'' article.

Many Tuareg today are either settled agriculturalists or nomadic cattle breeders, though there are also blacksmiths and caravan leaders.

Marriage

Marriage is considered a private institution. Other people are not to interfere with a couple's marriage. The only tradition they know is a 'quarantine' period after one's spouse's death. During this period, the widow is supposed to make something whereby her husband may be remembered. She is not to see any other men. Men usually have to cleanse themselves physically and mentally after the death of a wife. There was not commonly punishment for women or men who were unfaithful.

Tuareg are not supposed to have more than one life partner: a love affair is practically equal to an engagement, and once a couple is recognized, the two people are supposed to get married. It is highly unusual for anyone to remain single. When a partner passes away, the survivor is expected to marry again after the period of quarantine. Exceptions are made if there are no potential partners, or the widow or widower is too old to get married.

===Clothing=== In Tuareg society women do not traditionally wear the veil, whereas men do. The most famous Tuareg symbol is the ''Tagelmust'' (also called éghéwed), referred to as a Cheche, pronounced "Shesh", from Berber), an often indigo blue-colored veil called ''Alasho''. The men's facial covering originates from the belief that such action wards off evil spirits. It may have related instrumentally from the need for protection from the harsh desert sands as well. It is a firmly established tradition, as is the wearing of amulets containing sacred objects and from recently also verses from the ''Qur'an''. Taking on the veil is associated with the rite of passage to manhood; men begin wearing a veil when they reach maturity. The veil usually conceals their face, excluding their eyes and the top of the nose.

tagelmust: turban - men

alasho: blue indigo veil - women and men

bukar: black cotton turban - men

tasuwart: women's veil

takatkat: shirt - women and men

takarbast: short shirt - women and men

akarbey: pants worn by men

afetek: loose shirt worn by women

afer: women's pagne

tari: large black pagne for winter season

bernuz: long woolen cloth for winter

akhebay: loose bright green or blue cloth for women

ighateman: shoes

iragazan: red leather sandals

ibuzagan: leather shoes

The Tuareg are sometimes called the "Blue People" because the indigo pigment in the cloth of their traditional robes and turbans stained their 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.

Food

Taguella is a flat bread made from millet which is cooked on charcoals in the sand and eaten with a heavy sauce. Millet porridge is a staple much like ugali and fufu. Millet is boiled with water to make a pap and eaten with milk or a heavy sauce. Common dairy foods are goat's milk and camel's, as well as cheese and yogurt made from them. Eghajira is a thick beverage eaten with a ladle. It is made by pounding millet, goat cheese, dates, milk and sugar and served on festivals like Eid ul fitr and Eid ul adha. A popular tea gunpowder tea, poured three times in and out of a tea pot with mint and sugar into tiny glasses.

Language

The Tuareg speak Tamajaq/Tamasheq/Tamahaq, a southern Berber language having several dialects among the different regions. The Berber dialects spoken in the Rif (Tarifit), Middle Atlas (Tamazight) and High Atlas/Souss (Tachelhiyt) regions of Morocco differ somewhat from each other and also from the Tuareg dialects spoken further south. Berber is an Afro-Asiatic language like Semitic languages, Chadic languages and Pharaonic Egyptian. The language is called ''Tamasheq'' by western Tuareg in Mali, ''Tamahaq'' among Algerian and Libyan Tuareg, and ''Tamajaq'' 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.

French missionary Charles de Foucauld famously compiled a dictionary of the Tuareg language.

Religion

Traditionally Tuaregs practiced Animism while they were in the Atlas Mountains as Berbers, then with the onset of Arabs into North Africa, Islam came in and the Tuareg travelled South and mixed their animistic beliefs with Islam.

Arts

Much Tuareg art is in the form of jewelry, leather and metal saddle decorations called trik, and finely crafted swords. The ''Inadan'' community makes traditional handicrafts. Among their products are: tanaghilt or zakkat (the 'Agadez Cross' or 'Croix d'Agadez'); the Tuareg Takoba, many gold and silver-made necklaces called 'Takaza'; and earrings called 'Tizabaten'.

