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ALFELLAGA 191well, Diby said, I shall not kill him, but when I have drawn my pistol I cannotholster it without shooting. Bring me a donkey so I can fire the bullet meant for themerchant on that animal.” 87Like the Kel Adagh, but with different arguments, Almoustapha draws animmediate parallel between French colonial rule, Malian rule in the Adaghunder the Keita Regime, and the reasons for the second rebellion. The explicitline of reasoning is not only a good example of created continuity over time, butthe story told is also a good example of a particular colonial genre. The reasonwhy Commandant de Cercle Diby Sillas Diarra wanted to shoot the passingmerchant echoes similar stories about the injustice and power of the Commandantsde Cercle under French colonial rule. Almoustapha thus invokes a parallelbetween colonial times and newly independent Mali. However, the beating ofpassers-by for lack of respect was uncommon in the Adagh, but not in Almoustaphashome, the Cercle of Gao. The way in which Almoustapha creates aparallel between colonial and Malian rule is an example of what CharlotteLinde has called ‘narrative induction’, which is ‘a process of being encouragedor required to hear, understand, and use someone else’s story as one’s own’. 88This is brought about by what she calls ‘non-participant narrative’: ‘An oralstory told to someone not present at the events narrated’. 89 Almoustapha’sexample shows that appropriated narratives will be transformed in ways to fit ahistorical experience closer to the narrator. Undoubtedly, he will have heardstories of wicked colonial officers from his own family.We see here how various non-participant narratives have been blended into anew whole with the aim of appropriating historical events and their significancefor non-Kel Tamasheq: The outbreak of the second rebellion. The Kel Adagh,who see Malian rule as a continuation of colonial dominance, would not denythe parallel drawn by Almoustapha. In the coming chapters I will discuss thecauses and effects of narrative induction on non-participants of Alfellaga atgreater length. I will try to demonstrate how Alfellaga is linked to the rebellionof the 1990s in ways similar to those linking Alla ag Albachir to Alfellaga.Memories of the brutal repression of Alfellaga by the Malian Armed Forcesdescribed in this chapter are vital elements in explaining the preparations andoutbreak of the second rebellion. In this historical link, the same explanatoryelements are used: Individual action; genealogical continuity; and revenge.878889Conversation with Almoustapha Maïga. Ménaka, 24/03/1999.Linde, C. 2000: 613.Ibid.: 609.