Nemadi Hunters

The blue-eyed Nemadi inhabit their traditional lands in southeast Mauritania. Nemadi means “dog master”, as traditionally they use their dogs for hunting in the desert.

They are despised by the Moorish majority in Mauritania because of their “primitive” aboriginal ways and connection to the land. They also have their own unique brand of Islam, which does not endear them to the Muslim Mauritanian government.

The government has made hunting illegal for the Nemadi, denying them the basis of their traditional indigenous economy and culture.

The Nemadi are famous for their hunting music and love songs in which the singers create competitive duets. Nemadi women in particular have achieved international success in the world music scene.

The government may take away their hunting rights, but as long as they keep singing their traditional songs, the Nemadi will always be hunters.

For me, the plight of the Nemadi really highlights the fact that Aboriginal rights issues are far more complex that "White Oppression of Dark People". The blue-eyed, light skinned Nemadi, with their burden of colonial dark-skinned oppressors, prove that indigenousness is much more than skin deep. The same can be said of colonialism.