PeopleNorth AfricaWest Africa

🇲🇦 🇩🇿 🇱🇾 🇹🇳Amazigh (Berber)

The indigenous peoples of North Africa; Imilchil betrothals and yennayer new year.

🇲🇦 Morocco🇩🇿 Algeria🇱🇾 Libya🇹🇳 Tunisia🇲🇱 Mali🇳🇪 NigerTamazightTashelhitKabyle

Customs they practice

4 recorded rites, each with its steps and its WHY.

The henna night

Across North Africa, the Swahili coast, and the Cape, the bride’s hands and feet are adorned with henna on a music-filled night before the wedding, surrounded by the women of both families.

🇲🇦 🇩🇿 🇱🇾 🇹🇳 🇲🇱Amazigh · Egyptians · Swahili Coast +2for women

Courtship & marriageAI-aggregated

The Imilchil betrothal festival

The Amazigh festival in Morocco’s Atlas mountains where Ait Haddidou families gather each September and young people meet, court, and conclude betrothals during the fair.

🇲🇦 🇩🇿 🇱🇾 🇹🇳 🇲🇱Amazigh

Community & hospitalityAI-aggregated

The three glasses of Saharan tea

Among the Tuareg and across the Sahara, green tea is brewed strong and poured from height in three rounds: "the first bitter like death, the second gentle like life, the third sweet like love."

🇲🇱 🇳🇪 🇩🇿 🇱🇾 🇧🇫Tuareg · Amazigh

Faith & ancestorsAI-aggregated

Yennayer · the Amazigh new year

On 12–13 January the Amazigh world welcomes the agrarian new year (counting from 950 BCE and the pharaoh Sheshonq): a feast of couscous with the year’s wishes, first haircuts, and doors opened to good fortune.

🇲🇦 🇩🇿 🇱🇾 🇹🇳 🇲🇱Amazigh