So why the Maghreb?
Honestly many reasons. Some a bit crazy.
When I was little, my mom had a phase where she was interested in the Sahara, and she taught me to write my name in Arabic. It was deeply meaningful and a core memory. It started a light fascination with the Tuareg that stayed with me. I also discovered through DNA testing, that my maternal haplogroup has ties to the Tuareg and Amazigh people in general, and depending on the update, I'm shown having traces of DNA from the region.
During my travels to Paris, I met a geology nerd who happened to be Kabyle. He grew up in the tribal culture of Algeria. The stories he had intrigued me and reignited some of that childhood fascination. Through that connection, social media algorithms put me in touch with many other folks from the region. Musicians, artists, and even a professor at the University of Bejaia who was able to give a bit of direction.
The roots of the Kabylie people are ancient and Pre-date the Islamic conquest. Modern DNA tracking of Mitochondrial DNA Shows that the Berbers descended from Neolithic European groups, who moved into North Africa at the end of the last ice age when the Sahara desert receded along the southern coast of the Mediterranean, making the region habitable. There were also populations from the Middle East and some Sub Sahara people who integrated to create the native Amazigh population of the region.
They had a king on the Egyptian throne, Chachnak in 950 BC, and Massinissa a Nubian king in 238 BC. The Phoenicians noted their pottery and textiles. They were the breadbasket for the Roman empire.
The Arabs conquered and brought a veneer of Islam. And recruited them to conquer Spain. Then they helped establish the Fatimids empire only to lose favor and return to the Kabylie mountains, Then came the Almohads, The Hafsids who were also Berber in origin, Spain, the Ottomans, French colonization, And finally Arabic-Algerian independence filled with unrest and deadly violence.
Their cities, especially Bejaia, were known for their diversity and learning. A large trade center, it became a refuge for Christians, Jews, Spanish Muslims, pirates, and even slaves. Fibonacci, known as the father of modern maths in Europe, learned Algebra and Arabic numerals in Bejaia in the late 12th century.
Their language has survived for over a thousand years of conquests. Many of the early observations of the French colonists match descriptions from the Ottomans and the Romans.
Historically, The Kabylie people, were more settled, living in towns and mountain valleys, and retreating to the mountains during conquests. Mainly farmers and shepherds, sometimes creating terraces in the mountainsides. The men are often more transient with the growing season, the women more stationary, creators of the textiles and pottery they are known for.
But because of those conquests, much of their history has been lost, and their culture has been repressed, and often face deep discrimination. So much so that they don't identify as Algerians or Arabs, but as their own nation within Algeria. They number around 7 million, and are the largest Berber group in the country.
They have Traditional gender roles, relationship morals, and strong family ties, but their laws are more secular and women have more rights than in most Arab societies. They have some very deep tribal traditions, with a reverence for the natural world with a veneer of Islam.
Many Kabylie have relocated due to work and repression. Often those who choose to leave face exile because of their secular beliefs and outspoken opinions of Islamic law.
So now many of them are fighting both in Algeria and Abroad to be officially recognized and for basic rights in their native home.
An interesting observation- From what I gather about the traditional tribal aspects, I am seeing many things in modern pagan practices, especially Wicca, that could have been directly lifted from the Kabylie. The French colonialists painted the Kabylie as exotic and occult, at the same time modern paganism was evolving from this occultism, and given the tribal belly dance popular in pagan circles is definitely influenced by North Africa. It's a more logical origin than underground Celtic/Norse traditions (which are well documented) hidden for centuries. Victorian cultural appropriation at its finest.
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