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In July 1994, a delegation of Berbers from Morocco presented testimony on their own behalf at the annual meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, in Geneva. The presentation indicates that Berbers have identified themselves as "indigenous," fulfilling a major criterion for their identification as such by others. Indigenous peoples are recognized operationally through self-definition (as one of several criteria) by both the International Labor Organization and the World Bank. This article seeks to expand the broader consciousness of the global indigenous movement by supporting the recognition of Berbers and elaborating upon the testimony they provided at the Working Group meeting.1
The Berbers have inhabited North Africa for thousands of years and today live in a vast area extending through the several countries that constitute the "Maghreb" region (the western Mediterranean coast of North Africa): Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.2 Although the details of their origins are uncertain,3 it can be asserted that the Berber people inhabited North Africa thousands of years ago; they were situated where they exist today (through the expanse of the Atlas Mountains) at the time when the first invaders of the region who recorded history came upon them. It is further safe to say, then, that the Berber case corresponds to that of any indigenous nation of the Americas.4
A long history of intermixing among different peoples has extended over centuries, however, and the processes of intermarriage, acculturation, cultural diffusion, and ethnocide have made it problematic to find pure strains of race and culture. Therefore, it is appropriate to apply the enlarged working definition employed by the International Labor Organization (ILO) to establish Berber identity as indigenous. These criteria, besides self-definition, include isolation, discrimination, marginalization, and most importantly, the occupation of particular territories at the time of the establishment of present state boundaries. The harshness of the discriminatory treatment historically given to the Berbers in North Africa clearly fits them within the expectations of the ILO definition. That treatment has propelled the question of self-definition among Berbers by generating a resistance rooted in their awareness of cultural and national identity.
Today, the Berbers are concentrated in six main groups: the Rif, Braber, Shluh, and Soussi, in Morocco, and the Kabyles and Shawiya, in Algeria.5 These main groups are subdivided into numerous tribes that live in the Atlas highlands and along the Mediterranean coast. Cultural relatives of the Berbers include the inhabitants of the Saharan oasis towns of Touggourt, Ouargla, Ghardaia and Figuig, and the regions of M'zab, Gourara, and Touat (see map on page 11), and the Tuaregs of the central and southern Sahara (see the companion article on Tuaregs in this issue of the FWB). Collectively, the Berbers refer to themselves simply as "Imazighen," which translates as "free and noble men," and has become a major indicator of Berber self-awareness and nationalism.
During the third millenium, B.C., the Berbers formed a loosely confederated network of kingdoms behind the coastal areas that fell under the control, first, of Carthage, and later, Rome. The Berber kings had treaties of friendship with both Carthage and Rome.6 In the late seventh century A.D., Muslim Arabs invaded North Africa, and by the end of the ninth century, they had completely subdued the Berber countryside and Islamized most of the Berbers. The arrival of the Arabs prevented the Berber language from developing a written form. Writing was reserved for Arabic, which became the vehicle of propaganda as the new conquerors spread the Holy Word through the Koran.
Arabization transformed the Berbers in three distinct stages. The first stage was the initial contact between the Arab invaders. The second began with the arrival of more Arab families from the Mashreg (the east) in the eleventh century. During the third stage, from the 15th to the 17th centuries, Arabization was accelerated by the arrival of Andalusian refugees who had been expelled by Christians from the last lands occupied by Arabs in Spain.7
Although they accepted Islam as a new religion, Berbers also maintained their pre-Islamic cultural and ritual traditions. Islamization and Arabization were never capable of completely erasing Berber culture. Indigenous inhabitants of the lowlands of the Sahara were more directly subjected to the dominance of Arabic influence, but the Berbers who took sanctuary in the highlands of the Atlas Mountains were able to sustain and preserve their own language, culture, distinctive customs and forms of social organization.
Among the strongest of these highland peoples, the Kabyles (the largest of the Berber nations) inhabited the mountains east of Algiers. There, on the crests of hills, they built villages in which close-knit, independent, social and political units were composed of extended patrilineal kin groups. Traditionally, Berber local government consisted of a jamaa (village council), which included all adult males and legislated according to local custom and law. Arab efforts to modify that traditional system were not very successful, and it has since then continued to function alongside the civil administrations imposed by a succession of state regimes.
Set apart by their territory, language, and well organized village and social life, the Berbers acquired a highly developed sense of independence and group solidarity. Having this unity, they were able to prevent and resist the encroachment of Europeans and Arabs into their territory. They continued to follow the path taken by their ancestors and to believe in the traditional ideals of a society they wanted to preserve.
Fourth World Bulletin • Fall 1994/Winter 1995
Copyright © 1996 by the Fourth World Center
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