Group+3.4+Berbers+in+the+Arab+World

__** Berbers: Indigenous People of the Middle East **__


 * // Regions //**

Berbers are a minority group that resides throughout North Africa. Spanning all across the region, these people inhabit mostly mountainous or desert regions, away from developed areas where past conquerors enforced power (Taylor, 2005). These tribes of indigenous people live mostly in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and the Sahara. Populations can also be found in small amounts in other places as well, including Mauritania, Mali, Niger, and the Canary Islands. Often, sub-areas of these countries are created because such different cultures reside in each area. For example, in Algeria, such sub-areas are referred to as the Aures Range and the Northern Hills, and in Morocco, such sub-areas are referred to as the Atlas system and the Northern Region (Michell, 1903).

//** Tribes **//

Though all 25 million Berbers are, more often than not, referred to by just that generic name, there are multiple tribes with similar and varying characteristics (Taylor, 2005). Inhabiting the Sahara, the “purest” Berbers are known as the Tawirk tribe, Algeria is home to both the Shawia in the Aures Range and the Kabyles in the Northern Hills, Morocco is home to the Sus and Berabera in the Atlas System and the Riffs in the Northern Region, and various other tribes are spread throughout the other countries mentioned before hand (Michell, 1903).

//** Lifestyles **//

All Berber tribes are distinct, but are tied together simultaneously. Not one tribe considers themselves to be Arab; they define themselves as an entirely different culture. These people are also almost all nomads with a soldier like mentality, living in rural areas away from crowded cities and Arab culture. Berbers picked up religions of invading powers rather quickly, without giving up their own traditions, and therefore it is common to find Muslim, Jewish, or Christian Berbers. Lastly, Berber women usually do not veil themselves like most women in the communities around them (Mellor, 1938). These similarities are why many people simply group them together, however, there exists much variety between each tribe. For example, Tawirk are stereotypically tall and dark with “sharp” facial features, while Kabyle are fair and light eyed with a smaller build. Because of many years of mixing however, extreme variation has occurred within each tribe and throughout them (Michell, 1903). There are also multiple languages, in just one country, specifically Morocco, there are three just for the Berbers. These include Tachelhit, Tamazight, and Tarifit (The Berbers, 2010).

The ability to distinguish Berbers from the rest of the population has begun to dwindle due to all the mixing and technology spreading culture so easily. Now most Berbers can only be distinguished by their language, along with clues from their music and culture (The Berbers, 2010). Even currently countries ignore them, and in countries like Morocco they have been systematically erased from public acknowledgement because the government believes their way of life makes them backward (Taylor, 2005). Though they maintain an entirely different lifestyle than other citizens of the countries in which they live, Arabization is eroding at their traditions little by little.


 * // Sources //**

1. Mellor, F.H. (1938). The Berbers. Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science, and Art, 389. 2. Michell, G.B. (1903). The Berbers. Journal of the Royal African Society, 2(6), 161-194. 3. Taylor, J. (2005). Berbers- A People Apart. National Geographic, 78, 78-96. 4. The Berbers. (2010, January 12). AL-BAB: an open door to the Arab world. March 12, 2011 .

Written by: Arianna Moss

Written By: Samantha Ruthkosky //** Sources: **//
 * __The Kabyle Tribe of the Maghrib Region __**
 * __﻿ __**The Kabyle tribe is a very unique group of Berbers that stands out among several of the other existing tribes. This particular group leads a sedentary lifestyle as farmers and shepherds among the Al Quabain Mountains along the northwest coast of Africa. This is known as the Maghrib region and includes the coasts of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco. However, if individuals must relocate to a new area, family ties continue to stay strong because family is a very important value among the Kabyle tribe. Of the four Million people within [[image:http://images.wikia.com/althistory/images/9/99/800px-Berber_flag.png width="400" height="262" align="right" caption="Flag of the Kabyle Berber http://althistory.wikia.com/wiki/Kabylie_(1983:_Doomsday) tribe "]]the Kabylian tribe, around 99 percent follow the beliefs of the Sunni division of Islam as well as traditional beliefs that originated within the tribe and were preserved throughout many generations. A minority of the population (about 1 percent) is also Christian (People-in-Country Profile). During the early 20th century, however, the French led themselves to believe that the Kabyle were actually European in origin and viewed them as a superior group in comparison to the surrounding Arab populations (Mady-Weitzman, 2006). The main reasons for this belief consisted of the Kabyle tribe’s closer proximity to France and other European countries as well as the fact that it was seen to be one of the only tribes that followed a sedentary lifestyle, much like the people of Europe. The Kabylian Vulgate then led the French to attempt the conversion of the Kabyle tribe to Christianity which ultimately failed and resulted in Christian missionaries withdrawing from the Maghrib region altogether (Goodman, 2005).

