Imeraguen language
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The Imraguen, or Imeraguen ( Berber: Imragen), are an ethnic group or tribe of Mauritania and
Western Sahara Western Sahara ( '; ; ) is a disputed territory on the northwest coast and in the Maghreb region of North and West Africa. About 20% of the territory is controlled by the self-proclaimed Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), while the ...
. They were estimated at around 5,000 individuals in the 1970s. Most members of the group live in
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
villages in the
Banc d'Arguin National Park The Banc d'Arguin National Park ( ar, حوض أركين) of Bay of Arguin lies in Western Africa on the west coast of Mauritania between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and is the former mouth of the Tamanrasset River. The World Heritage Site is ...
, located on the
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
coast of Mauritania.


History

The name ''Imraguen'' (
Berber orthography Berber orthography is the writing system(s) used to transcribe the Berber languages. In antiquity, the Libyco-Berber script (Tifinagh) was utilized to write Berber. Early uses of the script have been found on rock art and in various sepulchres. Fo ...
: ''imragen'') is a Berber word meaning "fishermen", or «people who fish while walking on the sea».,Fishermen who "walk on water" burn their nets
''Panda.org'', 5 May 2004
or «those who harvest life».
''Webislam.com'', 17 June 2006
The Imraguen are believed to descend from the Bafour people . According to the Documentation of the human population of the territory, the Imraguen people lived on the Banc d'Arguin National Park for thousands of years, and its population had probably been larger. Militarily powerless, the Imraguen were traditionally reduced to the degrading lower- caste status of
Znaga The Sanhaja ( ber, Aẓnag, pl. Iẓnagen, and also Aẓnaj, pl. Iẓnajen; ar, صنهاجة, ''Ṣanhaja'' or زناگة ''Znaga'') were once one of the largest Berbers, Berber tribal confederations, along with the Zenata, Zanata and Masmuda con ...
, forcibly ruled and
tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...
ed ( horma) by more powerful Berber, Hassane and Zawia tribes, such as the
Oulad Delim The Oulad Delim () are a Bedouin Sahrawi tribe of Arab descent which originated in Yemen. They are descended from Delim bin Hassan, who was from the Ma'qili tribe of Beni Hassan which settled in the Sahara in the 12th century. They were formerly ...
and Ouled Bou Sbaa. In 2008, the Imraguen people occupied 9 small villages along the coastline. Jean-Pierre Turquoi
Mauritanie : au pays des Imraguen
''Lemonde.fr'', 11 April 2008
Some Imraguen populate the abandoned La Güera fort, which is also the south point of the Western Sahara zone claimed by Morocco.


Fishing

A few generations ago, the Imraguen people used to whistle the dolphins to bring them near the shore and catch all the mullets that always followed the dolphins. The Imraguen people are the only ones authorized to fish in the Banc d'Arguin area, as long as they use their traditional fishing techniques. The number of fishes caught for each species is limited and strongly reinforced by the Mauritanian authorities. In 2004, the Imraguen people agreed to preserve the shark and ray species in the Banc d'Arguin National Park (which became a UNESCO world heritage site in 1989) and traded their nets for money. The Imraguen people blame the new oil and gas explorations around the Banc d'Arguin area, along with a new road adjacent to the area, as the main factors for the reduction of fish reproduction in the area. At the Arkeiss village, it is possible for tourists to practice "sports fishing" in the Banc d'Arguin and gather up to 5 kilos of fish.


Language

The Imraguen speak Hassaniya Arabic with some Berber vocabulary related to fishing;Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices their dialect is referred to as the Imraguen language.


Religion

The Imraguen are Muslims of the Sunni
Maliki The ( ar, مَالِكِي) school is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas in the 8th century. The Maliki school of jurisprudence relies on the Quran and hadiths as primary ...
rite.


References


External links


Banc d'Arguin National Park Protected Areas Programme
{{Authority control Sahrawi tribes Ethnic groups in Western Sahara Ethnic groups in Mauritania Mandé people