A pilgrimage to Arawān: Religious legitimacy, status, and ownership in Timbuktu

Abstract

Northern Mali has been shaken by drought and conflict since the 1960s, leading to gradual redefinitions of notions of status, social hierarchy, and rights in land and people. These changes indicate a fundamental shift from genealogical to territorial visions of the world: from notions of infinite encompassment and concomitant hierarchy to conceptions of rights as derived from “indigeneity” and exclusive categories of ownership and belonging. The recent discovery of oil in the area lends further urgency to these issues, as shown here through an analysis of a pilgrimage to Arawān, north of Timbuktu, undertaken by the all‐too‐cosmopolitan descendants of a regional saint.

“The Truth about the Desert”: Exile, Memory, and the Making of Communities among Malian Tuareg Refugees in Niger

“…See also Lecocq (Lecocq 2005, 48). A third name often used to refer the former slaves in northern Mali is Haratin, but this is mostly used for former slaves of the Arabs, another important social group living in northern Mali who have not attracted scholarly attention as compared to the Tuareg (see Scheele 2012;Scheele 2013). My dissertation focuses on the Bellah-Iklan who primarily come from the following fractions: Dabakar, Kel Talatayt, Ishadenharen, Kel Abaket, Kel Essuk, Kel Tabonant Bellah, Tagassassante, Elhadji Moussa, Ikarkawane, Tarbanassa, Tamizguida Bellah, Ibhawane, Kel Tabonan Imajorène, Tamizguida Imajorène.…”

Outside Timbuktu's divine cover: The negotiation of privacy among displaced Timbuktians

“…In northern Mali, the population is divided among the Songhay, Tuareg, Arab, and Fulbe ethnic groups, which are complicated by political‐economic stratification (Elhadje ; Rasmussen ) . After Mali's independence in 1960, ethnic divisions—rooted in (pre)colonial political and territorial claims—formalized into two competing nationalisms, that of the Mande in the south and the Tuareg in the north (Lecocq ; Scheele ). Tuareg nationalists accused the south of political and economic domination.…”

“…Instead of providing further detail, though, both contemporary intellectuals and laypeople justified sutura as a concept by expounding on the ancient scholars’ supernatural qualities. Reputed for their incontestable piety, religious learning, and connection to the divine, most of these scholars have become known as among the 333 saints for which Timbuktu is famous (Babou ; Crapanzano ; Scheele ). What seemed even more legitimate than the actual content of these scholars’ teachings was that it came from the saints.…”

“…“The saints have God's ear,” some say. Thus, these Timbuktians demonstrate both their faith and their genealogical connections to their saintly ancestors through caring for the mausoleums constructed in the saints’ honor, offering blessings, and making sacrifices in their names (Scheele ). Since the saints are divine, honoring them is a way to honor God and receive his favor in return.…”

“…This, by extension, caused increased existential torment as many displaced Timbuktians then felt that they were not being properly pious. The crux of the matter is that, because residents conceptualize Timbuktu as a sacred space to which they maintain a deep existential, social, and genealogical connection (Scheele ), the hardships of displacement became nearly impossible to alleviate. The issue was displacement itself, not its effects.…”