Corey+-+CD+-+SP13

Gibril Ag Mohamed
 * __Name__ **

The culture of Tuareg: the Tuaregs are a smaller group of people that make up the Berber people: those who are native to the upper portion of Africa. Many were before, but fewer are today, nomads who roam the Sahara desert. Pastoralism is a big part of their culture. They breed and travel with their livestock in search of sufficient supply of food and water among the land. Others in this group are either agriculturalists, blacksmiths  or caravan leaders. Agriculture, trade, and pastoralism construct the foundation for their economy.
 * __Culture__ **

Tuareg (a.k.a Tamasheq) is part of the Berber language which is under the Afroasiatic (Afro-Asiatic) language. Around 1.2 million people speak Tuareg/Tamasheq throughout the top areas of Africa, mainly in Mali, Niger, Libya, Algeria, and Burkina Faso, and written and read using Lating, Tifinagh or Arabic l etters. Some Tuareg people are capable of speaking French, Songhay or Hausa as well. The Berber language, or in more general terms, the Afroasiatic language as a whole, is spoken throughout more locations than the Tuareg language alone, but is mostly indigenous to portions of Africa. This would be beneficial in allowing one person to represent and speak on behalf on a large group of people located in the countries of upper Africa, with sharing a language and possibly some other aspects, such as with culture and everyday life. Having the ability to speak, read, and write in multiple languages will give the ambassadors the ability to communicate with a wide range of people through the various means of communication.
 * __Language__ **

The vast majority of Tuareg people practice the religion of Islam, pertaining to the belief in their one god, Allah, since most of them are Muslims. The practice of Animism, which describes the thinking/belief that every natural thing in the world has a spiritual being/essence, is also commonly found among the Tuaregs. Paganism, the practice or religion where people believe in multiple gods, was and still is commonly found in the North African area, but Christianity became accepted by the Tuaregs as well, and some chose that religion instead. Having a knowledge and/or practicing multiple religions commonly found in the nations throughout the Sahara also allows for one person to represent and share and speak as a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for many people because they have a general understanding of the practices/beliefs they have and the other things that are important to them, so as not to offend anyone’s religion.
 * __Beliefs/Religion__ **

Many of the Tuaregs value and find their ways of life to be important because these are really the only ways that they have been taught, and therefore know how, to make a living. Sustaining their lives and society is the most important thing to the Tuaregs because as a nomad, a stable profession and income isn’t certain. Their professions of pastoralism, with breeding and caring for livestock, agriculture, where some Tuaregs plant and grow some food resources for their people, and being an artisan/trader, who craft jewelry, swords, and saddle decorations and sell what they make. Matrilineality is another important value to this group of people. Since the Tuaregs don’t have a continuous amount of supplies and resources in their control at all times, like many people do around the world, they, mainly the children, value the possessions and social class passed down to them from their mothers, which have been given to generation after generation in their family. Their music and dance styles are other aspects of their culture that have importance to the Tuaregs. These people have their own types of music and dance, which is why they value them, since they set them apart and show their individuality because these styles only represent their culture and no one else's. These values signify the Tuareg culture. These values would provide the goodwill ambassadors with a different perspective on another culture’s art, music, literature, dance, and other important things to them, so that they and others could understand and be knowledgeable about the characteristics of the main nomadic group in Northern Africa.
 * __Values__ **

It’s not known why the Tuareg are nomads and why constant travel is part of their behavior, but they have been for thousands of years and so it’s become a natural behavior for them. The behavior and idea of the Tuareg men wearing veils over their faces and heads has also been passed down through their groups’ generations for a long time, and it therefore has become a constant behavior and requirement for the men. The veils are placed around the males’ heads when they turn 18 and have officially gone through adulthood, and passed from adolescence to adulthood. This behavior of wearing veils is important to their culture because of what it represents, but also because the men have to wear them all the time and they’re especially worn around other people of importance. Camel caravan trade, across the Sahara, with other communities is also a large portion of the everyday behaviors of the Tuareg people, because that was and still is somewhat today, how many of these people make a living and earn money. Knowing the different behaviors of the Tuareg culture and having a representative from this group as a goodwill ambassador will allow people to become familiar with the Tuareg people that roam the land in upper Africa and identify them based on their actions. It will also allow people to know what are some actions of the Tuaregs that are important or done on a regular basis by them.
 * __Behaviors__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Tuareg people have been nomads for a long time, and a few still are today, and therefore they are constantly moving from location to various location. This would make it difficult for them to be a UNESCO goodwill ambassador because they might not be able to stay in one place for more than a short period of time, and thus wouldn’t be able to attend any meetings of the ambassadors, if there are any, depending on the group’s movement. As well, every person in a Tuareg family is important in helping sustain the family and finding resources for one another. If one of those family members, most likely a mother or father, became an ambassador, that family would be lacking another set of hands that could help keep them alive. This might cause a problem for them because they might then have to rely on other Tuaregs to help them until that family member returned.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Culturally-related challenges__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Cultural Changes__

