Touareg Mythology and Matrilineal society
Touareg Women's Status in More detail - The Matrilineal Way
Reference/Bibliography
Touareg Mythology and Matrilineal society
1. Their origins and their stories: Women
Women are hugely respected in Touareg societies, as it is matrilineal in structure - names and property are passed from mother to daughter, as opposed to patrilineal - father to son.
Matrilineal societies are dying out- they are now rare. They are vestiges of prehistoric times wherewomen possibly had more actual and concrete social power than many societies in the world, including the West, give them today.
There are obviously mythsabout Touareg origins. The Touaregs of Ahaggar areno exception.
2. Women: Ti-n-Hinan's story
These groups of Touaregs have an interesting story where they believe they are the descendants of
Ti-n-Hinan, whose tomb is said to be dated from the 5th century (archaelologists'studies).
The Legend or Allegoy of Ti-n-Hinan
Ti-n-Hinan, who travelled to Ahaggar, was accompanied by her servant Takama of Tafilalet, a place where caravans and markets reigned, and a place important for the Islamization of the Sahara.
These two women would have found Ahaggar, very much empty of inhabitants. They encountered some idol worshippers, the Isabetens, who happened to live in the most inaccessible and harsh of mountain ranges.
Ti-n-Hinan's three daughters would have given birth to the ruling Ahaggaran tribes, while Takama's
daughters gave birth to the nobles, smaller tribes and their serving tribes. Thus is the story of Ahaggar.
3. Husbands
And the husbands of these women?
Often ignored. According to traditional story telling schema (largely wide spread inmany Berber environs, says Hawad, men are often presented as "genies", belonging to a non-domesticated world... or peaceful wild men, in a territory that appered empty.
The latter reference may refer to the Isabetens, who were quite an easy conquest for Ti-n-Hinan and Takama- for they were goat herders, who had no natural defences, and were quite gentle.
The point of the legend of Ti-n-Hinan and Takama, is that women bring culture and knowledge. Men by their lack of existence in such stories, born in the harsh mountains, or at the most extreme of territory, must marry in order to survive and develop.
This is perhaps crucial to the motifs of Touareg philosophy.
Women like Ti-n-Hinan symbolically,negotiated the extreme or the harsh exteriors, to re-negotiate a new order-bringing a rich interior life or culture to shape the landscape. For landscape, read the Sahara desert.
It is the capacity to negotiate with the outside (exterior) which enriches the "interior"; this distinguished the dominant ones from the dominated.(Hawad)
That is, humanity creates a liveable environment, out of the harshness.
4.
It is not by accident, that Ti-n-Hinan's name means "the One of the Tents". The Tent represents culture, the rich interior of one's mind, intellect, emotions, philosophy and one's relationships, etc.
Ti-n-Hinan allegorically, knew how to assimilate, confront, influence, adapt to the outside world and connect wih other people.
The exterior - the Sahara- wasnow to be used in a diverse number of ways in the development of the environment and cultural process of the Touareg groups.
The huge caravan ports and the urban Touareg centres, highways, tracks and so on would become pivotal thereafter, to prove the success of mastering the environment and creating a culture.
5. Going Deeper: Paradise Lost
While Touaregs are Muslims, their co-existence with the desert echoes a pre-islamic philosophy, or a very ancient philosophy.
To them, earth became a paradise lost- after she had been bountiful and generous. She had warned humanity that any mark or offence against her would result in her fury and rebellion against humanity.
This mutual pact of protecting the earth and the earth providng freely for humanity broke down. Earth revolted: harvests failed, rains failed,no one could eat green, unripened fruits and so on.
This means, humans often face hostile and wild environments, which have to be tamed to survive. Now there are places or shelter, to grow crops and so on.
In this progression and development, humanity has created structures and order to their universe.
This also echoes the story of Ti-n-Hinan, i.e, enriching /changing the harsh exteriorwith ones' knowledge, mind, culture and actions.
For the Touareg, the conquest of the void and the harsh extrerior of the desert, has an even more profound significance. It recreates a microcosm of the workings of the universe.
Yes, the creative interior of the human mind influences the exterrior- for one can design and makes shelters, one can grow crops, using time-honoured technologies, one can create muisc, culture and art, philosophy, movemnet and trade.
The exterior can be very dangerous, but it is also stimulating. Ironically, without the existence of the Sahara, the Touareg would not have existed.
Space for the Touareg equals the interior space of one's mind, or spirit. To conquer a fear of the desert means one has to learn how to master the environmnet, by learning survival skills. This is the most important thing of all.
Mastering the Fear of the Unknown
The education of the Touareg child is about skills to master the desert; in learning these skills, one will make a huge psychological leap in confronting the unknown...
Touareg Women's Status in more detail: The Matrilineal Way
The Touareg Woman is the Creator of the Tent, of the Shelter, of the Interior- the Source of Stability.
The Tent is often a temporary refuge and shelter for those Touareg men who often travel the trade routes in and around the Sahara.
The interior in Touareg language,means family, society and the world known and unknown. Women are economically independant and live with a real rooted sense of freedom, confidence and easy movement.
They are truly at the hub of society and are quoted as the origin of societal things.
In Touareg perspective, everything germinates and grows inorder to be married to its opposite - to create
a unity. A touareg sees unity in everything, a potential for harmony, or for the creation of harmony.
Men and women in Touareg society are not subservient to each other.
Reference/Bibliography
The information about Touareg cultures, societies, history has been adapted, translated from the French (with additional comments) by Maureen Pemberton from the book Touaregs, Approivoiser le desert (Touaregs, Taming the Desert).
Helene Claudot-Hawad 2002
Published by Gallimard