TEACHER RESOURCE Saheland the Hawl Malouma creative teachers intelligent students real learning GUIDE 04

Youth05 Education About UMS UMS gratefully acknowledges the One of the oldest performing arts presenters in the coun- following corporations, foundations try, UMS serves diverse audiences through multi- and government agencies for their disciplinary performing arts programs in three distinct but generous support of the UMS Youth interrelated areas: presentation, creation, and education. Education Program:

With a program steeped in music, dance, and theater, Ford Motor Company Fund UMS hosts approximately 80 performances and 150 free Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural educational activities each season. UMS also commissions new work, sponsors artist residencies, and organizes Affairs collaborative projects with local, national as well as many international partners. Arts at Michigan Arts Midwest While proudly affiliated with the University of Michigan Borders Group and housed on the Ann Arbor campus, UMS is a separate Chelsea Flowers not-for-profit organization that supports itself from ticket Community Foundation for sales, grants, contributions, and endowment income. Southeastern Michigan Doris Duke Charitable Foundation UMS Education and Heartland Arts Fund JazzNet Audience Development MASCO Corporation Department THE MOSAIC FOUNDATION (of R. & P. Heydon) UMS’s Education and Audience Development Department Margot Campos Designs seeks to deepen the relationship between audiences and Music for Little People art, as well as to increase the impact that the perform- National Dance Project of New England ing arts can have on schools and community. The pro- Foundation for the Arts gram seeks to create and present the highest quality arts National Endowment for the Arts education experience to a broad spectrum of community Office of the Senior Vice Provost for constituencies, proceeding in the spirit of partnership and Academic Affairs, University of collaboration. Michigan The Department coordinates dozens of events with over Pfizer Global Research and Development 100 partners that reach more than 50,000 people (Ann Arbor Laboratories) annually. It oversees a dynamic, comprehensive program The Power Foundation encompassing workshops, in-school visits, master classes, ProQuest Company lectures, youth and family programming, teacher Schlanderer and Sons Jeweler professional development workshops, and “meet the Savitski Design artist” opportunities, cultivating new audiences while UMS Advisory Committee engaging existing ones.

Details about educational events for the 04/05 season are announced a few months prior to each event. To receive information about educational events by email, sign up for the UMS E-Mail Club at www.ums.org.

For advance notice of Youth Education events, join the UMS Teachers email list by emailing umsyouth@umich. edu or visit www.ums.org/education. This Teacher Resource Guide is a product of the University Musical Society’s Youth Education Program in collaboration with ACCESS. All pictures are courtesy of the artist unless otherwise noted. Researched, written and edited by Omari Rush, Michelle Lin, Erika Nelson, Rowyn Baker and Ben Johnson. This Resource Guide is provided for educational purposes only and may be duplicated for use in the classroom. UMS Youth Education04/05

Malouma and the Sahel Hawl Blues Friday, April 8, 11am - 12 noon Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor

TEACHER RESOURCE GUIDE Table of Contents Overview Lesson Plans * 6 Coming to the Show 62 Curriculum Connections * 7 The Performance at a 63 Teaching Points Glance 64 Meeting Michigan All About Malouma Standarts • 10 All About Malouma 66 Lesson One: Exploring 12 In her Own Words West African Folktales 68 Venn Diagram Chart 69 Lesson Two:West African 14 Mauritanian History Traditions Short on Time? 17 North African Culture 71 Lesson Three: African 20 Mauritania: Quick Facts Instrument Sounds We’ve starred the Mauritanian Music 72 Coloring Map of Africa most important 24 Mauritanian Style 73 Lesson Four: Where is pages. 25 Musical Instruments Mauritania? 31 Malouma’s Music 74 Basic Facts Worksheet 75 Basic Facts Answer Key Divas of the Desert 76 Lesson Five: Decoloniza 36 Oum Kalthoum tion 37 Oumou Sangare 77 Lesson Six: Take a Trip to Only Have 38 the Land of the Sun 15 Minutes? 39 Najat Aatabou 78 Lesson Seven: People, Try pages 63 or 40 Malouma’s Influences Language and Culture 83! Arab Culture 79 Lesson Eight: Lyric Comparison 44 The Arab World 80 Vocabulary - Arab Music/ 45 Arab Religions Culture 46 Music and Islam 82 Arab Music Vocabulary 48 Language 83 Malouma Word Search 49 The 85 Pre & Post Performance 51 The Berbers Ideas 53 Traditional Clothing 55 Muslim Calendar Resources 56 Islamic Holidays * 88 UMS Permission Slip 58 Arab American Timeline 89 Related Videos of Interest 60 Arab Music Festivals 90 Internet Resources 91 Recommended Readings 92 Recommended Recordings 93 Community Resources 94 Bibliography 96 Using Multimedia 97 UMS Youth Education Season 98 Evening Performance Info

4 | www.ums.org/education Mauritanian singer/songwriter, Malouma.

About the Performance Coming to the Show We want you to enjoy your time in the theater, so here are some tips to make your Youth Performance experience successful and fun! Please review this page prior to attending the performance.

Who will meet us when we arrive? After you exit the bus, UMS Education staff and greeters will be outside to meet you. They might have special directions for you, so be listening and follow their directions. They will take you to the theater door where ushers will meet your group. The greeters know that your group is coming, so there’s no need for you to have tickets.

Who will show us where to sit? The ushers will walk your group to its seats. Please take the first seat available. (When everybody’s seated, your teacher will decide if you can rearrange yourselves.) If you need to make a trip to the restroom before the show starts, ask your teacher.

How will I know that the show is starting? You will know the show is starting because the lights in the auditorium will get dim, and a member of the UMS Education staff will come out on stage to introduce the performance.

What if I get lost? Please ask an usher or a UMS staff member for help. You will recognize these adults because they have name tag stickers or a name tag hanging around their neck.

What should I do during the show? Everyone is expected to be a good audience member. This keeps the show fun for everyone. Good audience members... • Are good listeners • Keep their hands and feet to themselves • Do not talk or whisper during the performance • Laugh only at the parts that are funny • Do not eat gum, candy, food or drink in the theater • Stay in their seats during the performance • Do not disturb the people sitting nearby or other schools in attendance

How do I show that I liked what I saw and heard? The audience shows appreciation during a performance by clapping. In a musical performance, the musicians are often greeted with applause when they first appear. It is traditional to applaud at the end of each musical selection, and sometimes after impressive solos. At the end of the show, the performers will bow and be rewarded with your applause. If you really enjoyed the show, give the performers a standing ovation by standing up and clapping during the bows.

What do I do after the show ends? Please stay in your seats after the performance ends, even if there are just a few of you in your group. Someone from UMS will come onstage and announce the names of all the schools. When you hear your school’s name called, follow your teachers out of the auditorium, out of the theater and back to your buses.

How can I let the performers know what I thought? We want to know what you thought of your experience at a UMS Youth Performance. After the performance, we hope that you will be able to discuss what you saw with your class. Tell us about your experiences in a letter or drawing. Please send your opinions, letters or artwork to: UMS Youth Education Program, 881 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1011.

6 | www.ums.org/education The Performance at a Glance Who is Malouma? Malouma Mint Meidah is the first Mauritanian woman to introduce modern Mauritanian music to the world. Malouma’s music is unique. It is anchored in the Mauritanian musical tradition yet resolutely modern, it is inspired by the songs of the desert and it is immersed in the rhythms of the Senegal River, somewhere at the crossroads of West Africa, the Arab and Berber worlds, between the Sahel and the Savannah. Moreover, Malouma is known as a singer for the people and a spokesman for women’s rights in Muslim countries. My goal is to What kind of music will Malouma sing? Malouma’s music mixes traditional and modern sounds; Western styles are bring Mauritanian melded to the Moorish music of the Sahara, for instance through the use of both electric guitars and traditional Mauritanian instruments such as the music out of its four-stringed, lute-like tidnit. Malouma music fuses subtle, slinky blues- edged songs with other Moorish influenced beats to create a new sound; ghetto to be heard, a new desert fusion of gospel and gently driving R&B. There are musical passages that edge towards Western pop, yet the music always retains her accepted and cool style of drifting desert blues. loved throughout Where is Mauritania? Mauritania is located in northwest Africa, and is about three times the size the world. of Arizona. It is bordered by Western Sahara on the north, and Mali on the east, Senegal on the south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. - Malouma (1997) The country is mostly desert, with the exception of the fertile River Valley in the south and grazing land in the north. The climate in Mauritania is predominantly hot and dry.

7 | www.ums.org/education The Performance at a Glance What instruments are in Malouma’s Band? At the performance you will see a variety of instruments in Malouma’s 10-person band, the Sahel Hawl Blues. Some are native to Mauritania such as the ardine, which Malouma plays, some are traditional Arab instruments, such as the Kora, while others are western instruments, such as the electric guitar. All of these instruments are played together to create a new musical sound that truly blends music for different cultures.

