* TRADITIONS AND
CELEBRATIONS IN OUR BELOVED TANAGHMELT
The second day and eve close family gathers again, but
there is not another big celebration until the third night. Once again, people
gather at the house around 8pm and there is generally the same type of food and
entertainment, but in the midst of the celebration the groom and two other men
will parade into the middle of the house dressed in their aznar, brown, wool
jalabas, with their faces and heads covered. They are seated and their hands
are smeared with a think layer of henna and then wrapped in white fabric. While
the henna is being put on, candles and incense are burned. During some
celebrations, there is also a procession of several elder men from the village
who follow the groom wearing their white gowns, aksheb, and white fitted hats,
taiga. These men will chant religious verses and circle around the groom after
he has received the henna. Not long after, the men leave and the women continue
to sing and dance to rejoice over the giving of the henna.
The fourth day is reserved
again for the family. The bride arrives
to the house with her immediate family on either the fourth or fifth day.
Before the bride arrives, a room is usually prepared and the couple’s gifts are
displayed on the bed. The bride will sometimes bring with her offerings to her
new family along with her own personal possessions and gifts. It is then
customary to have the biggest celebration on the fifth eve during which time
the bride and groom are joined at the house of the groom. There may be a
special lunch prepared for all those that want to join. Sometimes there has
been a goat or sheep offered as a gift and it will be slaughtered for the family. By around dusk a donkey is loaded with the
gifts of the bride and groom and parades around the village while people follow
behind singing and dancing. The mother of the groom will also carry a flag with
multicolored scarves tied to it and wave it around. When the donkey arrives at
the front door of the house it is unloaded and the celebration continues once
again. The bride will usually sit in her room or a room separate from the rest
of the party dressed in her best. Each woman will visit the bride individually
throughout the night and give a small gift, usually money or jewlery. The bride
and the groom do not unite until the festivities are complete. It is on the
final night of the wedding celebration that there is sometimes live
entertainment where a traditional band will play for the last few hours of the
evening. During their performance, both the men and women gather outside to
watch and only members of the immediate family of the bride and groom will get
up to dance in front of the crowd. The women and men always stay separate
throughout the night.
In honor of a boy’s circumcision, some families will gather on a Sunday
night and guests will bring offerings such as wheat, barley or almonds to the
family. The women will drop their gifts
from the terrace so that kids can gather them below. The women and men remain separate, but
continue to sit with the family until late in the evening.
On Thursday morning, the women gather again and the boy is actually
circumsized by the aHadjam or a doctor.
An egg with safran is put in the mouth of the boy so that he will not
cry. For lunch, there is Lftat, almonds
or any special food that the family has prepared. The boy wears traditional clothes, either
green or white and receives gifts of money or food.
the main food given to guests in this occasion is "leftat" cooked with chicken
Danielle Asselin
Ignown
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Ignown of Tanaghmelt
|
Tanaghmelt has a traditional music group known as “Ignown”. They can be heard at celebrations and for two
days that follow the grain harvest during the annual request for “amz”, or
donations. During the amz, the Ignown goes around to each house and plays music
in return for an offering such as money, flour, barley or wheat. This group is
composed of all men and they wear white robes with red hats. They play
traditional instruments including hand-held castanets (tikakowsheen) and drums
made of raw hide (berrdiba/tebl). During some celebrations there are additional
instruments such as a flute (laghrita), 3-string, wooden guitar (dindan), and
violin (lakamija).
The Wedding Celebration
Weddings in Tanaghmelt are among one of the most celebrated events. It
is rare to go a week during the summer without having a wedding to attend. The
actual celebration can last up to a week for the family of the bride or groom,
but it is customary for guests to gather just one to three nights at the house
of the groom. Traditionally, the wedding
clebration starts on Sunday (Oris), the second night is a Tuesday (Zilfus) and
the third and final night is Thursday (Tamﻍra). Being a small village, Tanaghmelt is a very
close-knit community and a strong sense of pride when it comes to introducing a
new member into the village family.
If a bride is coming from outside the village, there is a celebration
that takes place about 5 days before her arrival at the house of the groom.
Close family members will gather the entire day to begin festivities. The women
will all help prepare food for the evening’s feast. By around 8 pm on the first
night of the celebration, people begin to arrive at the house and gather in a
room. The men are separate from the women. There is usually a period of about 2
to 3 hours that goes by while everyone gets situated in their “spot” for the
evening. The women tend to sit in one area of a house for the evening unless
there is outside entertainment. The men will roam about outside until it is
time for the music to begin. At around 10 pm there may be tea passed around
along with bread and a mixture of olive oil and honey. By midnight, dinner will
be served. Some people prepare cous cous while others do meat dishes. After
dinner, there is a brief break and then the entertainment begins. The women
start to sing and beat their drums, spoons and tea glasses. A select few will
also begin to dance. It is customary for
the women to tie a scarf around their waist while dancing and they will only
dance if there are no men around. This will continue until about 2 or 3 am in
the morning.
 |
| the groom letting his hands for henna |
The fourth day is reserved
again for the family. The bride arrives
to the house with her immediate family on either the fourth or fifth day.
