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REVOLUTION: TESHUMARA AND TANEKRA 221In Tamasheq, ténéré has two meanings: Wasteland and solitude. It is thebarren land, the sand dunes and empty rocks, the ‘real’ desert where life isimpossible. This is in general not where the Kel Tamasheq live. They inhabitthe valleys and mountains of the central Sahara where life is possible. Theténéré is a threat to physical, mental and social existence. As life is not possible,society or socialised space is not present. Inversely, all space where Tamasheqsocial life is absent is ténéré. The drought had transformed much of Tamasheqsocial space, where life had been acted out, to a physical and social desert.Physically, because much of the vegetation was destroyed, leaving but barrenland; and socially, as the Kel Tamasheq had been forced to flee and thereforecould no longer uphold their community. Socially also, as the herds hadperished and with them social economic existence as it had been known. Thesecond meaning of ténéré is silence or solitude. Those who had to cross thedesert or had to dwell in it, notably caravan traders, were confronted with thissilence. Enduring ténéré – silence or solitude, an absence of social structure – isone of the harshest experiences a Kel Tamasheq could endure. 63 The twomeanings of the word ténéré became intimately linked in exile. The droughts ofthe 1970s and 1980s had not only shattered Tamasheq existence economically,but the resulting dispersion over West Africa and the Maghreb threatened thevery fabric of Tamasheq existence as a community of people. Most seasonalmigrants, refugees and ishumar stuck together in their diaspora. As Klute argues,within their places of exile, the Kel Tamasheq created a cultural andeconomic existence that stayed as close as possible to ‘home’ and their previousways of life. 64 But close to home is not home itself, and ténéré, desert, is notsocial space, akal. The droughts and other events had transformed their countryinto a desert and had shattered Tamasheq society. The absence of internationalsupport for their cause during Alfellaga; the fraud committed with relief aidduring the droughts; the expulsions from Algeria; the discrimination in Libya;and the general lack of welcome in Mali and Niger made one thing clear to theishumar: The Kel Tamasheq had no allies; no exterior help; no welcome; noresources.The Kel Tamasheq saw that they were alone. The blacks, even the stupid ones, aresupported because they are numerous. They are organised. If a poor country has aproblem, the others support it. The same goes for the Arabs. If Mauritania is poor,626364Poem by Ibrahim ag Alkhabib, 1979. Klute, G. 2001, poem 2. Belalimat attributesthis poem to the poet Swalam, 1981. Belalimat, N. 1996, poem 4.Based on Casajus, D. 1987.Klute, G. 2001: 235-236.