What are Malouma’s songs about? I wish to create a Malouma is not only known for the beauty and sultry quality of her voice, but also for the message and subject matter behind the songs she sings. Her music style to compete addresses issues concerning inequality and oppression of women in society, AIDS awareness, and illiteracy, to name a few. In her Muslim culture these are with modern controversial issues, especially those dealing with the role of women in society. When she fi rst spoke out, she was banned from performing and attending various music from events, and many people were weary of associating with her because of the negative consequences it would bring them. This ban has generally been lifted around the and she has become loved throughout her country and the Muslim and Arab/ African world for giving a voice to the pain and desires of those in Mauritania who have been unable to speak out. world that was In which language will Malouma sing? inundating is the offi cial language of Mauritania, and Malouma will sing some of her songs in the Mauritanian dialect and classic Arabic. However, she will also sing in [Mauritania]. some other languages which are also spoken in Mauritania, such as French and Woloff. -Malouma (1997)

8 | www.ums.org/education Malouma relased her second CD, Dunya, in February of 2004.

All About Malouma All About Malouma

A Biography Malouma Mint Moktar Ould Meidah was born in the 1960s in Mederdra, into a family of . A griot is a practitioner of the WestWest African tradition of praise singing. Her life seemed all mapped out. The daughter of Moktar Ould Meidah, Below are some a prominent traditional musician as well as a highly skilled poet, she is also the of the titles by granddaughter of Mohamed Yahya Ould Boubane, another virtuoso of words which Malouma and the tidinit (a small traditional guitar used by griots). She grew up in Chararattatt ((aa is commonly small town near Mederdra), where her parents taught her the basics of traditional addressed: harp (ardine) playing.

Mermaid of the She started to sing at a very young age, and performed for the first time at the Desert age of 12, an age when tradition requires that the daughters of important families be already prepared for a ‘responsible’ life (marriage and self-sufficiency). She Goddess of the started to draw from the traditional repertoire that her parents, especially her Desert father, had enriched. At the age of fifteen, she was already an accomplished griot, not only accompanying her parents but performing whole on her own. of National At the same period, along with her father, she started to listen to songs by Oum Television Kalthoum, Adbel Halim Hafez, Fairouz, Nasri Cherns, Dine, Sabah, etc. As she grew up she also discovered another musical style that was not far from the music Daughter of Africa she mastered: blues. She wrote small songs that were quite popular with young girls. But the weight of tradition pushed her into the fetters of marriage and Singer of the People conformism.

Mauritanian Diva It took until the late eighties for her to appear on stage again in Mauritania. With a new repertoire, she brought about a true musical revolution among singers. Such pieces as “Habibi habeytou”, “Cyam ezzaman tijri”, and “Awdhu billah”, disrupted the established order. Malouma was aiming to impose a style that drew from the purest tradition and modernized it. The research she undertook was centered on a successful blending of traditional and modern music, the latter providing its instruments and its approach, the first its rich repertoire. Malouma thus became a singer-songwriter, introducing a unity of theme in her songs (oughniya) and not refraining from broaching subjects that were more or less taboo such as love, conjugal life or inequalities.

In her commitment to encourage justice and equality in Mauritania, she involved herself in activist songs to stir people into action, singing for the AIDS campaigns, for the vaccination of children, for the elimination of illiteracy and for the promotion of women, among other things. While her music soon became extremely popular among the youth (both girls and boys), it was rejected at first by the dominating class (a few intellectual groups, griots, and traditional leaders). In fact, Mauritanian officials were so upset with her music, they banned Malouma from singing in her home country beginning in 1992.

10 | www.ums.org/education All About Malouma While she was able to perform in other African countries, she not only was unable to sing in Mauritania, her songs were also not allowed to be played on the radio, or any other form of media. Malouma makes no apologies for the content of her music, but she also does not want to get swept up in the politics. The ban on My father and my Malouma’s controversial music lasted for over a decade, and was finally lifted in 2003. In early 2004, Malouma returned to Mauritania and performed at the first mother descended international festival of music in the country’s capital, . from a lineage of In all these years denouncing inequalities, oppression and injustice, she has become “the singer of the people” (mutribatou echa’b). For all her commitment, she has great Mauriatnian not forgotten her prime goal, her musical research, is to open Mauritanians to artists. Our life, the outside world and to make foreigners discover the treasures of her country’s national heritage. “Rasm”, “Jraad”, “Tchaa’i”, “Gnâni”, “Nouka”... and many our profession, more “achwaar” (traditional pieces) are reinterpreted and reinvented. Malouma has gone even further, trying to harmonize traditional pentatonic Mauritanian is music. When I music with other folk music forms, notably African and American blues. was a baby I was She has met a group of young Mauritanian musicians, the Sahel Hawl Blues, and they have soon tied bonds. Driven by the same concern to be both rooted in lulled to sleep by traditional music and open to modern western music the band, made up of ten young musicians, has integrated all the components of modern-day Mauritania: music. rich inspirational sources and multiple cultures (Moorish, Fulani, Toucouleur, Soninke, Wolof, …). - Malouma

Malouma is a national symbol of pride and an example, and she has many followers. For that matter, the griot-artist community has finally acknowledged her as the first true composer in Mauritania.

Malouma singing with a bass guitar in the background.

11 | www.ums.org/education In Her Own Words... Presented at the 1st World Conference on Music and Censorship Copenhagen, Denmark November 20-22, 1998

I was born in an artist’s family . I was taught traditional music by my father who was known as the best musician in my country.

I was distinguished from other musicians because I was considered to be the fi rst “modern” musician. I sang many songs composed by myself. I was on National TV for the fi rst time in 1986, and since then I was given the name “The Star of the National Television.” And from then on I became the country’s national star. I was the fi rst who sang for the people in a modern way and I met people’s feelings through my music. The people welcomed my music because it touched the “real” feelings of the public and what was going on in reality.

My songs quickly became easy to repeat and were extended to other societies of the Middle East and North Africa. For this reason I expected much support and encouragement from the government but unfortunately the authorities did not understand me at all. In fact our culture gives little attention to musical development. There is not one single academic curriculum in the country today that teaches music or develops it.

In 1991 I sang a song about “freedom of speech” and another about the “beloved of the people” who was about the man holding the opposition during the electoral presidential votes in 1991. Since then the ruling party decided to impose a sanction against me and I was soon banned from national TV and radio.

The authorities banned me from concerts and from all contact I had with organizations. They denied me having a permanent address. Before I was always invited by all the top embassies at all ceremonies. I have been banned out of all these contacts, both socially as well as professionally.

I have written several songs on politics although they are not well recorded due to the poor equipment in Mauritania. Since my sanction I have not traveled anywhere for the progression of my career. I live in hard conditions of which I could perhaps speak more about to you later.

12 | www.ums.org/education Map of Mauritania and it’s surroundings in North Africa. By Graphic Maps.com surroundings Map of Mauritania and it’s

Mauritania Mauritanian History Mauritania is a country in Western Africa that stretches along the Atlantic coast into the Sahara desert. For centuries, the Sahara has served as an avenue for migration and conquest between northern and sub-Saharan Africa. Mauritania has assimilated many waves of these migrants and conquerors. The rise of the Arabicized Berber dynasties of the Almoravids and the Almohads led to invasions and eventual colonization of Spain and clashes with the Ghana empire in the south.

The Islamization of Mauritania was a gradual process that spanned a period of 500 years. Beginning slowly with contacts with Berber and Arab merchants engaged in caravan trade and increasing with the Almoravid conquests, Islamization eventually took firm hold with the arrival of the Yemeni Arabs in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and was not completed until three or four centuries later. Below: The Mauritanian From the third to seventh century, the migration of Berber tribes from North Africa National . displaced the Bafours, the original inhabitants of present-day Mauritania and the ancestors of the Soninke. Continued Arab-Berber migration drove indigenous The background black Africans south to the Senegal River or enslaved them. By 1076, Islamic is green and the warrior monks (Almoravid or Al Murabitun) completed the conquest of southern symbols are gold. Mauritania, defeating the ancient Ghana empire.

Over the next 500 years, Arabs overcame fierce Berber resistance to dominate Mauritania. The Mauritanian Thirty-Year War (1644-1674) was the unsuccessful final Berber effort to repel the Maqil Arab invaders led by the Beni Hassan tribe. The descendants of Beni Hassan warriors became the upper stratum of Moorish society. Berbers retained influence by producing the majority of the region’s Marabouts -those who preserve and teach Islamic tradition. Hassaniya, a mainly oral Berber influenced Arabic dialect which derives its name from the Beni Hassan tribe, became the dominant language among the largely nomadic population. Aristocrat and servant castes developed, yielding “White” (aristocracy) and “Black” Moors (the enslaved indigenous class.)

From the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, Europeans competed for the Mauritanian gum Arabic trade. The French were present in the Senegal River and the Mauritanian coast in the 1800s but a French protectorate was not established until 1903. French penetration into Mauritania continued slowly. Mauritania became a French colony in 1920. Colonial administrators relied extensively on Islamic religious leaders and the traditional warrior groups to maintain their rule and carry out their policies. The French policy of assimilation and direct rule was not applied with great vigor in Mauritania and, as a result, the traditional social structure was left largely intact through the colonial period. Very little economic development occurred under French rule. In 1946, Mauritania became a territory of French West Africa.

