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Blue Men of the Desert; Mali's Tuareg Give Up the Nomadic Life |
| Section: CULTURE / PEOPLES |
| Author: Anton Foek |
| Publication:
The World & I Online |
| Issue Date: 2/1/1999 |
| Size: 2,126 Words, 12,263 Characters |
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Once the Tuareg controlled the caravan routes across the Sahara. Of North African Berber origin, they were proud of their Caucasian heritage and their freedom to wander. Fierce nomads, they commanded their horses and camels across the desert and were called "blue men of the desert" for their indigo robes and turbans.
But the days of glory are no more. Today, the Tuareg seek a new raison d'tre. "The whole world has changed, and we don't know what to do about it. We can't cope with it," says Aboubacarine.
His fingers draw in the sand. He makes a circle, places a dot in the middle, and then adds five more dots around the edge.
Aboubacarine Ag Mohammed wipes out his drawings. He takes some sand between his fingers, stares at me, and says, his mouth covered by his turban: "Life is like sand, changing all the time." He throws the sand carelessly away.
Bitter words, unkind fate
Even in the shade, the temperature is oppressive. Aboubacarine's blue boubou, wrapped widely around him, protects him from the heat of the day, the cold of the night, and the omnipresent sand.
Another man joins us, silently looking on. A goat knocks over a bucket of milk, lapping the spill hastily before his master can t...
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... rains, and the raindrops are scaring him, he says. It is the unexpected, the unknown.
He explains the struggle and the pain of his people again. The struggle to roam the desert in freedom and the pain of not being able to. The winds shake his house, and he says it is no wonder that nobody listens to the Tuareg. Clicking his tongue, he says that it is as if the wind blows away their words.
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Publication Details
(The World & I Online) |
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The World & I Online is a
comprehensive academic resource that encompasses a broad range of
articles by scholars and experts in the areas of Global Studies,
Liberal Arts, Fine & Applied Arts, General Science, and Spanish.
Originally published monthly in print as The World & I, our site
includes the complete contents since 1986 and continues to publish
a new issue online each month. |
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