Cure Salée

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Visitors leave the festival site of the Cure Salée after the opening ceremony (2019)

The Cure Salée ([ kyʁ sa.le ]; French for 'salt cure') is an annual gathering of nomadic cattle breeders in the community of Ingall in Niger . On the occasion of the salt supply, a festival lasting several days takes place, which serves various cultural, economic and political purposes. The tradition is several centuries old.

procedure

Salt for cattle and people

Thousands of nomadic ranchers of the Fulbe and Tuareg ethnicities regularly leave their traditional areas during the rainy season in July, August and September and move to the municipality of Ingall in the north. To do this, they cover distances of 300 to 400 kilometers with their cattle, sheep, goats and camels. In Ingall, they can water their cattle in temporary ponds (mares) filled with precipitation . As soon as the vegetation used as fodder has recovered after the rainy season, they return. During their stay at the Ingall brine springs , the cattle are supplied with mineral salts, from which the Cure Salée takes its name. In order to get the animals used to it, the springs are visited for increasing salt content. The cattle are first driven to Azelik , Fogochia or Injitan before they come to Tegguida-n-Tessoum . To cover the animals' mineral salt needs during the rest of the year, the cattle breeders take salty soil from Ingall with them.

In particular, the mild sources of Injitan are said to have a healing effect on humans. They are supposed to help with skin diseases, digestive problems and rheumatism . During cures lasting several days, people drink the water and bathe in it.

Festival program

Guérewol beauty contest in Ingall (video, 58 sec, year: 2005)

The date of the three-day festival is usually in the second half of September. It is determined by the central government in Niamey and is often announced or postponed at short notice. The focus of the Cure Salée is the salt. At the same time, the gathering serves a number of other activities for which the participants, who are no longer occupied with the laborious search for pasture and water, now have time.

It is customary to dress festively at the individual events. A special attraction is the traditional Guérewol of the Fulbe subgroup of the Wodaabe , a male beauty contest accompanied by dances. The Tuareg take part in spectacular camel races. Political and social issues are discussed at meetings between the individual nomad groups or with government representatives. Medical treatments and consultations are available. Other aspects include maintaining family relationships, for example at weddings, and purchasing consumer goods. The Ingall market reaches its annual peak in visitors and vendors during the Cure Salée.

history

The history of the Cure Salée goes back several centuries. From the beginning it had an economic and a political dimension. The transhumance to the north (tinekert) served to initiate business with the Sahara salt caravans and other traders from North Africa. The Sultan of Agadez used the Cure Salée for meetings of political leaders (amanen) , with which he aimed to secure his authority and to settle conflicts between the Tuareg confederations.

The colonial power France , which occupied the Nigerien area at the beginning of the 20th century, was able to get hold of the most important nomad leaders for talks at the Cure Salée. During the Kaocen Revolt of 1916 and 1917, an uprising against France by supporters of the Islamic Sanūsīya Brotherhood, the Cure Salée was not held.

The first government of Niger, which has been independent since 1960, used the event to cultivate good relations with the Tuareg minority, to whom salt, tea and sugar were distributed free of charge. The Tuareg leader Mouddour Zakara , who then headed the Cure Salée, was a member of the government of President Hamani Diori . The massive cattle deaths as a result of the famine in the Sahel from 1968 to 1974 meant that there was no cure salée in 1972 and 1973. The government of Head of State Seyni Kountché , who had deposed Hamani Diori in 1974, introduced a number of innovations such as cattle vaccinations and literacy campaigns .

While the ranchers had previously traveled to the Cure Salée with their families and all their livestock, this picture changed in the 1980s. From now on, individual family members and dairy cows no longer took part, which meant that the event lost some of its community experience. From 2005 onwards, the government of President Mamadou Tandja tried harder to market tourism to the displeasure of some participants . The Cure Salée did not take place from 2007 to 2009 because of the poor security situation caused by Tuareg terrorists. In 2020 it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic .

literature

  • Anna Soehring : nomadic country on the move. Report on the “Cure Salée” 1965 in the Republic of Niger . In: International Africa Forum . tape 2 , no. 4 , 1966, pp. 178-189 .

Web links

Commons : Cure Salée  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Josée de Felice-Katz: Analysis éco-énergétique d'un élevage nomade (Touareg) au Niger, dans la region de l'Azawak . In: Annales de Géographie . No. 491 , 1980, pp. 58–59 ( persee.fr [accessed April 1, 2021]).
  2. ↑ a b Rahmane Idrissa: Historical Dictionary of Niger . 5th edition. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham / Boulder / New York / London 2020, ISBN 978-1-5381-2014-9 , pp. 158 .
  3. ^ A b Suzanne Bernus, Pierre Gouletquer: Du cuivre au sel. Recherches ethno-archéologiques sur la region d'Azelik (campagnes 1973–1975) . In: Journal des Africanistes . Tome 46, no. 1-2 , 1976, pp. 53 ( persee.fr [accessed April 1, 2021]).
  4. ↑ a b c Jolijn Geels: Niger . Bradt, Chalfont St Peter 2006, ISBN 1-84162-152-8 , pp. 76-77 .
  5. ^ A b Suzanne Bernus: Relations entre nomades et sédentaires des confins sahariens méridionaux: essai d'interprétation dynamique . In: Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée . No. 32 , 1981, pp. 30 ( persee.fr [accessed April 1, 2021]).
  6. ↑ a b La cure salée s'ouvre à Ingall centrée sur `` la contribution de la femme à la résilience des sociétés pastorales au Niger ''. Agence Nigérienne de Presse (ANP), September 13, 2018, accessed April 1, 2021 (French).
  7. ↑ a b Aboubacar Adamou: Agadez et sa Région (=  Études Nigériennes . No. 44 ). Pr. De Copédith, Paris 1979, p. 101 and 234 .
  8. ↑ Rahmane Idrissa: Historical Dictionary of Niger . 5th edition. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham / Boulder / New York / London 2020, ISBN 978-1-5381-2014-9 , pp. 474 and 503 .
  9. ↑ Edmond Bernus: Continuité et ruptures chez les Illabakan du Niger . In: Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée . No. 57 , 1990, pp. 184 ( persee.fr [accessed April 1, 2021]).
  10. ^ Cure Salée: Niger's Salt Cure Festival. World Nomads, August 16, 2009, accessed April 1, 2021 .
  11. ↑ Coronavirus au Niger: annulation de la cure salée, le rendez-vous des éleveurs. RFI , September 11, 2020, accessed April 1, 2021 (French).