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REVOLUTION: TESHUMARA AND TANEKRA 223The postcolonial state structure was not the only problem the Teshumaraperceived as an obstacle to Tamasheq existence. Society itself needed to bechanged as well. The primary schools founded by the Keita Regime in Mali hadvehemently propagated socialism. Together with the events of 1963 in theAdagh, the Malian educational system left its legacy to the Tanekra movement:Social equality. The major issues were the position of the tribal chiefs, the tribesand tribal affiliation, and the caste system. The Keita Regime had depicted thechiefs as colonial feudal lords working against the interests of the labouringMalian masses. The tribal chiefs, who owed their legitimacy to state appointment,had grown synonymous with the collection of taxes, the forced educationof children and other forms of coercion. To the members of the Tanekramovement the chiefs were part and parcel of what they perceived as thepersistence of colonialism under new masters. They thus had to be eradicated,together with the tribal structure they represented and controlled. Interestinglyenough, the pre-existing stereotyped views of Tamasheq society held by theMalian administration, which had been at the basis of Malian politics in the1960s, were now taken over and internalised by members of Tamasheq society.Caste identity is based on four main behavioural types: That of the noble; thereligious expert; the craftsman; and the slave. Of these four, only that of thenoble had been given a name: Temushagha or noble behaviour (but see infra). Itis taken for granted that all Kel Tamasheq, even the former slaves aspire to liveaccording to the concept of temushagha. 68 The proverb ‘ellellu ulhe’ – ‘nobilitycomes from the heart’ (hence not from birth) – is often taken to mean that allcan acquire nobility and all seek to do so. Temushagha as an expression of thefundamental inequality within Tamasheq society became severely contested inthe 1970s, both implicitly and explicitly. Implicitly because the cultural andsocial habitus of former slaves had profound advantages. Not restrained bytemushagha the former slaves could take up any job and therewith ensure theirimmediate economic survival. Explicitly because the Tanekra attacked theexemplary basis of temushagha power: The tribal structure of society and thetribal chiefs at its head.Tamasheq society is generally endogamous and tewsit or clan identity isconnected to caste identity. One’s identity is first and foremost derived fromone’s tewsit, one’s tribe and clan. It is primarily to these social groups that oneis loyal. Tewsiten are grouped together in federations, ittebelen. In pre-colonialTamasheq society there existed a constant competition over relative status andhierarchy within the expanding circles of power – family, clan, tribe and federation– based upon personal merit; prestige of one’s lineage; the historical descentof one’s tribe; the number of clans in a tribe; economic wealth (herds);68Bourgeot, A. 1990.