14 | www.ums.org/education Mauritanian History French colonization at the beginning of the twentieth century brought legal prohibitions against slavery and an end to interclan warfare. During the colonial period, the population remained nomadic, but sedentary Black Africans, whose ancestors had been expelled centuries earlier by the Moors, began to trickle back into southern Mauritania.

As the country gained independence on November 28, 1960, the capital city Nouakchott was founded at the site of a small colonial village, the Ksar, and 90% of the population was still nomadic. was elected the country’s first president in 1961. With independence, larger numbers of ethnic Sub- Saharan Africans (Haalpulaar, Soninke, and Wolof entered Mauritania, moving into the area north of the Senegal River. Educated in French language and customs, many of these recent arrivals became clerks, soldiers, and administrators in the new state.

However, claimed that Mauritania was historically Moroccan territory and did not recognize its independence until 1970. When Above: Spain give up its colonial administration of Western Sahara, Morocco and Mauritanian Mauritania took over its administration with Morocco claiming the northern part children posing and Mauritania the southern part. But Algeria and an organization of people from for a picture in the Western Sahara, known as the Polisario Front, opposed these claims. Fighting the desert. broke out between these groups.

Moors reacted to this change by increasing pressure to Arabicize many aspects of Mauritanian life, such as law and language. A schism developed between those who consider Mauritania to be an Arab country (mainly Moors) and those who seek a dominant role for the Sub-Saharan peoples.

Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory.

The discord between these two conflicting visions of Mauritanian society was evident during intercommunal violence that broke out in April 1989 (the “1989 Events”) but has since subsided. The tension between these two visions remains a feature of the political dialogue. A significant number from both groups, however, seek a more diverse, pluralistic society.

Opposition parties were legalized and a new constitution approved in 1991 Two multiparty presidential elections since then were widely seen as being flawed; Mauritania remains, in reality, a one-party state.

15 | www.ums.org/education Mauritanian History

The country continues to experience ethnic tensions between its Black minority population and the dominant Maur (Arab-Berber) populace.

The current president of Mauritania is Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya who came to power in 1984 as President of the Military National Salvation Army. He was elected president in 1992, and has since been re-elected twice, the most recent being in 2003.

Slavery Slavery has been a part of Mauritanian society for centuries. 800 years ago, Arab and Berber tribes descended from the Mediterranean peninsula and launched slave raids against the indigenous African population, abducting women and children as slaves. Those enslaved were converted to Islam and raised to believe that their religious duty was to serve their masters faithfully. Slaves were taught that because of their impure dark skin they were forbidden from touching the Koran, praying in the mosque, and attending school. The saying “paradise under your master’s foot” embodied the notion that the path to salvation was through loyal servitude. Saudi Mosque in Nouakchott, Mauritania. Photo: Gary Cook

While Christianity was once used in a similar manner to justify slavery to Africans ensnared by the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Mauritania’s system persists today in the 21st century. Moors still hold “haratin” slaves, descendants of those abducted centuries ago. Slaves are bought and sold, branded and bred, and even given to the poor as an act of charity. Some are transported to Gulf states or even serve in embassies around the world.

Black slavery is simply an integral part of Mauritanian society, with slaves performing all sorts of physical labor. Mauritania has theoretically outlawed slavery three times, most recently with a military edict in 1980. But local Islamic courts rarely enforce anti-slavery statutes, and there is no evidence of widespread emancipation. The U.S. State Department used to cite Mauritania for slavery each year in its human rights reports. But, as other events unfolded through time, the issue of Mauritanian slavery was no longer a priority, and has since been overlooked.

16 | www.ums.org/education North African Culture General Overview The early Berber tribes dwelled on the coast until the arrival of Phoenician traders about 1200 B.C. Together, the Phoenicians and Berbers built Carthage and a civilization that spread across western North Africa and the Mediterranean, from Sicily to Spain. In 202 B.C., the Romans took Carthage. By A.D. 40, they controlled an area from the Atlantic coast to present-day eastern . About six hundred years of Roman rule ended with the invasion of Vandals from Scandinavia, soon followed by Christian Byzantines. In 688, at the time of the fi rst Muslim Arab invasion, North Africa was widely, if superfi cially, Christian. Within a century, the Arabs were masters of all Algeria Mediterranean North Africa and Spain, and though their empire eventually receded, most of the lands and peoples they subjugated were irreversibly changed, in language, religion, and cultures. Subsequent European conquests hardly affected Arabic cultural patterns.

The character that distinguished North Africa from the Arabic- speaking Muslim Near East arises in large measure from its Berber subculture. While urban Berbers were receptive to the culture of their conquerors, rural and nomadic Berbers were much less so. Withdrawing into mountain villages or retreating deep into the desert, they remained resistant and even hostile to foreign intrusion. As a result, Berber language, culture, and tribal patterns have persisted Libya in the Moroccan Atlas, in the Algerian high plateaus, in desert towns in Mauritania and Libya, and in oasis communities and nomadic encampments across the Sahara. In remote ares, Islam and the accompanying Arab traditions penetrated slowly, forming a veneer of Muslim culture over pre-Islamic customs and beliefs. In the Ahaggar region of the Algerian Sahara, long an impenetrable mountain stronghold of warring Berber Tuareg tribes, Muslim religion and culture had little effect until the latter part of the 1800s.

Gradually, the Arab culture of the Maghreb fi ltered southward to permeate the Sahara with Islamic character. Over centuries the trans-Saharan trade routes, mainly under control of the Berber Tuareg, carried Mediterranean arts and technology southward. The northern Berbers introduced methods of irrigation, fertilization, and animal husbandry that enabled sahelian cultivators to grow crops farther north into the arid zone. In varying degrees, many Sahelian cultivators were incorporated in Tuareg society and culture, and elements of sub-Saharan music became part of Tuareg traditions.

Sahelian arts and music have also moved northward. In cultivations centers throughout the Sahara, rhythms, vocals styles, and dances of sub-Saharan origin predominate. In the Maghreb, Black Muslim brotherhoods perform Sahelian stlye music for exorcisms, rituals of curing, and Muslim celebrations and festivals. Blends of northern and southern musical practices are clear, also, in the Mauritanian bardic tradition, which combining modal structures akin to Arab tradition with rhythmic patterns related to those of West Africa, forms styles the musicians term White and Black ways. 17 | www.ums.org/education North African Culture General Overview, cont. Since the 1960s, recurring drought, increasing population, and political strife have prompted migrations in many directions: herders drive their animals farther in search of water and pasture, and pastoralist and cultivators abandon rural areas for employment in towns and cities. The musical result of these migrations is the rapid evolution of new genres from older and borrowed sources. For source material and inspiration, composers of urban music have turned increasingly to Arab Countries rural repertoires and foreign music. Radio broadcasts and cassette recordings in Africa convey to the most remote areas a wide range of musical styles. The music of the region, therefore, do not form ready categories. As modern Mauritania composers and arrangers adapt old traditions to new performance situations, the distinctions among classical, folk, and popular genres are often blurred. Due Morocco to the pervasiveness of the media, some repertories once specifi c to particular villages or regions are now more widespread. Conversely, urban styles and Algeria instrumentation, with their special appeal to youth, increasingly infl uence the performance of traditional musics in rural communities. The distinctions between Tunisia religious and secular genres are equally unclear, for the texts of many songs sung for secular purposes have religious content or sentiment, and some religious music Libya collectively performed exhibits folk song genre traits. Furthermore, some genres performed exclusively by traditional specialists at folk-life celebrations straddle the categories of folk and professional, and of religious and secular. Musical styles, subject matter, and performances practices continually interplay with the social contexts and histories that underly and inform the musical cultures (Stone, 189- Sudan 190).

Somalia Mauritanian Overview Djibouti Mauritania’s name comes from its dominant ethnic group, the Moors (maures in French), a people broadly divided into ‘“White” Bidan (who claim ancestry from north of the Sahara) and “Black” Haratin whose physical ancestry lies in Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa. The Haratin were traditionally vassals of the Bidan noble class, though social status in Mauritania is considerable more than a question of skin color. Until quite late in the twentieth century, Moorish society had a strict hierarchical class system.

In this system, musicians, know as “iggawin,” occupied the lowest rung beneath the warriors (hassans), merchants and others. Being a hereditary caste, their skills were (and are) handed down from generation to generation, from father to son, or from mother to daughter. Marriages almost always take place between people of the same class (the men always have the work “ould” between their names, meaning “son of”; likewise women are “mint,” or “daughter of”). Despite the rigid social structure, have more freedom than in most Arabic-speaking countries, refl ecting their mixed African and Berber heritage. The Berbers were the indigenous people of Northwest Africa, the lords of the land before the great westerly migration of Arabs and Arabic culture that began in the seventh century (Broughton, 2nd ed., 563).

