The Tuareg People Trivia Quiz

Answer: Because of the indigo dye in their clothing

The Tuareg are sometimes called the blue people because they traditionally wear clothes dyed with indigo that sometimes wears off the clothing and can stain their skin. This is a common occurrence with the tagelmust, a men's turban and face garment that is dyed blue and is believed to ward off evil spirits.

Although blue is still the traditional and most common color for Tuareg clothing, nowadays the Tuareg frequently wear all colors.

Answer: Sahara Desert

The vast majority of Tuareg people live in the Sahara Desert region of Northern Africa. Niger is by far the nation with the most Tuareg people and is also the nation where the Tuareg make up the largest percentage of the population. The Tuareg are nomadic people whose society is hierarchical.

Answer: Islam

The Tuareg adopted Islam as their religion around the 7th century. Not only were the Tuareg amongst the first groups of people to convert to Islam, they were instrumental in spreading Islam throughout North Africa. The city of Timbuktu was founded by Tuareg and was a major city for Islamic and general education which the Tuareg used to spread Islam. Notably, the Tuareg are generally considered to be lax in the observation of certain Muslim traditions and women play a much more prominent role in society than in other traditional Muslim communities.

Answer: Slaves

The Ikelan caste was made up of slaves from other parts of Africa, most commonly those from areas just outside traditional Tuareg lands and were people who did not speak the Tuareg language. Although slavery is more or less abolished in Africa, it is still practiced in various forms in some Tuareg communities. In the most nomadic and remote communities, it is not uncommon to find slaves in chains like in the days of old.

The word "ikelan" literally means "to be black" referring to the darker skinned people of sub-Saharan Africa who were usually enslaved by the Tuareg.

Answer: Drink it

Atai is a type of gunpowder green tea that is a popular beverage in Tuareg communities. One of the characteristics of atai is its frothiness. Traditionally, it is served in very small glasses and poured into the glasses from a great height, causing the tea to froth. It is a sweet tea with lots of sugar and flavored with mint leaves.

Answer: Bukar

A bakur is a black turban worn by Tuareg men. It is not a weapon.

The Tuareg people developed many weapons as they were once mighty warriors and expert in military skills. However, over time the Tuareg military prowess declined as they preferred their traditional tools instead of modern weapons including firearms.

A takoba is a long metal sword. An amur is a wooden arrow. An alakkud is a traditional Tuareg riding crop that was used to whip people, not horses.

Answer: Male

Unlike in some other predominantly Muslim societies, in Tuareg villages, it is the men who are more likely to wear face veils. Men will often wear a turban and a face veil, leaving just his eyes exposed while a woman will more than likely just be wearing a headpiece.

This various from community to community, however. Some Tuareg men will wrap their face veils under their chins rather than have it cover their face. Tuareg fashion, in general, serve two purposes. One is fashion and the second is protection from the desert sun and sand.

Answer: He is a nobleman

Although things have changed slightly over time, only Tuareg nobles (called imajaghan) owned camels. Therefore, a Tuareg man with a camel is most likely a member of the noble caste. In addition, only noblemen carried weapons as they were also the warrior caste.

Answer: Tag

Sellenduq is basically tag except the "it" person pretends to be a jackal who has to catch the other players. The jackal tries to catch all of the other players rather than pass on the "it" status to the person tagged.

Answer: Blizzard

Uranium mining is a profitable industry in Niger. However, the government of Niger has been engaged in long-running disputes with the Tuareg communities who live on what is believed to be uranium-rich land. Uranium mining in other areas has used up large amounts of the already scarce Tuareg water supply, threatened their lands and is possibly responsible for a dramatic increase in cancer rates and stillborn death the Tuareg have experienced since the mining began.

In addition, climate change has also depleted the water supply. Combined with the uranium contamination, the lack of water has hurt the Tuareg's ability to farm.