1. Goodman, Jane E. (2005). Berber Culture on the World Stage. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. 2. Mady-Weitzman, Bruce (2006). Ethno-politics and Globalisation in North Africa: The Berber Culture Movement. The Journal of North African Studies. 11, 71-82.  doi: //10.1080=13629380500409917 // //3. // []

=__ Ancient Berber Kingdom Numidia __=

=
Numidia was an ancient Berber Kingdom in 201 BCE- 46 BCE. This kingdom occupied what is now modern-day Algeria and a bit of modern day Tunisia in Northern Africa. One of Numidia's most famous Kings was Masinissa. He gained alliance with Rome, who gave him more land to expand the Kingdom of Numidia to the Mouloya River. Masinissa died in 148 BCE. At the time of his death Rome saw an advantage and invaded the land and divided the people of Numidia up into different tribes. This did not effect the people of Numidia much until the people of Carthage started coming into Numidia after their land had been destroyed. Then in 118 BCE a prince named Jugurtha became the King and tried to unify the people of Numidia again. He was able to do so for a little while until 105 BCE when again Rome gained control of Numidia. During this time when Rome was in control the amount of land the Kingdom occupied, significantly decreased. Then King Juba I tried to also unify the people again during the years 49 BCE - 46 BCE, but he was eventually defeated by Julius Caeser. The Kingdom was heavily influenced by Rome during this time. Major cities in the Kingdom were Cirta which is now Constantine and another city that Rusicada.===== Written by: Leah Pifer Sources: 1. Juba I." //The Columbia Encyclopedia.// 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2000. 20398. //General One File.// Web. 12 Mar. 2011. 2. [|www.britannica.com]

=__ Important Berbers Throughout History __=

//Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri//
Abd al-Qadir al-Jaza'iri was born in 1808 and died in 1883. He is known for being a political and religious leader as well as a military leader mostly because of his involvement in the resistance against the French occupation in Algeria. With his religious views he started the holy war in November of 1832. Two years later a treaty was signed due to his sovereignty over the province of Oran in which he received arms and money. Another two years passed and he was strong enough to revolt against the French but he was defeated though he still had power. As he reorganized the territory the French government thought he needed to be contained before another uprising so eventually he surrendered in 1847 and was kept in prison until 1852.

//Ferhat Mehenni//
Ferhat Mehenni who was born March 5 1951, is a Kabyle singer and a political activist. His first big success in music came in 1973 when he won the Algiers Modern Music Festival's first prize. Sometime after this he became a protest singer which caused him to get arrested several times and he even spent a few years in prison. Most of Mehenni's protests were against the Algerian government and the Islamists. Eventually he established the Movement for the Autonomy of Kabylie which was a hope for self government for the region of Kabylie in Algeria.

//Ahmed Aboutaleb//
Ahmed Aboutaleb, the current mayor of Rotterdam was born August 29 1961. In 1987 he graduated in telecommunications with his Bachelor of Engineering degree. After this he worked many jobs including a presenter on an educational television station and a reporter for two radio stations and a news station. In the 1990's Aboutaleb took on more serious jobs like working at the Ministry of Welfare, Health and Cultural Affairs, working as the head of information at the Social and Economical Council and he was the manager of the Communications and Publications Sector at Statistics Netherlands. In the early 2000's he switched a few more jobs until he was appointed State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment in the fourth Balkenede government.

Written By: Cody Pucell

//Sources//

 * 1) Babington, M. (1903). The Berbers: The Journal of the Royal African Society. 2, 161-194
 * 2) http://www.bookrags.com/biography/abd-el-kadir/
 * 3) http://www.rsm.nl/home/about/advisory_board/Ahmed_Aboutaleb
 * 4) http://www.wikipedia.org/