18 | www.ums.org/education North African Maps

Mauritania

Above: A snapshot of North Africa. Left: Mauritania’s position on the African Continent.

19 | www.ums.org/education Mauritania: Quick Facts

Location Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara

Area Total: 1,030,700 sq km (slightly larger than three times the size of New Mexico)

Land boundaries Border countries: Algeria 463 km, Mali 2,237 km, Senegal 813 km, Western Sahara 1,561 km

Climate Desert; constantly hot, dry, dusty

Terrain Mostly barren, fl at plains of the Sahara; some central hills

Natural resources Iron ore, gypsum, copper, phosphate, diamonds, gold, oil, fi sh President of Land use Mauritania, Colonel Arable land: 0.48% Maaouya Ould Sid’ Permanent crops: 0.01% Ahmed Taya Other: 99.51% (2001)

Natural hazards Hot, dry, dust/sand-laden sirocco wind blows primarily in March and April; periodic droughts

Environment - current issues Overgrazing, deforestation, and soil erosion aggravated by drought are contributing to desertifi cation; very limited natural fresh water resources away from the Senegal, which is the only perennial river; locust infestation

Geography - note Most of the population concentrated in the cities of Nouakchott and Nouadhibou and along the Senegal River in the southern part of the country

20 | www.ums.org/education Mauritania: Quick Facts

Population 2,998,563 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure 0-14 years: 45.9% (male 689,371; female 686,486) 15-64 years: 51.9% (male 767,551; female 788,520) 65 years and over: 2.2% (male 27,106; female 39,529) (2004 est.)

Life expectancy at birth Total population: 52.32 years Male: 50.15 years Female: 54.56 years (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate 0.6% (2003 est.)

Nationality Camels in the desert in Noun: Mauritanian(s) Mauritania Adjective: Mauritanian

Ethnic groups Mixed Maur/black 40%, Moor 30%, black 30%

Religions Muslim 100%

Languages Arabic (offi cial), Pulaar, Soninke, French, Hassaniya, Wolof Aerial view of Mauritania Country name Conventional long form: Islamic Republic of Mauritania Conventional short form: Mauritania Local long form: Al Jumhuriyah al Islamiyah al Muritaniyah Local short form: Muritaniyah

Government type Republic

Capital Nouakchott

National holiday Independence Day (from France), 28 November (1960)

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal Marketplace in the captial city, Nouakchott

21 | www.ums.org/education Mauritania: Quick Facts Flag description Green with a yellow fi ve-pointed star above a yellow, horizontal crescent; the closed side of the crescent is down; the crescent, star, and color green are traditional symbols of Islam

Economy - overview Half the population still depends on agriculture and livestock for a livelihood, even though many of the nomads and subsistence farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, and the decline in world demand for this ore, however, has led to cutbacks in production. The nation’s coastal waters are among the richest fi shing areas in the world, but overexploitation by foreigners threatens this key source of revenue.

Agriculture - products Dates, millet, sorghum, rice, corn, dates; cattle, sheep

Industries Fish processing, mining of iron ore and gypsum

Currency Ouguiya (MRO)

Radio broadcast stations AM 1, FM 14, shortwave 1 (2001)

Television broadcast stations 1 (2002)

Right: The National Song of Mauritania written in Arabic. THe words are from a 19th-century poem by Bab Ould Cheikh and the melody was written by Tolia Nikiprowetzky.

22 | www.ums.org/education , a traditional Mauritanian musical instrument. musical Mauritanian traditional a , ardine Malouma playing the playing Malouma Mauritanian Music Mauritanian Style Musical Style The largest ethnic group in Mauritania is the Moors (indigenous Berbers). In Moorish society, musicians occupy the lowest caste, also known as iggawin, who used song to praise successful warriors as well as their patrons. Iggawin also had the traditional role of messengers, spreading news between villages. In modern Mauritania, professional musicians are paid by anybody to perform; affluent patrons sometimes record the entertainment, and they are then considered to own the recordings, instead of the musician.

Some traditional instruments found in Mauritania are the tidinit, an hourglass-shaped four-stringed lute, and an ardine, which is typically played by a woman. An ardine is similar to the West African kora, which is a twenty-one-string harp that uses a calabash (a member of the gourd family) as its resonator. Other traditional instruments include the tbal, essentially a kettledrum, and the daghumma, a rattle.

In the Mauritian tradition, there are three distinct ways to play music. One way is called A group of Al-bayda, or the White way. This method of playing is delicate and refined, mostly Mauritanian associated with the Bidan (Moors of North African lineage). There is also Al-kahla, musicians. Photo or the Black way. This music leans more towards roots and masculinity, and is by Gary Cook. associated with the Haratin (Moors of Sub-Saharan lineage). The third way of playing is l’-gnaydiya, the “spotted”, or “mixed”, method.

Music progresses through five modes, which finds its origins in Arab music: karr, fagu (both Black), lakhal, labyad (both White, and correspondingcorresponding to a period of one’s life or an emotion) and lebtyat (White, a spiritual mode relatingrelating to the afterlife). There are other sub-modes, making for an extremely complicated system that is followed by nearly all male musicians; female musicians are rare and are not bound by the same rules (Stone, 192-193).

The Iggawin One traditional task of the iggawin was to follow warriors on campaigns and raids, extolling their bravery and encouraging them into battle. At other times the iggawin would entertain their patrons with praise sons about the great deeds of their ancestors. And they would also act as social historians, poets, and jokers, in much the same way as the griots of Mali and Guinea, and elsewhere. Before the days of radio it was also the job of the iggawin to act as newscasters, touring the villages and recruiting news from the outside world to musical accompaniment. They sang epic songs which were used as teaching stories for the entertainment of both children and adults.

Today, professional musicians can be employed by anyone in return for money or other gifts. And since the advent of recording on tape, it has been the custom for patrons to record the entertainment for their own use – the recordings passing into their ownership rather than the musicians’. Many songs of the iggawin repertoire are Middle Eastern in character and others are simple enough for the audience to take up the chorus (Broughton, 2nd ed., 563) 24 | www.ums.org/education Musical Instruments The following instruments are those that a either commonly played in Mauritanian music or specifically used by Malouma in her music.

Tidinit The traditional male instrument; a small hourglass-shaped lute with four stings- Malouma is an two long strings on which the melody is played and two short one which provide a drone-like accompaniment. In recent years the tidinit have increasingly been expert on both replaced or augmented by the electric guitar. the tidinit and the ardine. Ardine (see page 23) The traditional female instrument; it has a body made from a large, skin-covered half-gourd, through which a curved wooden pole is inserted, onto which anything from 10 to 14 strings are attached with leather thongs. It looks a lot like a back- to-front kora.

Tbal The tbal originated in Egypt during the Old Kingdom (2850 - 2160 BC) where it was part of the cult of Isis. The first drums were developed in the Far East for religious rituals and court entertainment. The instrument varied from one region to another. The tbal that we find in Tunisia even exists in Eastern Europe, in the East and the Far East. It belongs to the family of membranophones and is made from a skin stretched by cords on each end over a cylindrical wooden body 680 mm in diameter and 485 mm high. The instrument is played with two sticks. One is quite large and slightly curved and plays the down beat. The other, which is thinner, produces the weaker beats. The tbal player almost never sits down. The tbal is mainly used to play folk music for weddings and circumcisions on the Island of Jerba (in southern Tunisia). The wonderful thing about the Jerba tbal is the Tunisian flag painted on the body (www. virtualmuseum.com). Tbal

25 | www.ums.org/education Musical Instruments Darbuka The tarbouka or derbakka is a percussion instrument, commonly known as the Arab drum.

What is the It is very widespread in the Arab World, especially in the Maghreb areas of North Maghreb? Africa. Its appearance varies considerably from one type to another and from one region to another. It comes in the shape of a bottomless clay or pottery jug and is The Maghreb often lavishly decorated with fl oral or geometrically shaped designs. It is covered (sometimes spelled with a skin membrane that may be stretched taut or more slackly depending Maghrib) is the on the strength of the sound you want to produce. The sound is made by the geographical name musician subtly taping his palm and ten fi ngers on the membrane. of a the region of Northwest The tarbouka is both a popular and serious musical instrument. It is so popular in Africa that the Middle East that one or more can be found in every home or family. The fi rst includes Morocco, opportunity, or the least piece of good news, is reason enough to hear the muted Mauritania, Tunisia, beat of this instrument. When it is included in the traditional Arab orchestra called Algeria, and Libya. a takht, the tarbouka is called a tabla. For close to a century, this instrument has been used in orchestras, replacing the naqqareh (kettledrums), small copper timpani that are played in pairs.

Today, we fi nd all sorts and sizes of tarbouka from the small model designed to entertain children to the modern orchestral tarbouka with a plexiglass membrane as well as the traditional pottery tarbouka with a sheepskin membrane.

In North Africa, you can tell the professional darbuka player by the richness of the sound he can produce from this drum. The skin is struck with the bare hand that alternately taps the centre and edges of the pot according to very strict musical forms (www.virtualmuseum.com).

