ASC-075287668-2887-01

224 CHAPTER 5military power; religious learning; etc. Tewsit identity can be a large bone ofcontention. It is perforce a definition of self, constructed in permanent competitionwith others, and it is therefore no basis for communal belonging on alarger scale. Most ishumar abhorred the clan system. They derived their identityfrom a common experience of marginalisation within their host societies, andwithin Mali and Niger, to which tewsit affiliation had no meaning. At themargins of Algerian and Libyan society, the Teshumara formed a network ofmen and women who largely depended on trust in each other and their commonsituation for economic and social survival. Coming as they did from all parts ofMali and Niger, and from all the various tewsiten, clan affiliation could notserve as a common factor establishing social coherence and group loyaltyamong ishumar. On the contrary, the constant competition over hierarchybetween tewsiten could only sow discord in their ranks. It should therefore beabolished. One of the main rules of the Teshumara was that one should nevermention someone’s tewsit affiliation. Only the use of someone’s name or nicknamewas allowed.One should keep in mind that the problems of Tamasheq society and theiranswers are presented here from the viewpoint of the évolués and the ishumar.These groups saw themselves as having escaped these problems, or trying toescape them, while they persisted among those Kel Tamasheq still living theirlife as pastoralists. Both the discourse about the problems as well as the variousdiscourses about possible solutions are those of an ‘enlightened’ city-dwellingelite abroad towards the ‘disadvantaged’ members of their society; the people inthe bush back home. Having said this, I should immediately soften this statement.Reflections on the problems of society were not reserved for the newelites. Consider the following part of a poem composed in the early 1980s by aman who was part of neither new elite. He was a simple ‘bush dweller’.There are no friends left to count onEach for himself and God for allFrom the biggest chief to the smallest childI hope the worthy are blessedThe best for us is righteousness, honour and patienceThe wrong path leads to failureA change is needed or the worst will comeThe young say it all, without omissionBut it is left in oblivionNot being serious is an evilthat runs everywhere, grows and spreadsWe need a remedy before it hurts usThese are my thoughts on a solutionWhere will it be without the respected oneswho know the right choice and banish evilwho don’t like the road of lies and banditry