Touareg Warrior

Wearing His Finest

Niger 2000  A small village north of Arlit.

This is how Touareg men dress for important occasions such as a village celebration we attended. The men seemed menacing. I could well imagine the fear of camel caravans when a group of Touareg men riding their white racing camels galloped toward them.

The fabric Touareg prize is cotton with a powdered indigo dye pounded into it. This gives it the sheen that is noticeable in the photo. The powder gradually comes off the fabric and stains the skin of the Touareg, both men and women. They prize this color on their skin. This is the meaning of the term “blue people”.

Only the men veil in Touareg culture. When a man is in the presence of a man who is his elder, his father or someone he respects, he will cover his lower face with his veil. The veil is part of his head covering, called a tagelmoust in their language. They even eat wearing the veil, just lifting it from the hem to place the food in their mouth.

Alone and Fearless

 A Touareg man  crosses the Sahara alone. The desert is his home and he prefers the empty landscape. I asked a Touareg man if he wished there were trees in the desert and he said, “No.” He prefers the land empty and desolate. Those are my words. He might have more flattering terms.

He wears a pale blue gandoura with black cotton pants that have colorful embroidery on the outer seams. His shoes are red and turquoise dyed leather sandals with embossed designs. I bought a pair of those but couldn’t wear them because the thong between my toes was too hard.

The tagelmoust and the billowing  gandoura make these very slender men look handsome. When they remove the headdress, the glamour is gone!!