26 | www.ums.org/education Musical Instruments Tar (small tambourine) The tambourine is a musical instrument used in Andalusian music to maintain rhythm. It is also used in Moroccan modern music. In fact, the tambourine used in Moroccan cities, both old cities that celebrate traditional ceremonies including Andalusian music festivals and modern economic and administrative cities that have modern bands, has only one shape and form. It is possible that tambourines used in Middle Eastern countries have different shapes but I have never seen them. I can affi rm that the tambourine is used in most Moroccan cities because it is light, has a beautiful shape and produces a beat that attracts music fans. Besides, the tambourine has a cultural continuity since it is a very old instrument in Morocco, which is as exciting to look at as any other historical monument in the country. What is a Griot? The tar and the darbuka are two percussion instruments with similar characteristics. First of all, both these drums are played with the hands throughout A griot are musical a musical piece, marking the time and rhythm. Technically, there is also some stroytellers and resemblance between the two instruments. The dom (deep and resonant beat) of oral historians/ the tar, like the beat of the darbuka, is simple and strong. The tek (light beat) is weaker and is played to fi ll up the empty space of the rhythm. But there are some minstrels of North/ well known dissimilarities as well, particularly with respect to: West African cultures. 1. Their shape, since the tar is smaller and includes brass jingles aroundaround the edge of its small cylindrical frame while the darbuka is obviously larger. 2. Their weight, since the tar is very light and easy to play with the hands while the darbuka is heavier and must be balanced on the musician’s knees. 3. The hand positions, since the tar is held in the right hand and struck with the free left hand, thus creating a rhythmic balance between the dom and the tek. 4. The movement in musical interpretation, because it is strictly prohibited to play the dom of the tar with the left hand at the same time between one dom and another. The left hand also plays the tek or weaker beat and therethere araree no less specifi c rules about when it should be played. Its role is also to focus the rhythm. The dom is produced by hitting the centre of the darbuka and the tek by hitting the edge.

It is diffi cult to determine precisely the geographical or cultural origin of these instruments since there are no historical sources. We only know that they specifi cally related to Andalusian music in Morocco where they keep the beat of songs.

The tar is essentially a short cylindrical wooden frame coveredcovered wwithith a ppieceiece ooff vveryery thin goat skin. Around the edge of the frame are fi ve small openings or byout (cutouts), each with a pair of brass jingles. With its goatskin covering, the sound of the tar is higher pitched than the tambourine while the clinkingclinking of its jinjinglesgles is deeper and thicker.

Each of these instruments can be played solo but they can also harmoniously complement the rhythm as an integral part of an orchestra (www.virtualmuseum. com). 27 | www.ums.org/education Musical Instruments Visit UMS Online Kora The kora is made from a gourd sound box with a long neck and many strings. www.ums.org/ It is an instrument that can adapt itself to all kinds of music. The kora has education gone through many transformations. Music lovers are becoming increasingly demanding which is why it has been necessary to incorporate modern tools into its construction.

Griots use this traditional instrument to accompany themselves. Organologically, the kora is classifi ed as a harp-lute because it possesses features of both the lute (it is plucked with the right hand) and the harp (it has perpendicular strings with a resonator). It is undoubtedly the best known of all African stringed instruments. It seems the kora has existed since the beginning of the Middle Ages but its expansion dates from the Mali empire (1240s). It is used to celebrate heroes in very rich and moving instrumental forms. It is made from half of a large gourd covered with goat or calf skin stretched by leather laces (the skin is now held in place by pegs or pins). The skin is perforated by two handles that the player uses to hold the kora and a stick runs through the gourd across the middle of the skin perpendicular to the two handles and the bridge. The strings are joined to the bridge (formerly 7 strings but now 21) by circles of steer-hide thongs. As the kora evolved, the rings were gradually replaced by hardwood keys or guitar keys. The strings were once made from twisted skin but are now made of nylon. The kora player, generally seated with crossed legs with the kora in front of him, holds the instrument by its two stick handles leaving the thumbs and index fi ngers free to pluck the strings like a harp. The Gambian musician Djeli Madi Woulendi improved the instrument’s range by increasing the number of strings from 7 to 21.

There is a story that the kora was actually invented in Gambia in Talitodembakounda. It takes at least ten years to learn how to play the kora properly. It is very diffi cult to make and tune. The kora is played in Mali, Guinea, Senegal, the Casamance area, in Gambia and in Guinea Bissau. It originated with the Mandingo culture of Senegal and this is why its various tunings are related to Mandingo songs. Each ethnic group adapts it to suit its own tunes (www.virtualmuseum.com).

28 | www.ums.org/education Musical Instruments Oud The ‘ud (oud) is made of a soundbox that looks a bit like a pear cut lengthwise. It also has a neck. The word ‘ud means “stick” in Arabic. It is without doubt the most widespread chordophone in the world. It is such a treasure that it can be found in various I remember that shapes in a great many different countries. It has [my fi rst music gained a lofty position teacher] used to as a solo instrument and play us Mozart, makes an excellent voice Beethoven, accompaniment. It also has Wagner, and a place of honour in the Chopin...it history of Arab music as the was fantastic! instrument that enables us Particularly the to defi ne its scale. Mozart. It was so different! I The Western lute is different felt this music on account of its frets and 15th century playing took me a long technique as well as the way away from number of strings (13 pairs everything I in the 17th century). For knew. interpreting “modal” music, - Malouma there are several types of ‘ud: the Oriental ‘ud, the Tunisian ‘ud (played in Tunisia,Tunisia, Libya and eastern Algeria) and the Algerian ‘ud (called the kouitra). Although these ‘ud have some similarities, they areare difdifferentferent in size, tone aandnd sspecifipecifi c playplayinging technique for each of them. The Tunisian ‘ud is very close to an 11th-century lute. It is smaller than the Eastern lute and, like lutes of the 11th-century, has four pairs of strings and similar proportions.

The paired strings of the Tunisian ‘ud areare tuned in C 3 – G 2 – D 3 – D 2. This lute requires a special plectrum technique to play it which can pluck the strings (thus playing the tune) and the soundboard at the same time, with the strings keeping the rhythm. The playing technique is diffi cult and takes long training to master it to play expressively. In Tunisia, the Eastern ‘ud seems to have become popular with the spread of Eastern music on 78 rpm records in the 1910s to 1920s. This popularity, however, was at the expense of the Tunisian ‘ud, which was seen less often in orchestras over the years, becoming more or less obsolete in the 1960s. In Tunisian music circles, there are avid defenders of the Tunisian ‘ud, those who do not care for it and even some who consider it to be a stagnant and undeveloped instrument (www.virtualmuseum.com).

29 | www.ums.org/education Musical Instruments Djembe The djembe is made and used in Mali, Senegal, Guinea and the Ivory Coast as well as in Burkina Faso.

The djembe is best known in western Burkina Faso (Bobo-Dioulasso, Banfora, the second and fourth largest cities in the country respectively). In Ouagadougou, it seems likely to take over the traditional instrument scene. The djembe is an instrument of Malinke origin.

The name djembe is said to be an onomatopoeia and to derive from the sound the instrument makes as it resonates with its vibrations. It is made from the caïcedrat treetree and has a cylindrical shape. The upper part is covecoveredred wwithith a membrane of tanned goat skin held in place by three iron rings laced with Though the cording. djembe is not According to tradition, the djembe must be shielded from sudden changes in a traditional temperature and humidity. The instrument is used for popular events and can be Mauritania played by any experienced drummer either as a solo instrument or together with instrument, other instruments. Malouma uses it often in her The djembe is found in the previously mentioned places in Burkina Faso and is music. played by traditional and modern musical groups and is common throughout Western Africa (www.virtualmuseum.com).

30 | www.ums.org/education Malouma’s Music Malouma’s songs are usually one of the following: songs based on old Arabic poetry, traditional Mauritanian music that Malouma has modernized, or songs addressing social issues such as relationships between men and women.

Traditional Sources

Malouma’s Thoughts “I was tired of the music and the rhythms of the past and felt that it was necessary to change everything. I believe that we should be in the world to sing for the present, not for the past. We need to wake up people and make them do something positive their lives today. I also think that our people should be equal to other societies in the world. But the constraints of tradition are much stronger than I am and I’ve had a lot of trouble breaking free. However, once I got onto this path it was no longer possible for me to turn back. My idea was to create a new musical form that would be a descendant of this tradition, making use of the modes and the rhythms of the traditional music that is disappearing to establish If you add modern the basis of a new type of music. instruments to the traditional “El Moumna” from Dunya rhythms from This classic piece, also called “Tchaii,” was arranged and transformed by Malouma, where I come who has succeeded in synthesizing two pieces (achwaar) into one modernmodern song. from, you’ll fi nd Lyrics not only rock Her story is an amazing story. music in there, Time has enslaved and betrayed her. but also funk or El Moumna was a beauty among beauties rap...because our She loved a handsome young man traditinal rhythms Who was crazy about her are at the root of But her father gave her to an old man these musics. Of his own age. This story has reached us over the years - Malouma The composer has perpetuated it for us Making it a source of joy and tears Totally worn out by time

You have burnt us, o murderer You have burnt out our interest for other women You have burnt us out So that all that is left of us is charcoal

From here to Birigni, no other can approach us None but you, El Moumna Believe it if you believe.