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Tuareg people have had some aspects of their culture and way of life affected by globalization, but not all of it has changed. Since this group of people are majorly nomadic, their constant movement has given them the ability to escape the hands of globalization, which may not be the best in their case. Their lives revolve around caring for their livestock, caravan trading, and continuously searching for sustainable food and water sources, so they don’t stay long enough in one place to feel the effects that globalization might have had on that society/community. They use the same techniques and patterns for living as they had thousands of years ago. The Tuareg people have no real civilization or area to claim as their own, and therefore have not had the capability to acquire the knowledge and technology a society normally does in order to prosper, denying them the ability for growth. Globalization has affected the Tuaregs in terms of religion because Christianity was spread across the world, causing a large portion of North Africa to become part of the Christian faith. Tuaregs and Muslims/Arabs congregated with one another in North Africa and the Tuareg people interchanged religious beliefs with one another, causing the Tuareg people and the Arabs/Muslims to take on aspects of one another's cultures.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Globalization__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The spread of technology across the world hasn’t quite found its place in the northern region of Africa, affecting many people, including the Tuaregs. The lack of technology has continually swamped the Tuareg people with problems, making their nomadic lifestyle even more difficult. As a result, many of the Tuaregs have abandoned their group and decided to settle into a community, giving up the life of a nomad. Though the nations in North Africa aren’t that much more advanced than the Tuaregs, those places do offer a better life than one that involves constantly moving. The Tuareg groups suffer even more from this lack of globalization and spread of technology. Those who are nomadic still today, live off the land and the supplies and things that were passed down through generations, or what little other supplies they could acquire by selling and trading whenever they traveled through a town or village. With the Tuaregs being deprived of the technology that could ultimately help their cause, with finding fresh water and food or for constructing a community, they are falling behind other countries and their population and resources are beginning to dwindle in numbers.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Technology__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Tuareg people don’t use the normal methods for commercialization where products are advertised on TV, the radio, newspapers, etc. They haven’t been provided with the types of technology that many other people have the ability to use. Their means of commercializing products that they wish to sell are done by taking camel caravans from place to place across the Sahara, through several nations in upper Africa, and setting up small stands or areas where they present their goods and products to the people, allowing them to view what they have. The lack of commercialization, which could piggy back of the lack of technology, could be affected by how much they have access to, because without the spread of television or radio or the ability to print on newspapers, the Tuaregs don’t have much capability to commercialize their products that they want and need to trade/sell, especially since they’re constantly moving.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Commercialization__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">For the Tuareg people, travel is a major part of their everyday lives, and therefore hasn’t changed their culture in that aspect, since their people have been nomads for multiple millennium. Although travel didn’t create much cultural change for the Tuaregs, the changing landscape, along the routes they take, did cause the group(s) to change their living tactics. The ever-changing landscape, scenery, and limited amount of resources found in the Sahara desert have caused the Tuaregs to adapt to their surroundings. Food and water sources have continued to deplete as a result of climate change, causing these nomads to change their techniques and to alter their lifestyle. Some have chosen to abandon the idea of being a nomad and decide to live a more sustainable and prosperous life by settling into a community and staying in one place. Those who continue to be nomads today are traveling farther south to more prosperous cities where more supplies and food and water sources can be found.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">__Travel__ **

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">MLA Citations:

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Secondary Sources

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Countries and Their Cultures." Tuareg. Advameg, Inc., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Mauritania-to-Nigeria/Tuareg.html__]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Tuareg People." Tuareg People. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/Tuareg.html__]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Tuareg People." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg_people__]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Who Are the Tuareg? | Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World." Who Are the Tuareg? | Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Jan. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/tuareg/who.html__]

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Primary Source

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Tuareg - People Of The Land (Sahara). YouTube. YouTube, 13 Jan. 2012. Web. 28 Jan. 2013. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">[|__http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1xycrmqn4c__]