ASC-075287668-2887-01

RACE, STEREOTYPES AND POLITICS 111the threat of revolt similar to that of 1916’ 103 The alleged revolt in the Gourmaalso revealed the fears and thoughts held by the local population towards theKel Tamasheq. In 1939, the administration held an inquiry among the localsedentary population about the plotted uprising. The assembled statements ofthe questioned population are not only revealing about Tamasheq acts; they alsoinform us about local sentiments towards them. Clearly, not only did the Frenchadministration still see the Kel Tamasheq as rebellious warriors and pillagers,the local population did so as well.If the French leave, we will ask God to disappear with them. We do not want to beruled by the Tuareg. (...) If it were Mougassou [a Tamasheq chief] who ruled, Iwould have been beaten; I would no longer have a boubou to wear, no harvests,nothing. (...) A Targui, Trafatou ag Moussa-Gallo, of the Kel Ansattafa asked me formillet. I refused. He insulted me, insulted my father and mother and said to me:‘You are going to bring this millet to me since the French are no longer here’, andhe left. I answered: ‘The French are still here, because if they were not, you wouldhave taken my millet by force.’ 104Suspicion toward the Kel Tamasheq and the obsession with la paix françaiseled to other excesses of thinking about security. Thus, the few solitary men whorefused to submit to French rule in the 1940s and 1950s, such as Alla ag Albachir,Inalaghen ag Dida and Ahmed wan Egarew, were hunted down systematicallywith all means the French disposed of. Even cars and aeroplanes wereused to put them out of action. These men, often living with their family or eventotally on their own, were the subjects of reports and concerns on levels totallyoutweighing their real importance and possibilities of effective resistance. Yet,the French, concerned with their image as strong occupiers and the guardians ofpeace, could not allow themselves to leave these men unbothered. Their capturewould be proof of French capacities to rule and maintain law and order. Theirliberty and resistance against French domination, however marginal, could set abad example to the local population. This French obsession with the KelTamasheq as rebellious warriors was easily transferred to the Malian administrators,especially since the Kel Adagh were seen as under French influence,and since France was still a military presence in Algeria.103 Télégramme lettre Subdivision Rharous à Cercle Tombouctou. Inspection des Affairesadministratives du Cercle de Gourma-Rharous. 1926-1953. ANM – FR 2D-15/1942.104 Procès verbal d’enquête, affaire Ouedan ag Baber, 1939. Inspection des AffairesAdministratives du Cercle de Gourma-Rharous. 1926-1953 ANM – FR 2D-15/1939.