Astronomy

The clear desert skies allowed the Tuareg to be keen observers. Tuareg stars and constellations include:

Azzag Willi (Venus), which indicates the time for milking the goats

Shet Ahad (Pleiades (star cluster)), the seven sisters of the night

Amanar (Orion (constellation)), the warrior of the desert

Talemt (Ursa Major), the she-camel

Awara (Ursa Minor), the baby camel

Nomadic Architecture

While living quarters are progressively changing to adapt to a more sedentary lifestyle, Tuareg groups are well known for their nomadic architecture (tents). There are several documented styles, some covered with animal skin, some with mats. The style tends to vary by location or subgroup. Because the tent is considered to be under the ownership of a married women (and significantly, built during the marriage ceremony), sedentary dwellings generally belong to men, reflecting a patriarcal shift in power dynamics. Current documentation suggests a negotiation of common practice in which a woman's tent is set up in the courtyard of her husband's house.

Old legend says Tuareg once lived in grottoes, akazam, and then they lived in folliage beds made on the top acacia trees, tasagesaget, to avoid numerous wild animal during old times and even to this day to escape from mosquitoes. Other kinds of traditional housing include:

ahaket: Tuareg goatskin red tent

tafala: a shade made of millet sticks

akarban also called takabart: temporary hat for winter

ategham: summer hat

taghazamt: adobe house for long stay

ahaket: a dome-shaped house made of mats for the dry season and square shaped roof with holes to prevent hot air

Weapons

takoba: 1 meter long straight sword

allagh: 2 meter long lance

agher: 1.50 meter high shield

tagheda: small and sharp assegai

taganze: leather covered-wooden bow

amur: wooden arrow

sheru: long dagger

taburek: wooden stick

alakkud or abartak: riding crop

In 2007, Stanford's Cantor Arts Center opened an exhibition, "Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World", the first such exhibit in the United States. It was curated by Tom Seligman, director of the center. He had first spent time with the Tuareg in 1971 when he traveled through the Sahara after serving in the Peace Corps. The exhibition included crafted and adorned functional objects such as camel saddles, tents, bags, swords, amulets, cushions, dresses, earrings, spoons and drums. The exhibition also was shown at the University of California, Los Angeles Fowler Museum in Los Angeles and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC.

Throughout history, the Tuareg were renowned and respected warriors. Their decline as a military might came with the introduction of firearms, weapons which the Tuareg did not possess. The Tuareg warrior attire consisted of a ''takoba'' (sword), ''allagh'' (lance) and ''aghar'' (shield) made of antelope's skin.

Music

Traditional Tuareg music has two major components: the moncord violin ''anzad'' played often during night parties and a small ''tambour'' covered with goatskin called ''tende'', performed during camel and horse races, and other festivities. Traditional songs called ''Asak'' and ''Tisiway'' (poems) are sung by women and men during feasts and social occasions. Another popular Tuareg musical genre is ''takamba'', characteristic for its Afro-Berber percussions.

Vocal music

tisiway: poems

tasikisikit: songs performed by women, accompanied by tende, men on camel back turn around

asak: songs accompanied by anzad monocord violin.

tahengemmit: slow songs sung by elder men

Children and youth music

Bellulla songs made by children playing with the lips

Fadangama small monocord instrument for children

Odili flute made from trunk of sorghum

Gidga small wooden instrument with irons sticks to make strident sounds

Dance

tagest: dance made while seated, moving the head, the hands and the shoulders.

ewegh: strong dance performed by men, in couples and groups.

agabas: dance for modern ishumar guitars: women and men in groups.

In the 1980s rebel fighters founded ''Tinariwen'', a Tuareg band that fuses electric guitars and indigenous musical styles. Tinariwen is one of the best known and authentic Tuareg bands. Especially in areas that were cut off during the Tuareg rebellion (e.g., Adrar des Iforas), they were practically the only music available, which made them locally famous and their songs/lyrics (e.g. Abaraybone, ...) are well known by the locals. They released their first CD in 2000, and toured in Europe and the United States in 2004. Tuareg guitar groups that followed in their path include Group Inerane and Group Bombino. The Niger-based band ''Etran Finatawa'' combines Tuareg and ''Wodaabe'' members, playing a combination of traditional instruments and electric guitars.

