Location: The Amazigh have lived in Africa since the earliest recorded time. References date back to 3000 BC. There are many scattered tribes of Amazigh across Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. Forty percent of the Moroccan population is Amazigh, 30% live in Algeria, and 1% in Tunisia. There are smaller numbers of Amazigh in Mauritania, Mali, and Niger. They tend to live in desert regions like the Sahara and in the Atlas Mountains. They live there because the Arabs conquered North Africa in the 7th century AD, and pushed the Berbers out. The number of Amazigh in North Africa has slowly declined because more and more Amazigh are adopting the language and culture of the Arabs.
Language: Tamazight. Each tribe has its own dialect.
"Berber" is a derogatory term derived from the Roman term for barbarians. They refer to themselves as Amazigh (plural: Imazighen), which means "free people." Amazigh are non-Arabic tribes. Throughout the centuries Amazigh have mixed with many ethnic groups, mostly Arabs. Because of this, Amazigh have come to be identified by linguistics. The Amazigh language has 300 closely related dialects. A number of tribes have their own distinct language. Some of the largest Amazigh tribes are Rif, Kabyle, Shawia, Tuareg, Haratin, Shluh, and Beraber. The written language is not commonly taught and is rarely used.
Daily Life: Amazigh are traditionally Muslim. They have had a constant struggle for power in North Africa with Arab tribes for centuries. Traditionally, Amazigh lived in rural areas and raised sheep and cattle and worked in flourmills or did work in woodcarving, quarrying millstones, and making pottery or jewelry. Women were generally involved with housework, weaving, and pottery. Their housing is usually clay huts or tents made out of goat hair. In larger villages, however, houses are made of stone. Today, most Amazigh are migrant workers who work in Spain or France.
Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not claim expertise on the Amazigh.
Please send questions, comments, and corrections to emuseum@mnsu.edu and include the URL of this page.
If you are Amazigh, your feedback is much appreciated.
Resources:
Becker, Cynthia
2006 Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity. Electronic document: http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exbecama.html.
Britannica Online
2001 Berber. Electronic document, http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9078700, accessed April 2001.
Dogterom, Floris
2002 The Berber vs. Berber Debate. Amazigh World. Electronic document, http://www.amazighworld.net/news/press/index_show.php?article=535,
accessed November 7, 2008.
Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations
2008 Nutrition Country Profiles. Electronic document, http://www.fao.org/ag/AGN/nutrition/MOR-e.stm, accessed November 7, 2008.
Frobenius, Leo and Douglas Fox
1996 African Genesis. Noble offset Printer. p.49-73.
Gray, Doris
2001 On the Move? Berber Women Seek a Place in Modern Moroccan Society. World and I 16:198.
By Christa Martin
Edited by Melissa Lorentz and Mustafa Abarkan, 2008