31 | www.ums.org/education Malouma’s Music Songs addressing social Issues

Malouma’s Thoughts “In 1986 I wrote a very open song, ‘Habibi Habeytou’, which means ‘I love to Love my Love’. In a strict Muslim society like ours, it is rare to hear a woman express herself in such a way. It was something very new to which our society was not accustomed, so it caused me quite a few problems in the beginning, but I continued and followed it with a song about divorce. In our society men often divorce their fi rst wife to marry another. They abandon their fi rst wife Music is a and children, but the women are not allowed to say anything. The same things very serious happened to me, but I didn’t write this song for myself, I wrote it for all the education women who have to keep quiet.” amongst [Mauritanian] people, it’s not “Mahma El Houb” from Dunya a game, and Love and men-women relationships are often broached in Malouma’s songs, and children start with French being one of the languages of Mauritania, Malouma sings some of from a very her song in French, such as this one. young age. Lyrics French - “L’amour et nous” - Malouma Quand nous parlions avec nos yeux, c’etait divin, tout n’etait que sourires et fervents balbutiements, Nous avons essaye l’amour, ce fut l’echec Mais quoi qu’on fasse, il nous rattrape

English - “Love and Us” When we spoke with our eyes, it was heavenly All smiles and feverent beginnings We tried love and it failed Yet whatever we do, love catches up with us.

Album cover of Dunya, Malouma’s latest musical release. 32 | www.ums.org/education Malouma’s Music Classic Arabic Poetry Sources

Malouma’s music and lyrics also draw from classical poetry sources like the following:

Poet - Ahmad Ibn Huseyen Al Mutanabbi Ahmad ibn Huseyn Al Mutanabbi was born, the son of a water carrier in Kufah in . He was educated in in Damascus. He also lived among the Bedouin of the Banu Qalb tribe, and learnt their doctrines and Arabic dialect.

In his youth he earned the nickname “Al Mutanabbi”, which means “the one who wants to become a Prophet”. Some say because he likened himself to the Prophet Salih in some of his verses. Others claim it is his political activities that won the young poet the unusual name. He was the leader of a revolutionary movement and, claiming to be a Prophet, led a revolt in his home town in 932. He was imprisoned after the revolt was suppressed and that is when he wrote his fi rst poem. But his imprisonment did not see the end of his political ambitions. He fi rst traveled to Aleppo in Northern Syria, where he joined the court of Prince Saif al Dawla.

From his arrival in 948, Al Mutanabbi enjoyed the protection of the prince for some nine years, before his political aspirations caused him to loose his patron’s favours and made leaving the country the only option on hand. From their he traveled to Egypt where for a time he enjoyed the favours of Abu al Misk Kafur but after writing a few satirical poems showing the court in a bad light he had to fl ee from here as well. From there he traveled to Shiraz in Iran, where he gained the protection of the Adud An excerpt ad-Dawlah and worked as court poet until 965. from one of Al Mutanabbi’s Al Mutanabbi became the most renowned of all the Arab poets ever. He rose to poems written in fame with his marvelous metaphors and Abu at-Tayyib’s ornate enhancements Arabic. of the language. More than a dozen reviews have been written to examine and interpret the subtle, almost hidden messages in his verse. And indeed, they were in fact less than direct to the less experienced reader. For example, in one of his most famous paragraphs, Al Mutanabbi portrays an approaching multitude of soldiers as a crowd so huge that “The warriors marched hidden in their dust and saw with their ears just.” Some interpretations put it in plain words that this means that the soldiers’ senses were mystifi ed in the commotion, so that although they thought they were seeing, they were in fact hearing the tumult surrounding them. It is unfortunate that Mutanabbi’s poems lose their meanings in translation. In 965, Mutanabbi returned to Iraq and was he was attacked and killed by bandits in a trip in the vicinity of Baghdad.

Passage from a poem by Al-Mutanabbi Glory and honor were healed when you were healed, and your pain passed on to your enemies. Light, that had left the sun, as if it was sick in its body, came back to it. By race, the Arabs are supreme in the world, but a foreigner will take part with the Arabs of good heart. 33 | www.ums.org/education Malouma’s Music Classic Arabic Poetry Sources, cont.

Poetry about Antarah Ibn Shaddad al Absi (Anonymous author) Indeed, probably the most illustrious single fi gure in pre-Islamic Arabia was Antara the Lion - called the “father of heroes.” Antara had an Arab father and an Ethiopian mother, and became in time Arabia’s national hero. There was no individual equal to the valor and strength of Antara. He has been compared to King Arthur in the English tradition but was considerably more important because he was a more historical fi gure.

The name of Antarah ibn-Shaddad al Absi (ca. 525-615), evidently a Christian, has lived through the ages as the epitome of heroism and chivalry. Knight, poet, warrior and lover, Antara exemplifi ed in his life those qualities greatly cherished by the sons of the desert. His acts of gallantry, as well as his love episodes with his lady, Ablah, whose name he immortalized in his famous Mu allaqah, have become a part of the literary legacy of the Arabic-speaking world. Antara was the father of knighthood. He was the champion of the weak and oppressed and the protector of women.

He was the impassioned lover and poet, and the irresistible and gallant knight. Antara’s magnifi cent deeds spread across the Arabian Peninsula and throughout the world. In time, these deeds, like the legends of Homer, were compiled in literary form. They are known today as the Romance of Antar, and have taken their place among the great national classics. The Romance of Antar, in its present form, probably preceded the romances of chivalry so common in twelfth-century in Italy and France (www.saxakali.com).

Exerpt from the Poem of Antar Have the poets left in the garment a place for a patch to be patched by me; and did you know the abode of your beloved after refl ection? The vestige of the house, which did not speak, confounded thee, until it spoke by means of signs, like one deaf and dumb. Verily, I kept my she-camel there long grumbling, with a yearning at the black- ened stones, keeping and standing fi rm in their own places. It is the abode of a friend, languishing in her glance, submissive in the embrace, pleasant of smile. Oh house of ‘Ablah situated at Jiwaa, talk with me about those who resided in you. Good morning to you, O house of ‘Ablah, and be safe from ruin. I halted my she-camel in that place; and it was as though she were a high pal- ace; in order that I might perform the wont of the lingerer. And ‘Ablah takes up her abode at Jiwaa; while our people went to Hazan, then to Mutathallam. She took up her abode in the land of my enemies; so it became diffi cult for me to seek you, O daughter of Mahzam. I was enamored of her unawares, at a time when I was killing her people, desir- ing her in marriage; but by your father’s life I swear, this was not the time for desiring. And verily you have occupied in my heart the place of the honored loved one, so do not think otherwise than this, that you are my beloved. And how may be the visiting of her; while her people have taken up their resi- dence in the spring at ‘Unaizatain and our people at Ghailam? 34 | www.ums.org/education Oumou Sangare. Photo by Barry Wilson,Oumou Sangare. 2000 Divas of the Desert Egypt: Oum Kalthoum Oum Kalthoum (1904-1975) is indisputably the Arab world’s greatest singer. Stern and tragic, rigidly in control, this was a woman who, in her heyday truly had the Arab world in the palm of her hand. With melancholy operettas that seemed to drift on for hours, she encapsulated the love lives of a nation and mesmerized millions. Her stage presence was charged by a theatrical rapport with the audience: a slight nod of the head or a shake of her shoulders and they were in uproar. She learned to sing by reciting verse at cafes in her village , and sometimes dressed as a boy to escape the religious authorities. It was to her training in religious chanting to which she owed her stunning vocal agility and her masterful command of the complex maqamat. She was educated in the secular fi eld by the poet Ahmed Ramy and of her total output of 286 songs, Oum Kalthoum. 132 were his poems. Her voice was the epitome of the Arab ideal – saturated Hanafi , 2000. with ‘shaggan’, or emotional yearning, and powerful enough on occasion to shatter a glass.

In her long career, she specialized in love songs that sometimes lasted an hour, improvising and ornamenting on a theme that would bring the audience to a What are frenzy. She was once asked to sing a line 52 times over, which she did while maqamat? developing the melody each time. Of this ability she said; “I am greatly infl uenced by the music found in Arabic poetry. I improvise because my heart rejoices in the Marqamat are richness of this music. If someone went over a song which I sang fi ve times, he a sequence of would not fi nd any one like the other. I am not a record that repeats itself, I am notes with rules a human being who is deeply touched by what I sing.” As a childless mother, that define its her songs were her offspring given to the people. For these gifts they returned general melodic total adoration. Apart from Allah, they say, Oum Kalthoum is the only subject about which all Arabs agree, a fact that has always given her special political developement. signifi cance. She embraced Nasser’s pan-Arab ideals and drew Arabs together by extending a pride to them during their most diffi cult period in history. Nasser used her nationalist songs to keep the masses behind him, and times his major political speeches carefully around her broadcasts. The less prescient Anwar Sadat once addressed the nation on the same day as her , and ended up without an audience, a mistake he only made once.