Many music groups emerged after the 1980s cultural revival. Among the Tartit, Imaran and known artists are: Abdallah Oumbadougou from Ayr, Baly Othmany of Djanet.

Music genres, groups and artists

Traditional Music

Majila Ag Khamed Ahmad, singer Asak (vocal music), of Aduk, Niger

Almuntaha female Anzad (Tuareg violin) player, of Aduk, Niger

Ajju female Anzad (Tuareg violin) player, of Agadez, Niger

Islaman singer, genre Asak (vocal music), of Abalagh, Niger

Tambatan singer, genre Asak (vocal music), Tchin-Tabaraden, Niger

Alghadawiat female Anzad (Tuareg violin) player, of Akoubounou, Niger

Taghdu female Anzad (Tuareg violin) player, of Aduk, Niger

Ishumar Music or Teshumara music style

In Tayaden singer and guitar player, Adagh

Abareybon singer and guitar player, Tinariwen group, Adagh

Kiddu Ag Hossad singer and guitar player, Adagh

Baly Othmani singer, luth player, Djanet, Azjar

Abdalla Ag Umbadugu, singer, Takrist N'Akal group, Ayr

Hasso Ag Akotey, singer, Ayr

Music and culture festivals

The Desert Festival in Mali's Timbuktu provides one opportunity to see Tuareg culture and dance and hear their music.

Other festivals include:

''Cure Salee'' Festival in the oasis of In-Gall, Niger

Sabeiba Festival in Ganat (Djanet), Algeria

Shiriken Festival in Akabinu (Akoubounou), Niger

Takubelt Tuareg Festival in Mali

Ghat Festival in Aghat (Ghat), Libya

Le Festival au Désert in Mali

Ghadames Berber and Tuareg Festival in Libya

Games

Tuareg traditional games and plays include:

Tiddas, played with small stones and sticks.

Kelmutan: consists of singing and touching each person's leg, where the ends, that person is out: the last person loses the game.

Temse: comic game try to make the other team laugh and you win.

Izagag, played with small stones or dried fruits.

Iswa, played by picking up stones while throwing another stone.

Melghas, children hide themselves and another tries to find and touch them before they reach the well and drink.

Tabillant, traditional Tuareg wrestling

Alamom, wrestling while running

Solagh, another type of wrestling

Tammazaga or Tammalagha, race on camel back

Takket, singing and playing all night.

Sellenduq one person to be a jackal and try to touch the others who escape running.

Takadant, children try to imagine what the others are thinking.

Tabakoni: clown with a goatskin mask to amuse children.

Abarad Iqquran: small dressed wooden puppet that tells stories and make people laugh.

Maja Gel Gel: one person tries to touch all people standing, to avoid this sit down.

Bellus: everyone run not to be touched by the one who plays.

Tamammalt: pass a burning stick, when its blown off in ones hands tells who's the lover.

Ideblan: game with girl prepare food and go search for water and milk and fruits.

Seqqetu: play with girls to learn how to build tents, look after babies made of clay.

Mifa Mifa: beauty contest, girls and boys best dressed.

Taghmart: children pass from house to house singing to get presents: dates, sugar etc.

Melan Melan: try to find a riddle

Tawaya: play with the round fruit calotropis or a piece of cloth.

Abanaban: try to find people while eyes are shut.(blind mans buff)

Shishagheren, writing the name of one's lover to see if this person brings good luck.

Taqqanen, telling ''devinettes'' and enigmas.

Maru Maru, young people mime how the tribe works.

Economy

Tuareg are distinguished in their native language as the ''Imouhar'', meaning the free people; the overlap of meaning has increased local cultural nationalism. The Tuareg are a pastoral people, having an economy based on livestock breeding, trading, and agriculture.

Caravan Trade

Since Prehistoric times Tuareg peoples and their Berber ancestors: the Garamantes have been organising caravans for trading across the Sahara desert. The caravan is called in Tamashek: Tarakaft or Taghlamt and also Azalay.

These caravans used first oxen, horses and later camels as a means of transportation, here differents types of caravans:

caravans transporting food: dates, millet, dryed meat, dryed Tuareg cheese, butter etc.

caravans transporting garments, alasho indigo turbans, leather products, ostrich feathers,

caravans transporting salt: salt caravans used for exchange against other products.

caravans transporting nothing but made to sell and buy camels.

