Amazigh Arts in Morocco: Women Shaping Berber Identity

ONE: Ait Khabbash Textiles: Weaving Metaphors of Identity

one Ait Khabbash Textiles weaving metaphors of identity A woman who weaves forty carpets is guaranteed a place in heaven. —moroccan proverb Acommonality among Amazigh art across Morocco is the predominantplaceoftextiles .Amazighwomenarerenownedforthebrightly colored carpets, blankets, and clothing that they weave from goat, sheep, and camel wool, and Ait Khabbash women are no exception. In addition to the functionality of these art forms, the colors and motifs that adorn Ait Khabbash textiles refer to female fertility and also serve as symbols of Ait Khabbash ethnic identity. Thus an examination of these textiles illuminates both the aesthetic system that informs Ait Khabbash art and the central role of women in artistic production. As this chapter illustrates, the formal qualities of this art have been primarily shaped by two factors: the nomadic history of the Ait Khabbash and beliefs concerning female fertility.The process of weaving itself is central to the discussion because of its reliance on collaboration and mutual assistance, reflecting a nomadic lifestyle that is based on cooperation.Women dominate the weaving process, metaphorically giving life to textiles that serve as public symbols of Ait Khabbash Amazigh identity.With this cultural background, we shall see that women have a crucial role in the maintenance and public expression of Ait Khabbash identity. Ait Khabbash Art and Their Nomadic Past ‘‘Whydo they have a tent set up next to their house?’’ I asked my sister-in-law Khera after visiting an Ait Khabbash family living on the outskirts of Mez- 16 amazigh arts in morocco guida. She explained that the family, who were among the last remaining Ait Khabbash to abandon their nomadic way of life, had illegally settled on the village’s communal land. Aware that the village’s governmental council did not want nomads to settle on land that could be used foragriculture and might forcefully remove them at any time, they hastily built a one-room mud-brick house so that they could claim permanent residence. They used the familiar tent as an extra sleeping area for their children and a place to pass the cool desert evenings. Mezguida is one of four villages in the Tafilalet oasis occupied by Imazighen (Fig.1.1).ThemajorityoftheAitKhabbash,whoarrivedintheareafrom the Ait Atta–controlled territory of south-central Morocco in the early nineteenth century, advanced into theTafilalet oasis and forced Arabs living in the oasis into submission (Hart 1981: 15). Although the Ait Khabbash survived on grains and dates given to them in the form of tribute by Arabs in the oasis, the majority lived a nomadic lifestyle even after French occupation of this region in 1934 (Spillman 1936).The Ait Khabbash raised goats, sheep, and camels in this Saharan region of southeastern Morocco, which receives less than four inches of rainfall per year.These tents—woven, constructed, and taken down by women—protected families from the scorching desert sun, the frequent sandstorms,andthecolddesertnights.Nighttimetemperaturescanbeascold as 30 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter and daytime temperatures in the summer months can be as hot as 120 degrees. The wide-open landscape of the region, called the ḥamada in Arabic, is covered with black stones and divided by dry riverbeds that seasonally fill with water. The flat ḥamada is disrupted by massive dunes of gold-colored sand that house enormous reserves of fresh water. Nomads built wells on the fringeofthedunes,andtheseasonalfloodingofdriedriverbedssuppliedthem with much-needed water. Ait Khabbash subsistencewas different from that of other Ait Atta in Morocco, who were transhumant, herding sheep and living in mud and stone houses in the fall and winter and in tents in the spring and summer (Hart 1981: 5).Unlike other Ait Atta, the Ait Khabbash were nomadic year round and herded camels (Joly 1951). The herding of camels (which requiredlargeamountsoffodder ),coupledwiththeharshdesertenvironmentof southeastern Morocco, meant that the Ait Khabbash traversed largerexpanses of land than most Amazigh nomads or transhumants, searching for food suf- ficient for their livestock. Ait Khabbash crossed the Sahara, participating in the trans-Saharan caravan trade into western Africa via Tabalbala in Algeria. As with most nomads, a family measured its material wealth by the amount ait khabbash textiles 17 Figure 1.1. Qsar Mezguida in the Tafilalet oasis. of livestock it owned. Livestock provided meat, milk, and wool. Wool was used to make items necessary fordaily life.Unlike more sedentary peoples, the Ait Khabbash did not purchase their blankets, carpets, and bags in the local market; instead the...