She remained a great campaigner for the traditional and classic Arab song, leaving behind an orchestra, the Arab Music Ensemble, dedicated to maintaining the pure heritage (al turath, from the eighth and ninth centuries). It’s worth remembering that while Kalthoum and her fellow classical musicians are today often considered “traditional Arab music”, they were in their day, part of a movement breaking away from tradition. At Oum Kalthoum’s funeral in February 1975, attended by many Arab heads of state, over three million people followed her though the streets of Cairo. At 10 pm on the fi rst Thursday of every month, all radio stations still play Oum Kalthoum in memory of her momentous live radio concerts of the 1950s and 1960s (Broughton, 1st ed., 180).

36 | www.ums.org/education Mali: Oumou Sangare The music that Oumou is making and the work she is doing in Wassoulou youth music directly parallel that of Malouma in Mauritania.

The best known and most successful performer of Wassoulou music is Oumou Sangare, who burst onto the Malian scene in 1989 with her best-selling cassette Moussolo (Women), recorded in Adifjan in 1989. Her songs carry a strong message against female oppression. She criticizes, either overtly or in more indirect ways, polygamy, arranged marriages, and the ideology whereby women are slaves to their menfolk. The songs which rocketed her to local fame was “Diaraby nene” (Love Forever), an overtly sensual piece about the shivers of passion which remains to this date her fetish (most solicited) piece. Sangare’s subsequent , Ko Sira and Worotan, have expressed increasingly overt attacks on polygamy.

“Since childhood, I’ve always hated polygamy,” she explained. “My father had two wives. It was really a catastrophe. From a young age I started to sings, from nursery school, and I said the day that I take a microphone in front of a crowd of people, the fi rst thing I’m going to do is deplore the people who marry four women, who engage in forced marriage. I had a lot of problems at fi rst. At my concerts at the Palais de la Culture, the men used to wait in their cars. Their wives went into the concert and the men stayed outside. But a few men came inside and now more come. Lots of young women understood and really agreed with me. They had all that in their heads and were effusing forced marriages. When their parents tried the refused, but they could not express the pain they felt. So, now they had someone who could help them to cry out what they felt.”

The main aural hook in Sangare’s music is the punchy, nervous and funky sound of the kamalengoni (the youth’syouth’s harp). Wassoulou music is youth music, a breath of fresh air after the strict conventions of Mande society. “The jelis direct their singing at a particular individual, “ says Sangare. “I sing for everyone, about things that concern everyone; not for one person to make them feel more superior. At fi rst we had a lot of problems with the jelimusolu, they complained that we were not griottes, so we had no right to sing. Our answer is that all of us in Wassoulou are artists, all our parents are artists. Before, if you weren’t a griot you couldn’t sing in Mali. It is we, the Wassoulonke, who have turned all that around” (Broughton, 1st ed., 258-259).

37 | www.ums.org/education : Fairuz The Arab world superstar Fairuz (Huhad Haddad) was born in 1934 to a Christian Maronite family in . While a teenager, the tender quality of her voice brought her to the attention of the newly founded Lebanese Radio Beirut, which she joined as a chorus singer. There she soon became a leading solo singer, known for her interpretations of classical Arab song. There, too, she met the brothers, Asi and Mansour Rahbani, struggling composers who at the time were earning their living as policemen. Fairuz and the two brothers (Fairuz and Asi married in 1954) worked together for the next thirty years. Asi composed the music; Mansour wrote the words – which in the early part of her career were largely nostalgic and romantic; Fairuz sung, sweeping all before her. The Fairuz/Rahbani team was incredibly prolific and diverse. They reinterpreted classical Arab song, bringing in Western and Eastern european styles (and keys) to the orchestration, combining the , guitar, violin and accordion with the nay and Arab percussive instruments. They even created hubrids with tango and rumba, and produced an Arabised version of Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 in G minor, K550. No Arab composer before or since has been quite so innovative. But the trios’ most remarkable achievements were the huge musical plays that they mounted together at the Baalbek Festivals – elaborate, operatic spectacles that drew heavily on the folk culture of rural Lebanon.

Certainly the region has seen nothing on such a scale, before or since, and these productions became a recognized showcase for other emerging Lebanese talent. During the civil war, Fairuz’s refusal to leave Beirut even during the worst of the conflict became a sympbol of hope, and her first peacetime performace in the city was hailed as a landmark. She remains hugely popluar with Lebanese diaspora communities all over the world, and she can fill any concert hall in Europe or the US, where there are Lebanese or Arab communities.

Fairuz and Asi parted in the early 1980s (Asi died in 1986) but she has continued to work with Ziad, the son from their marriage, as her musical director. Their 1990s collaborations have brought a new, more adventurous direction to her career. (bor 1957) has pioneered his own particular brand of Arab , a distinctly Lebanese synthesis of East and West. He has also continued the family tradition of music and drama, scoring the music for several plays and films (Broughton, 2nd ed., 393).

38 | www.ums.org/education Morocco: Najat Aatabou As a teenager, Najat Aatabou became known as a powerful singers of Berber and Visit UMS Online Arabic songs, and her parents were not happy. She had been recorded singing at a family party and the cassettes of this, just titled Najat, were selling in the www.ums.org/ market and inspiring curiosity as to the identity and music of this unknown singer. education The family rift was suffi ciently serious that Aatabou left Khemisset and moved to Casablanca. This is when talent scout Hajj Houssein discovered her and began to help her fashion a real artistic career for herself.

Aatabou gradually reconciled with her family, in part by making it clear to them that her music upheld, rather than challenged moral messages: don’t drink; don’t smoke; don’t be loose with men. The family drama is exactly the sort of thing that inspired her to write songs as her career began to take off. Aatabou composes her songs in her native language, but then translates them into Arabic or French. Recording both with orchestral backing and the spare staccato rhythms of the bendir frame drum and plucked-string, percussivepercussive lotar, Aatabou has evolved her songs of heartbreak and loneliness into humorous, frank tales of urban romance.

As her popularity has spread throughout the Maghreb, Aatabou has become particularly aware of her importance to women in the region. She encourages them to claim freedom, but to use it responsibly, not sacrifi cing self-respect. She is a dynamic performer who generates joyous energy that belies her strict, sober lifestyle. Aatabou says that her most important musical infl uence is the Berber singer Hamou Yazidi, whom she has listened to since childhood. She now lives in Casablanca.

Aatabou’s fi rst relaase, the eye-opening “J’en ai marre” (I am sick or it), sold 450,000 copies. Her second release, “Shouffi Rhirou” (Look for Another Lover), and every subsquent release have sold more than hald a million copies, and she is now a huge star throughout the Maghreb and can fi ll large venues in Europe (Broughton, 1st ed., 121).

39 | www.ums.org/education Malouma’s Influences Ali Farka Toure Ali Toure is a Grammy® Award-Winner for his collaboration with Ry Cooder, Talking Timbuktu, the fi rst to debut at #1 on Billboard’s World Music Chart, remaining at #1 longer than any other release, and winning Down Beat’s Critics Poll for Beyond Album of the Year, Ali Farka Toure is the fi nest blues guitarist and singer in West Africa, combining traditional Malian songs and rhythms with many outside infl uences to produce a highly individual style.

Toure was born into the noble Sorhai family in the Timbuktu region of Mali in 1939. Being of noble birth, he should never have taken up music as the profession is normally inherited in Malian society and the right to play belongs to the musician families. However, being a man of fi erce determination and independence, once he decided to take up music, there was no stopping him...

In 1950 he began playing the gurkel - a single-string African guitar which he chose because of it’s power to draw out the spirits. He also taught himself the n’jarka, a single string fi ddle which is today a popular part of his performance. Then in 1956, he saw a performance by the great Guinean guitarist Ketita Fodeba in Bamako. He was so moved that he decided then and there to become a guitarist. Teaching himself, Toure adapted traditional songs using the techniques he had learned on the gurkel.

During a visit to Bamako in the late 1960’s, Toure was introduced to African- American music by such artists as Ray Charles, Otis Redding and most importantly John Lee Hooker. At fi rst, Toure thought that Hooker was playing Malian music, but then realized that “it has been taken from here.” Toure was convinced that American blues was rooted in traditional Malian music. He was also inspired by Hooker’s strength as a performer and began to incorporate elements into his own playing.

For years he followed a successful career in West Africa adapting traditional songs and rhythms in ten languages from Mali’s enormous cultural wealth. This career was combined with a life rooted in his village. While touring widely in Africa and also occasionally in Europe and America, Toure preferred the security of his village life, family and friends, crops and livestock (www.concertedefforts.com).