Salt mines or salines in the desert.

Tin Garaban near Ghat in Azjar, Libya.

Amadghor in Ahaggar, Algeria.

Todennit in Tanezruft desert, Mali.

Tagidda N Tesemt in Azawagh, Niger

Fashi in Ténéré desert, Niger

Bilma in Kawar, Niger

A contemporary variant is occurring in northern Niger, in a traditionally Tuareg territory that comprises most of the uranium-rich land of the country. The central government in Niamey has shown itself unwilling to cede control of the highly profitable mining to indigenous clans. The Tuareg are determined not to relinquish the prospect of substantial economic benefit. The French government has independently tried to defend a French firm, Areva, established in Niger for fifty years and now mining the massive Imouraren deposit.

Additional complaints against Areva are that it is: "...plundering...the natural resources and [draining] the fossil deposits. It is undoubtedly an ecological catastrophe." These mines yield uranium ores, which are then processed to produce ''yellowcake'', crucial to the nuclear power industry (as well as aspirational nuclear powers). In 2007, some Tuareg people in Niger allied themselves with the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ), a rebel group operating in the north of the country. During 2004-2007, U.S. Special Forces teams trained Tuareg units of the Nigerien Army in the Sahel region as part of the Trans-Sahara Counter-Terrorism Partnership. Some of these trainees are reported to have fought in the 2007 rebellion within the MNJ. The goal of these Tuareg appears to be economic and political control of ancestral lands, rather than operating from religious and political ideologies.

Despite the Sahara’s erratic and unpredictable rainfall patterns, the Tuareg have managed to survive in the hostile desert environment for centuries. Over recent years however, depletion of water by the uranium exploitation process combined with the effects of climate change are threatening their ability to subsist. Uranium mining has diminished and degraded Tuareg grazing lands. Not only does the mining industry produce radioactive waste that can contaminate crucial sources of ground water resulting in cancer, stillbirths, and genetic defects but it also uses up huge quantities of water in a region where water is already scarce. This is exacerbated by the increased rate of desertification thought to be the result of global warming. Lack of water forces the Tuareg to compete with southern farming communities for scarce resources and this has led to tensions and clashes between these communities. The precise levels of environmental and social impact of the mining industry have proved difficult to monitor due to governmental obstruction.

Ethnic classification

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. Some scholars argue that the Tuareg are defined by language and culture, not by ethnicity. They define only predominantly Tamasheq speakers as "Tuareg" (and, presumably, by implication, also individuals of Tuareg descent who have assimilated into various countries and no longer speak Tamasheq languages). Lack of consensus on how to classify the Tuareg is probably part of the reason for the widely varying estimates of population size.

Ethnic flag

The Tuareg ethnic flag is red, white, and blue.

In popular culture

The Tuareg are the antagonists of the French Foreign Legion in Percival Christopher Wren's 1924 adventure novel ''Beau Geste'' and the films that were based on it.

Tupac Shakur, an African American hip-hop artist, descendant of the Tuareg people through his father Billy Garland.

Spanish author Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa's novel ''Tuareg'' (1980) was his most critically and commercially successful, with global sales in excess of 5,000,000 copies.

The 2005 film ''Sahara'' featured a fictionalised group of Tuareg as a faction in a civil war underway in Mali.

Bruce Sterling used a fictionalised Tuareg tribe in his novel ''Islands in the Net''.

David Ball's 1999 novel ''Empires of Sand'' tells the story of French and Tuareg cousins.

French author J. M. G. Le Clézio's novel ''Desert'' tells of the last days of the Tuareg, the desert nomads known as the "Blue People".

In 2003 Volkswagen introduced a new SUV named the Touareg.

In 2009 Vivisphere Publishing released ''The Tuareg'' a romantic historical adventure. ISBN 978-1-58776-157-7

In the Nickelodeon animated series, ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', the nomadic characters known as "sand benders" are based on the Tuareg people.

In the video game "Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War," Tuareg are available to the player as mercenary troops. However, their portrayal shows them as similar to Mongolian troops from the time of Genghis Khan, rather than North African nomads.

