As the world celebrates International Day of Cultural Diversity, researcher Dr. Hala al-Asmar pointed out to Minister of Culture, Dr. Emad Abu Ghazi, the need to organize activities inspired by minority cultures in Egypt. She suggests making events with the Amazegh tribe and other oasis tribes as well as publishing more books to raise awareness for these endangered cultures. Al-Asmar requested for Minister of Education, Dr. Ahmed Gamal El-Din Moussa, to add tribal languages to school curriculum, in a special statement to Youm7. On the international day of cultural diversity, Dr. al-Asmar is spotlighting Amazegh culture in order to acquaint Youm7 readers with their fascinating culture and promote multicultural dialogue. "The Amazegh tribes live in the small area stretching from the Siwa Oasis in Egypt to the Canary Islands and the North Mediterranean coast to the depths of the Sahara in Niger and Mali in the south. With the arrival of Islam to North Africa, many of the tribe members began to identify themselves as Arab and speak Arabic while others strived to preserve the Amazegh language, which led to the creation of several dialects including the Maghrebi (Moroccan) dialect. Amazegh speakers are now spread over a large geographical area and in cities including Burkan, Figuig, Agadir, Nador, al-Hoceima, Khemisset and across various parts of the Arab Maghreb. Every October, on the first night of the full moon, the Amazegh tribes begin to celebrate the Lunar Nights Festival or the Festival of Peace. All tribe members meet at the foot of Mt. Dakrur and dine on one table and each tribe leader has a large plate of food to share with the others. The proceedings do not begin until one person sitting at the top of the mountain, appointed as the role model, signals for everyone to begin eating. El-Asmar continues describing, on the first day of the celebrations, the sitting tribal elders tell stories of heroism and the defeat of invaders. The most famous story telling is the reconciliation between the East Siwa and West Siwa tribes through the Sheikh Ahmed al-Zaher who married persons from each tribe to one another and the festival of peace has been held ever since in honor of this resolution. On this day hold, reconciliation sessions are held to end the disputes between the two tribes, and each settlement is celebrated with a meal that ends all disputes that occurred within the year. On the third day of the celebrations, a person in a white Galabeyya (white traditional gown) goes around all the houses gathering food for a feast to celebrate the continuation of peace. This particular meal is called the 'Nafkha.' Every year around 30,000 tourists come visit the area to witness these authentic tribal celebrations. The first attraction to tourists to this oasis is the women's attire; brightly colored dresses with long, wide sleeves and around their necks many bead necklaces. And there are still some girls who style their hair into many braids, which takes hours to prepare. Whenever a Siwa woman visits friends or relatives, she wears several dresses layered over one another and the top dress must always be black with colorful embroidery. Inside homes, women can take off the top layer black dress. Typical Siwa jewelry consist of wide bracelets of silver and many kinds of necklaces, the most traditional of which is called the 'Salihat,' made up of 6 crescent shaped pieces of silver and coral. Al-Asmar describes the wedding festivities as follows: "On the afternoon of her wedding, the bride is taken with female family members to bathe in Ein Tamous Spring to bless her marriage. By the spring, the bride removes her belt and gives it to her mother or aunt, to be handed down to a girl in her family so the belt is hereditary by ritual. After the ritual bathing, the bridal party starts singing and walking until they reach the groom's party, his female friends and relatives from his side, and they together to go to the bride's house to wait for the groom and begin festivities.” The most popular celebrations of the Oases are the birth of newborn, especially if they are male or the parents are from a wealthy family. After birth, the mother of the newborn spends 7 to 10 days lying down on a special rug ‘Kilim' and no one, save immediate family and friends, are allowed to visit. After this period, a feast is held in the child's honor and a special kind of salt-preserved fish is eaten, a reference to the Siwa born Imam Sidi Suleiman. The parents name the child after eating the meal, then tribe members mark the cheeks, nose and legs of the child using henna paste. Tribe members crowd into the streets and markets, shouting the new name of the child and his father's name. Tribe members return with an earthenware pot, which is brought to where the mother sleeps in the room. The pot is filled to the halfway with water and each woman throws her jewelry inside this vessel and the women sing for the child to live a happy life. The pot is lifted up and down seven times then broken into pieces and the women's jewelry is returned to their respective owners. It is believed that breaking the pot prevents future problems as a result of the evil eye and so ensures the child a happy life.
