Amazigh New Year.. A celebration of identity and demands for official recognition
Algerian women celebrate the Amazigh New Year / archive
Amazigh families in North African countries are preparing to celebrate the Amazigh New Year's Eve, which is characterized by unique festive rituals that vary and vary from one region to another despite its many intersections.
The Amazighs celebrate, starting tomorrow, Thursday, January 12, the Amazigh New Year 2973, which is called "January Metabolism", and precedes the Gregorian calendar by 950 years.
The Amazigh New Year's Eve is marked by popular festive rituals with symbolic connotations, reflecting the Amazighs' attachment to their land and their celebration of their identity that extends throughout history, by preparing special dishes and meals, organizing carnivals and gatherings between families and neighbors to the songs and chants of the Amazighs.
Celebration Roots
Historians link the origins of the celebration of the Amazigh New Year, to the first month of the beginning of the Amazigh agricultural year, “January,” and therefore the celebration on the first day of it is optimistic about goodness, happiness, prosperity, abundance of crops, and prosperity of herds, according to Professor at the University of Setif, Faris Kaawan, in an article entitled “January Celebrations in Algeria: Its historical roots, manifestations and symbolic connotations.
Unlike the Gregorian and Hijri calendars, the date related to 2973 years is not linked to religious history, but rather goes back to the arrival of King Shishonq I, to the pyramid of power in ancient Egypt, and his establishment of the twenty-second dynasty of the Pharaonic dynasty, and he is the king who differs on his origins, as some historians refer to his Amazigh origins.
In view of the historical and symbolic implications of this event for the Amazigh presence in the north of the continent, the Amazigh Academy in Paris chose it as a reference year, from which the census of the Amazigh calendar begins, coinciding with the beginning of the agricultural year.
The celebration of this holiday is also associated with a group of legendary narratives among the Amazighs, and it remains the most common of them, attributed to the story of an old shepherd who complained about the advent of January, so he got angry with her this month and borrowed days from February to extend the hours of his cold until he wiped out all her flock, so some old Amazighs consider that This is a day of celebration of nature and earth to quench the wrath of January, and bring goodness and prosperity.
Various dishes
The Amazighs spread in North Africa from the area extending from the Siwa Oasis in Egypt to the Canary Islands, and from the borders of the southern Mediterranean to the Sahara desert regions. They speak the Amazigh language with its multiple local dialects, and it is written in “Tifnagh” letters, which is one of the oldest lines of writing.
The Amazighs celebrate their new year, especially in Algeria and Morocco, with various rituals in dress and dishes that furnish their tables, but they intersect in their embodiment of the principles of connection to the land and the celebration of identity.
In Algeria, the Algerian authorities have adopted January 12 of each year as an official holiday to celebrate the Amazigh New Year, and Algerians commemorate this day in various villages and cities, especially in areas where Amazighs are widespread, such as Kabylie (east of the capital) and Chaouia in the Aures region (southeast). ).
An Algerian woman dances during the celebrations of the Amazigh New Year / Archive
The most prominent manifestations of the celebration among the Algerians is the preparation of dishes and food specially prepared during this holiday, which family members eat together on New Year's Eve, in addition to organizing carnivals, vulgar theatrical performances and special celebrations for children.
Couscous or “food” is considered the most important dish to celebrate this occasion in the center and west of the country, and it is prepared, depending on different types of vegetables, while “shakhshoukh” remains the main holiday dish in the east of the country, while grandmothers in the east of the country prepare “sharchem”, which is A mixture of legumes and grains that are boiled in water, salted, and eaten.
The Algerian writer and researcher in oral literature, Ramadan Al-Arab, says that each region has its own characteristics and customs in commemorating this day, which indicates the beginning of the agricultural season, and the customs of celebrating it aim to be optimistic about a better agricultural season.
Al-Arrab explains in a statement to Al-Hurra that the Amazigh peoples in the region have been celebrating the Amazigh New Year since ancient times, noting that since it was established as a national holiday in Algeria, it has gained additional momentum and is celebrated in all regions of the country.
The Algerian researcher reveals that the celebrations of this day may extend in regions and villages in Algeria for more than a week, permeated by meetings of family and neighbors, and punctuated by special celebrations and banquets, exclusively in the tribal regions of Tizi-Ouzou.
The embodiment of the relationship with the Earth
In Morocco, the Amazighs celebrate the Amazigh New Year on January 13 with prominent festive appearances and forms, although their repeated demands for this day to be recognized as an official holiday do not receive the desired echo from the concerned authorities.
With the approach of January 13th, a group of organizations and bodies active in the defense of Amazigh culture in Morocco renewed their demand for the country to demarcate this day as a national holiday.
In this context, 45 human rights organizations wrote, last week, to Moroccan King Mohammed VI, to demand that the Amazigh New Year be approved as an official national holiday and a paid holiday.
The researcher in Amazigh culture, Abdallah Boushtart, confirms that the absence of official recognition does not negate the momentum of the many and varied rituals and celebrations, noting that "the Amazighs have been celebrating and organizing them for centuries, until they became entrenched in their cultures."
Moroccans celebrating the Amazigh New Year in front of Parliament, 2019
The formulas and methods for celebrating “Enayar Metabolism” (January night) differ, but the most prominent of them is the preparation of meals and dishes that are specially prepared for this night.
And the most famous dishes remain, according to Bushart, the "Takgla" or porridge dish, couscous with seven vegetables, then hawza and basis, all of which are meals that are prepared from the crops, grains and vegetables that the Amazighs grow and plow in their areas of presence.
The Moroccan researcher explains that in the southern regions of Morocco, which are characterized by a dry and semi-desert climate, the tagla meal is famous, because the inhabitants of the region used to grow barley only, and in some oases areas this dish is prepared based on the corn that spreads, while in the plain areas in the center of the country, Couscous meal is prepared with seven vegetables because the region is rich in vegetables.
Bushart considers that all these meals and rituals are "linked to the land and embody the close relationship between the Amazighs and their land that gives them life and fertility, so we see the Amazigh peoples sanctifying the land and water since ancient times."
The Amazigh history researcher highlights that the rituals of January metabolism remain, in reality, a celebration of "Amoud", meaning the crops that the Amazighs plant every year, and the launch of Amoud means the start of the agricultural season, pointing out that the word Amoud is very similar to the word "Amun", meaning God of the sun and fertility.
The speaker concludes his statement by emphasizing that the Amazigh New Year celebrations are ancient rituals that express joy, happiness and jubilation that overwhelm the Amazighs as ancient agricultural peoples with the advent of a new agricultural season, which is a ritual shared by the Amazighs with all other ancient peoples in the world.
Source: websites