The dancers of Tibesti
Tribal Bellydance in the Sahara or Ténéré
Chad is an ethnically diverse African country mostly desert and mountains. Each of its regions have their own unique varieties of music and dance In northern Chad is an area of bold mountains, rocky valleys, the Tibesti Mountains. The western region is called Téneré which means "desert" in Tuareg language.
The majority of people that live here and in the Téneré are called the Toubous, or mountain men (tou means mountain).
The origins of the toubou tribe remin a mystery until now. They descended from among the original inhabitants of the Sahara. Toubou are a dark-skinned people of mixed ancestry, most likely of Nilotic descent. Some say that they are the descendants of the people that made the rock drawings. Spread over 4 countries (Egypt, Chad, Libya and Niger) they are divided into two tribes.Some moved deeply into the Ténéré desert where they live in small family communities in isolated oases.
Toubou women are the best navigators of the sahara. Caravans consisting of only female toubou children cross the desert. The women use the sun and the count the dunerows as a means of navigation to travel to find the nearest water well. In the night they read the stars. They do this for thousands of years, since the times the desert was still a fertile place. The knowledge was transmitted from mother to daughter, but disappears now rapidly.
The women wear a nose-ring, which gives them a more Hindustani appearance as their skin is also lighter than the average Tchad people. Wedding dances are an important part of their culture. Toubou are also referred to as Teda, Tebu and Tiou; but Teda or Teda-too is what they call themselves. Their traditional belief system was animistic until they converted to Islam about 1000 years ago.
Women usually carry daggers, and up to a hundred years ago wore swords as well. Some ancient Toubou sword dances can be seen on engravings.
Marriage dowry involves the payment of livestock, their main source of wealth. Brides mare usually around fifteen or sixteen years old, and the males are generally eighteen to twenty years old when they marry.