Before the bride arrives, a room is usually prepared and the couple’s gifts are
displayed on the bed. The bride will sometimes bring with her offerings to her
new family along with her own personal possessions and gifts. It is then
customary to have the biggest celebration on the fifth eve during which time
the bride and groom are joined at the house of the groom. There may be a
special lunch prepared for all those that want to join. Sometimes there has
been a goat or sheep offered as a gift and it will be slaughtered for the family. By around dusk a donkey is loaded with the
gifts of the bride and groom and parades around the village while people follow
behind singing and dancing. The mother of the groom will also carry a flag with
multicolored scarves tied to it and wave it around. When the donkey arrives at
the front door of the house it is unloaded and the celebration continues once
again. The bride will usually sit in her room or a room separate from the rest
of the party dressed in her best. Each woman will visit the bride individually
throughout the night and give a small gift, usually money or jewlery. The bride
and the groom do not unite until the festivities are complete. It is on the
final night of the wedding celebration that there is sometimes live
entertainment where a traditional band will play for the last few hours of the
evening. During their performance, both the men and women gather outside to
watch and only members of the immediate family of the bride and groom will get
up to dance in front of the crowd. The women and men always stay separate
throughout the night.
There are slight variations
for every family’s wedding celebration. For instance, if the bride is from the
village there may be gatherings at both homes until the final night when both
families gather at the home of the groom.
The bride also gets henna and carries on with a series of celebrations
before she has to leave for the house of the groom. If the bride is leaving the
village, she will be showered with gifts and only a few family members may accompany
her to the house of her groom. If the bride or groom has been married
previously, the celebration my not be as extended. Some people have live
entertainment, some do not. In general, however, celebrations are three nights
out of five and last from about 8 pm until 2am. The women always dress in their
finest party attire, which is usually colorful and shiny. Some wear a
two-pieced robe called a tukshita that is tied around the waist with a fancy
belt along with pointed shoes called tiseilla. Others wear a Lkaftan or a
Lakamise, both of which are one-piece overlays that are worn when dressing up
for special occasions. Men generally just wear casual clothing unless they are
close to the family. Sometimes the groom will wear his white aksheb, tagia and yellow
tiseilla.
On average, women get married before the age of 25 but men tend to wait
longer. Some marriages are still arranged by members of the family, but with
the institution of new marriage laws, women have more rights in making
decisions about their marital arrangements. Before a marriage is legal, there
is paperwork that needs to be completed by both the man and woman, so it is
rare that a couple will not have met before the marriage celebration. It is
also difficult for a male to get married without having a source of income to
support a wife and eventually a family.
Births
The women of Tanaghmelt generally give birth at home with the assistance
of a midwife. After the birth, the mother is visited by family and friends and
a feast occurs for the entire day and night. Family and neighbors will gather
at the home to help with household chores, cooking and cleaning. Some women
will partake in applying henna and tazult, a black chalk that lines the eyes.
On the third day after the birth, known as taskift, a sheep is
slaughtered in celebration of the new child. There is a superstition that if
clothes are hung on the roof of the home where a newborn is living, the mother
will not be able to produce milk. Clothes can not be hung for at least a week.
On the seventh day, known as siba, the newborn child will be named and another
sheep will be slaughtered. In honor of
the birth and naming ceremony, there is a celebration in which men and women
gather at the home of the newborn’s family. The celebration is much like a
wedding, but lasts one night. The mother is given small gifts and the child is
displayed and introduced to all of the women who come to the celebration. It is
still customary for the women and men to remain separate. There is usually tea,
dinner, and sometimes there is singing and dancing while other times there is a
traditional band that will perform, like at weddings. Birth celebrations are not as large as
weddings, but they still go from about 8 pm until 2 am.
Soon after the birth, a nurse or doctor will either visit the home or
the mother will take the baby to a nearby clinic to get the required shots for
the child.
Circumcisions
In honor of a boy’s circumcision, some families will gather on a Sunday
night and guests will bring offerings such as wheat, barley or almonds to the
family. The women will drop their gifts
from the terrace so that kids can gather them below. The women and men remain separate, but
continue to sit with the family until late in the evening.
On Tuesday night, henna is given to the boy and women sing a special
song for the child. A similar gathering occurs as Sunday and will not end until
late.
On Thursday morning, the women gather again and the boy is actually
circumsized by the aHadjam or a doctor.
An egg with safran is put in the mouth of the boy so that he will not
cry. For lunch, there is Lftat, almonds
or any special food that the family has prepared. The boy wears traditional clothes, either
green or white and receives gifts of money or food.
the main food given to guests in this occasion is "leftat" cooked with chicken
Zaouit Tanaghmelt
Community
Resource Guide Danielle Asselin
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