The culture's tradition of honored guest was romanticized in the 1984 movie starring Mark Harmon, Tuareg - The Desert Warrior

In the fourth of Lloyd Alexander's "Vesper Holly" books, ''The Jedera Adventure'', desert nomads based on the Tuareg assist the protagonist. They are portrayed as noble, proud, and honorable warriors.

See also

Azaouad

Berber mythology

Maafa

Notes

References

Ghoubeid Alojaly, Karl Prasse, Ghabdouane Mohamed, ''Dictionnaire touareg-français'', Copenhague, Museum Tusculanum, 2003 (2 vols., 1031 p.) - ISBN 87-7289-844-5

Francis James Rennell Rodd, ''People of the veil. Being an account of the habits, organisation and history of the wandering Tuareg tribes which inhabit the mountains of Air or Asben in the Central Sahara'', London, MacMillan & Co., 1926 (repr. Oosterhout, N.B., Anthropological Publications, 1966)

Heath Jeffrey 2005: ''A Grammar of Tamashek (Tuareg of Mali)''. New York: Mouton de Gruyer. Mouton Grammar Library, 35. ISBN 3-11-018484-2

Rando et al. (1998) "Mitochondrial DNA analysis of northwest African populations reveals genetic exchanges with European, near-eastern, and sub-Saharan populations". ''Annals of Human Genetics'' 62(6): 531-50; Watson et al. (1996) mtDNA sequence diversity in Africa. ''American Journal of Human Genetics'' 59(2): 437–44; Salas et al. (2002) "The Making of the African mtDNA Landscape". ''American Journal of Human Genetics'' 71: 1082-1111. These are good sources for information on the genetic heritage of the Tuareg and their relatedness to other populations.

Further reading

Edmond Bernus, "Les Touareg," pp. 162–171 in ''Vallées du Niger'', Paris: Éditions de la Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 1993.

Andre Bourgeot, ''Les Sociétés Touarègues, Nomadisme, Identité, Résistances'', Paris: Karthala, 1995.

Hélène Claudot-Hawad, ed., "Touregs: Exil et Résistance". ''Révue du Monde Musulman et de la Méiterranée'', No. 57, Aix en Provence: Edisud, 1991.

Claudot-Hawad, ''Touaregs, Portrait en Fragments'', Aix en Provence: Edisud, 1993.

Hélène and Hawad Claudot-Hawad, "Touaregs: Voix Solitaires sous l'Horizon Confisque", ''Ethnies-Documents'' No. 20-21, Hiver, 1996.

Mano Dayak, ''Touareg: La Tragedie'', Paris: Éditions Lattes, 1992.

Sylvie Ramir, ''Les Pistes de l'Oubli: Touaregs au Niger'', Paris: éditions du Felin, 1991.

External links

People of Africa

Franco Paolinellli, "Tuareg Salt Caravans", Bradshaw Foundation

Origin and History of the Tuaregs

The Massacres at Tchin Tarabaden: 10 years later!. This press release (7 May 2000), while polemical, is useful for a pro-Tuareg view of the conflicts in Mali and Niger.

Ethnologue 14 pages for Niger, Mali, etc., used for population estimates.

Tuareg is not an Ethnos, accessed 2 February 2004, available on Internet Archive. Cited for the low-end estimate of population.

A comprehensive tuareg chronology along with lists of ''amenokals'' from Kel Ahaggar, Kel Adagh and Kel Azawagh . le site internet de tassouft et de ses amis (hoggar, algérie) Maps of Niger, pictures of Agadez, Tuaregs, and handcraft from Niger; also a forum

Tuareg Culture and Art

Rain for the Sahel and Sahara - a non profit that partners with Tuareg communities in Niger

Thompson, Larry "Way out there in Timbuktu." http://www.hackwriters.com/Timbuktu.htm, accessed 2 Apr 2011.

Category:African nomads Category:Berber groups Category:History of the Sahara Category:Ethnic groups in Libya Category:Ethnic groups in Algeria Category:Ethnic groups in Mali Category:Ethnic groups in Niger Category:Ethnic groups in the Arab League Category:Indigenous peoples of West Africa Category:Muslim communities in Africa

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