Betrayal or Affirmation?

In the anthropology of religion, it is now recognized that so-called ‘mystic’ or ritual powers require careful deconstruction and recasting (Beidelman 1971, 1993; Crick 1976; Parkin 1985, 1991; Geschiere 1997; Pels 1998). ¹ Studies of ‘witchcraft’, in particular, must be sensitive to problems of translation and also grounded in history and political economy. Among the Tuareg people of the Niger Republic – a traditionally stratified, semi-nomadic, Muslim people, who speak a Berber language – Tamajaq, so-called ‘witchcraft’ poses special problems for analysis and interpretation. Four types of power are often invoked to explain human social destiny: togerchet; tezma; ark echaghel; and al baraka. These powers often overlap, they are disputed in everyday practice, and have been transformed by recent socioeconomic and political turmoil. ² The Tamajaq terms have only approximate translations in English. Togerchet denotes approximately ‘evil mouth’ or ‘evil eye’ (Nicolaisen 1961; Rasmussen 2001; Casajus 2000). Tezma most closely approaches classical anthropological definitions of ‘witchcraft’ (Douglas 1966, 1992), referring to a force unintentionally activated when a request for a gift, compensation, or pay is rejected; this usually involves conflict between a smith/artisan and a noble. Occasionally, however, nobles may activate this power. (Ark) echaghel, literally ‘bad work’, is often translated by local speakers into French as la sorcellerie, sorcery in English. Finally, al baraka, the power most widely described in the ethnographic literature of North Africa (Westermarck 1926; Gellner 1969; Norris 1990), refers to Islamic blessing or benediction, possessed primarily by Islamic scholars popularly called marabouts and by some respected elders, herbalists, and chiefs. It is particularly powerful in those maraboutique clans called icherifan, who claim descent from the Prophet and are credited with healing powers. Yet sometimes, local residents insist, al baraka can be misused and become corrupted, used to destroy, even kill. These negative transformations of al baraka have received less attention.