Far From North Africa, Berbers In The U.S. Ring In A New Year
At this Yennayer celebration in Portland, Ore., several groups take to the stage, playing traditional songs, as well as the songs of more recent artists like Idir and Moh Alileche.
For most Americans, New Year's is fairly personal. It's a time to make resolutions and down some champagne — and it was also a couple of weeks ago. But for Berbers — the indigenous people of Northern Africa — the New Year starts this week, and it's an occasion to celebrate their heritage.
In Portland, Ore., some residents are celebrating Yennayer, the Berber New Year. It's a holiday that's not traditionally a big deal, but it's an opportunity to celebrate Berber culture, which hasn't always been easy to do.
"You have waves of colonization," says Nabil Boudraa, who teaches Francophone literature at Oregon State University, and has organized conferences and workshops about Berber culture. "Starting with the Phoenicians, then the Romans, and then the Byzantines, the vandals, and then the Arabs in the 7th century. ... And then you move on forward with the Spaniards, and then the Ottomans, and lastly the French."
Berbers make up a large part of several countries such as Egypt, Morocco, Libya and Niger, but they don't have a political majority in any of them. Even the word Berber itself speaks to this history; it comes from the same root as barbarian.
"History has been confiscated, has been falsified, has been modified during colonialism, or even after," Boudraa says. "And therefore, people sometimes lose their landmarks."
But these landmarks are being revived. There have been bloody protests, like the Berber Spring in Algeria in the 1980s. And political shifts, like Morocco officially adopting the Berber language after the Arab Spring protests. And even subtler actions, like setting aside the word Berber in favor of an older term, Amazigh.
"It means free men, it means free men," Boudraa says.
And, in both North Africa and the diaspora, that is worth celebrating.
Ghilais Aiteur and his friends drove the 12-hour round trip from Vancouver, British Columbia, just to make it to the Portland celebration. Aiteur is originally from Algeria, but he's singing along with Berbers from Morocco, and some, like Ibarahim Mouhamadine, from Niger.
"We saw a poster on Facebook, it said Amazigh Yennayer. And said, well, no matter what it is, or how elaborate, how big or how small it is, we are going to go," Aiteur recalls.
At this concert, their common cause takes the form of a celebration — ringing in the year 2965.
"The important thing is we all are Amazighen, or Berbers. So we are the same, it doesn't matter wherever we are from," Mouhamadine says.
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Transcript
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Let's spend the next few minutes celebrating New Year with Portland, Oregon's Berber community. For those Berbers who have immigrated from North Africa, the New Year is starting right now. And Deena Prichep joined the party.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
DEENA PRICHEP: The back room of this Portland, Oregon bar is packed. But this isn't a regular concert. You can tell from all of the green, yellow and blue flags.
DAN SAADANI: We get this one flag all the way from North Africa to here. It's a freedom flag.
PRICHEP: Dan Saadani wrote this flag from Grande Kabile, where he grew up. It's in the north of Algeria.
SAADANI: No, it's not Algeria. We come from Grande Kabilye.
(LAUGHTER)
SAADANI: It's another country.
PRICHEP: The flag and the music - and Grande Kabilye - are part of the Berber people, indigenous to North Africa. Despite what Saadani might wish, there is no Berber country. But there are Berbers across Africa, from Egypt to Morocco, Libya to Niger. This concert of Berber music is celebrating Yennayer, the Berber New Year. It's a holiday that's not traditionally a big deal, but it's an opportunity to celebrate Berber culture, which hasn't always been easy to do.
NABIL BOUDRAA: You have waves of colonization starting with the Phoenicians, then the Romans and then the Byzantines, the Vandals and then the Arabs in the seventh century.
PRICHEP: Nabil Boudraa teaches Francophone literature at Oregon State University and has organized conferences and workshops on Berber culture.
BOUDRAA: And then you move on forward with the Spaniards and then the Ottomans and then lastly the French.
PRICHEP: Berbers make up a large part of several countries, but they don't have a political majority in any of them. Even the word Berber itself speaks to this history. It comes from the same root as barbarian.
BOUDRAA: Our history has been confiscated, has been falsified, has been modified during colonialism or even after. And therefore, people sometimes lose their landmarks.
PRICHEP: But these landmarks are being revived. There have been bloody protests, like the 1980 Berber Spring in Algeria. And political shifts, like Morocco officially adopting the Berber language after the Arab Spring protests. And even subtler actions, like setting aside the word Berber in favor of an older term, Amazigh.
BOUDRAA: It means free men. It means free men.
PRICHEP: And in both North Africa and the diaspora, celebrating Yennayer.
(SOUNDBITE OF SINGING)
GHILAIS AITEUR: We saw a poster on Facebook. It said Amazigh Yennayer. So I said, well, no matter what it is or how elaborate or how big or how small it is, we are going to go.
PRICHEP: Ghilais Aiteur and his friends drove the 12-hour round trip from Vancouver, British Columbia, just to be here in Portland for tonight. Aiteur is originally from Algeria, but he's singing along with Berbers from Morocco and some, like Ibarahim Mouhamadine, from Niger.
IBARAHIM MOUHAMADINE: The important thing is we all are Amazighen, or Berbers. So we are the same. It doesn't matter where we are from.
PRICHEP: And at this concert, their common cause takes the form of a celebration - ringing in the year 2965. For NPR News, I'm Deena Prichep in Portland, Oregon. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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