TheImprovement ofTropical and Subtropical Rangelands

TIlE KEL TAMASHEQ
TABLE 3-6 Proportion ofMllk, Meat, and Grain in Diet Accorcllnc to
Seuon
WET COLD DRY
Milk
~
. __._- -------------------.....
, r---"
~:~~---~ ., .._~
, ~'" t
, " '" 7
camela f...tinc harY.u miD., p,,'ure
bom harY.u dlminiIhlnc
the slaves and artisans who live with them), and perhaps also to
their relative scarcity in the Sahel. Vegetables are usually cooked in
water, although the melons (tilagarien) may be roasted in hot ashes.
Some (for example, tatola) are eaten raw, but this is rare.
Fruits are generally taboo, although small dried berries of Zizipl&u
spp. (tabaiat) and Grewia tena% (teraiat), which are gathered
by iIclan during August and September, are sometimes used as a
sweetening for sour milk. lilan and artisan children also collect and
enjoy -desert date- (a6orai) and the gums of several trees. Aborei
is the fruit of Balanite, aeg"tiaca, and not of the wild Senegal
date palm, P. reclinata. The fruit of the domesticated date palm, P.
dact,lifera, are also used for sweetening, but they are scarcej they are
not found in the Sahel, but are acquired through trade with northem
oases dwellers. Some leaves that are used as medicines, Cama
obovata (agargar), for example, may impart some nutritionj they are
usually chewed or brewed as tea. (Species of vegetables, fruits, and
gums and the mode of preparation are lilted in table 3-7.)
The imajaren are prohibited from eating fish and insects as well,
but other groups, especially those whose nomadic patterns bring
them close to the Niger River, eat fish. Use of locusts haa been noted
among the Tamuheq tribes of the Sahara by Foley (1930:209) and
Gast (1968: 251).
Meat ofdomesticated animals is used mainly on special occasions
such as religious festivals, the arrival of visitors, or major camp
movements, and for medicinal purposes, although Kel Tamasheq
believe that meat should be eaten at least every week in order to