Can we call each person travelling from one place to an other a nomad?

There are three main criteria by which we characterize nomadism.

⦁ The nomads live from the nature: this is one of the main characteristics of the nomadic People . The environment provides good spaces for its residents while they respect it in return, nomads handcraft their clothes from their animals wool also their tent by camels wool. They know the path in the night by the stars, and also they nourish and drink from nature. In addition they wash their clothes by a plant called “LGHASSAL”.

⦁ Freedom: whenever we hear the word freedom we automatically bear in mind the political freedom. But we mean the freedom of travelling and moving wherever they want without any forbidding reason, because they believe deeply that the desert is for everybody. The nomads can walk for long distances without limits.
⦁ The animals: we cannot talk about nomads without animals, that is to say animals and nomads need each other’s in desert. The people quench and feed animals (cheep, camels…), in exchange for that, animals give milk and meat for their owners.

As a matter of fact, camels in the desert cannot pull water from the wells, so they need nomads. However, nomads need camels to carry their heavy luggage to move from place to another, this relation between the camels and nomad end when the nomadic life is over.

 Geographical places of nomadic people:

characteristics of the nomadic People situated everywhere in the world, we can find them in southern Algeria, western Libya, eastern Mali northern Niger, and northern Burkinafasso. When we talk about nomad obviously we shed light on the where about of the Tuareg because they considered nomads as well.

The Tuareg are Berber people with a traditionally characteristics of the nomadic People pastoralist lifestyle, they are the principal inhabitants of the Saharan interior of North Africa, and most of them live in the Saharan parts of Niger, Mali, Algeria and Libya.
In the past, there were no borders between countries. Nomads travel freely from not only a place to another inside their countries but also throughout all the big Sahara. Mhamid and lack IRIKI are still considered to be the gate that people from the south east of Morocco (Mhamid, Tagnit, Lack Iriki) used to go to Azawad or Algeria without any restrictions. People of Mhamid and Lack Iriki respect the tuareg life style and speak their language (Tamasheq) in order to facilitate the communication and interaction, vice versa.

 Nomads in Libya and Morocco
There is no doubt that the nomad life style differentiate from one place to another when it comes to clothing, music, language, etc…

⦁ Nomads in Libya

In Libya the estimated nomads of the Tuareg tribe are between 20000 and 23000(1993).The Tuareg are an Islamic African inhabitant of the Libyan Sahara, they are classified as a semi nomadic, meaning that they travel with their herds on a seasonal basis but also have a home where they grow some food crops as stated by Countries and Their Cultures (n.d). their spoken language is to a degree different from others; they speak “Tamasheq” which is a mixture of the Berber and Saharan dialects. The Tuareg are called the blue men because they wear a blue cloths dyed with indigo. For women they wear black clothing, silver and jewelry.

The tuareg of Libya follow the Islam, combined with traditional beliefs and practices.
We cannot talk about tuareg without talking about music, folktales and poetry. The music for them is a way to express their freedom and convey messages, also to preserve the value of the tribe which is a necessity for them.
In general the nomad life style is deeply written in the essence of the Tuareg tribes in Libya.

⦁ Nomads in Morocco

In Morocco the Saharan landscape knows a mixture of nomadic cultural tribes. There are tribes that speak the “Hassaniyya” dialect and others that speaks the “Tamazight” dialect which create a mixture of culture in the south east of Morocco. The Moroccan nomads wear “DRAIIA” and cover their faces with a piece of cloth called “FERWAL” or “CHECH”. On the other hand women wear “MELHAFA”.
The folktale create a visual representation of the nomad life style, also expresses their hopes, suffering that surrounded them. The nomad’s folktales are no different from others it is used to convey messages and protect the tribe values and culture.