40 | www.ums.org/education Malouma’s Influences Abdul Halim Hafez On March 30th 1977, a distinguished page in the history of Arabic songs and music was closed at the death of Abdul Halim Hafez. The voice of a whole generation, characterised by patriotic passion and represented by this great singer, was silenced. Since the inception of the July 23, 1952 Revolution, the voice of Abdul Halim Hafez and that of his tutors Mohamed Abdul Wahab and Om Kalthoum had expressed the romantic feelings and sentiments and the aspirations and dreams of the entire Arab nation.

Abdul Halim Hafez performed his role not merely as a singer but rather as a participant in formulating political events of the Arab nation. During this period singing was the most outstanding and infl uential form of art and more widespread than the cinema, the stage, painting and literature. Millions of Arabs listened and were deeply infl uenced by the songs of Abdul Halim Hafez and his peers. His songs convinced people and rallied support for the Revolution and its goals.

Abdul Halim Ali Ismail Shabana, which was his true name, was born in 1929 in a village north of Cairo. On the day of his birth his mother died and so did his father after a short period. His musical talent appeared while he was in primary school. His fi rst music teacher was his elder brother Ismail Shabana, the singer.

In 1941 he joined the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo and became famous for singing the songs of Mohamed Abdul Wahab. He then joined the Egyptian radio music orchestra. In 1952, he started to gain fame when he sang in public concerts songs composed by the well-known musician Mohamed El Mogy. But actually he began to gain his greatest popularity in 1954 when he sang on the Egyptian Revolution anniversary expressing the aspirations and dreams of the new generation.

Abdul Halim Hafez’s national songs brought about a revolution in Arabic music. He aroused enthusiastic, patriotic feelings, not through the conventional recitations of poems and throbbing rhythm of brass musical instruments but by his gentle love songs for the homeland. For almost 26 years his national songs were the most expressive of political events in Egypt, to the extent that he was described by some as Al Jabarti (the historian) who translated national dreamsdreams and visions intintoo ssongs.ongs. The passionate poems by poets such as Salah Jaheen, Ahmed Shafeeq Kamel and Abdul Rahman Al Abnoudi, who wrote in simple but highly expressive words, considerably helped in the song revolution.

Referring to Abdul Halim Hafez’s love songs we can say that they were another revolution in Arabic music. He was encouraged by the great musician and pioneer of innovation Mohamed Abdul Wahab as well as Baleegh Hamdi, the young composer who accompanied him in the journey of innovation. His love songs were simple, sincere and well-performed.

Late Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser was a patron of Abdul Halim Hafez, who also won the friendship of some Arab leaders such as the late Tunisian President Al Habib Bourquibah and King Hassan II of Morocco.

He sang in most of the Arab countries, and presented hundreds of love songs, 56 national songs, and played a leading role in 16 movies. His songs are still very popular and best sellers in the Arab nation (www.sis.gov.eg/calendar/). 41 | www.ums.org/education Malouma’s Influences Visit UMS Online Mohamed Adb el-Wahaab Mohamed Adb el-Wahaab (1910-1991) was dubbed the “artist of generations”, www.ums.org/ as tha last remaining fi gure from the old guard, of which he was the most education controversial and respected member. His achievements spanned a long career from the 1920s as a singer, fi lm star and eventually composer – a talent crowned when Oum Kalthoum agreed to sing his “Enta Omri”, a song which featured an electric guitar fro the fi rst time in her career. As a composer, Abd el-Wahaab is remembered as the modernizer of Arabic music, liberating it, as his supporters see it, from the limitations of the takht ensembles and allowing it to embrace Western-stlye tangos, waltzes and instrumentation. Others critisize his music for overt plagiarism. He stood by his vision for modernization fo the music all his life, demanding that “the artist is the creator and has the full right to introduce new elements into his music as he sees fi t. We must always be open to new ideas and not resist change. Change is inevitable in everything.” Ironically, in his later years Abd el-Whaab becams so contemptuous of other modenizers that he took his initiative a stop further. In 1990 he released a classical song into a market awash with the bleeping synths of the new youth pop. It was the fi rst occasion in 32 years that he had sung his own compostition and the song, “Minrear Ley” (Without Why), was a blatant test of popular loyalty. It was viewed by many as the fi nal gasp of a wounded musical genre but its immediate success went some way to prove that his vision for Arab music lived on (Broughton, 2nd ed., 328). Mohamed Abdel Wahab as a young man.

42 | www.ums.org/education , the holy book of Islam Koran , or Qur’an An excerpt from the An excerpt from Arab Culture The Arab World An Overview The Arab world covers a vast territory that includes much of northern and western Africa and the eastern Mediterreanen. There are twenty-two Arab nations in the world today: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, , , Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, UAE, Yemen.

Arabs, as a group, often speak the same language, share many cultural habits and traditions, and have a common history. For this reason they are thought of as an ethnic group. But the Arab world is ethnically diverse and many ethnic groups besides Arabs live in Arab nations. Kurds live in present-day Turkey, Iran, and Iraq; Chaldeans live in northern Iraq; Berbers reside in much of North Africa; and Armenians are scattered throughout many eastern Mediterranean nations. These four ethnic groups each have their own language. Kurds and Berbers are Muslims, while Armenians and Chaldeans are Christians. All four are culturally similar to the Arabs and most speak Arabic in addition to their own language.

Although the neighboring nations of Turkey and Iran share similar histories and cultures with the Arab world, the majority of their citizens are not Arabs, nor do they speak Arabic. In Israel, a predominantly Jewish state, Hebrew is the national language, but about 20 percent of Israeli citizens are Palestinian Arabs and there are some Jewish Arabs.

Traditionally, some Arabs have been tribal nomads, or Bedouins, who travel with their herd of camels, goats, and sheep from oasis to oasis. Most rural Arabs are farmers who live along fertile rivers or coastal areas. Sixty percent of the population of the Arab world, however, now live in cities. As a crossroad between east and west, the Arab world has long been a center for trade, with many cities or commercial urban centers. Cities like Damascus in Syria and Jericho in Palestine are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and Cairo, Egypt, is one of the largest cities in the world.

The land in the Arab world is as geographically diverse as it is in the United States. Large portions are predominantly arid and dry, including the vast Sahara and Arabian deserts. Mountain ranges cut across many Arab states, including Morocco, Lebanon, and Syria, as well as the southern Arabian Peninsula. The coastal areas are more fertile, and many Arab states enjoy a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and rainy winters. The fertile areas along two major river systems, the Nile and the Tigris and Euphrates, have been centers of civilizations since ancient times (Ameri & Ramey, 1-2).

44 | www.ums.org/education Arab Religions Islam The two main religions practiced by Arabs are Islam and Christianity. Religion for Arabs does not only provide a system of beliefs about God and how people should live, it also brings together people from similar backgrounds (Ameri & Ramey 89).

Islam is the religion of the majority of Arabs. It began with the birth of the prophet Muhammed (c. 570-632) in the town of Mecca, a famous trade center in present- day Saudi Arabia. Muslims, followers of the faith of Islam, believe that in 610 Muhammad fi rst heard the word of God through the angel Gabriel. His words were recorded in the Qur’an (also spelled Koran), the holy book for Muslims. Muhammad continued to receive revelations from God for the next twenty-two years. The word Qur’an means recitation, because its words were literally recited to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.

Like Jews and Christians before them, Muslims believe in one Lord God. The word for God in Arabic is “Allah”. “Islam” means “submission to the will of God”. In general, Muslims are more familiar with Judaism and Christianity than Jews and Christians are with Islam, because the religion of Islam recognizes all the prophets from Abraham through Jesus. These earlier prophets are mentioned in the Qur’an, and Jews and Christians are considered “people of the book”. The means that The pictures Muslims respect the holy books of the Jews and Christians, and believe that the below are Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible contain divine truths. Because the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, many Muslims all over the world learn to read Arabic in order to aerial views be able to read the Qur’an in its original language. Mecca, the holiest place In the Qur’an Muslims fi nd prayers, the history of the prophets, and guidance for Muslims. on ethical and spiritual matters. In addition, Muslims have two other important sources: the Hadith, sayings and acts of the prophet Muhammad, and the Shari’a, the code of Islamic law. Both of these derive from the Qur’an. The stories in the Hadith show how the prophet Muhammad handled various situations in daily life, and gives moral guidance to Muslims,. In the Shari’a, Muslims fi nd detailed explanations of legal matters, including laws on diet, marriage, divorce, and inheritance. For instance, Muslims should not drink liquor or eat pork, and they should eat only chicken or beef that is halal, meaning that it has been slaughtered according to Islamic Law (Ameri & Ramey 92-94).

45 | www.ums.org/education Music and Islam The Muslim call to prayer (adhan), intoned fi ve times daily, is a familiar sound in local towns and cities. Its style carries according to regional tradition and the personal style of the muezzin, or “caller.” The calls range from stylized recitation on one or two highly melismatic renditions based on specifi c melodic formulas of the Middle Eastern Arab tradition. Familiar, also, are the sounds of children intoning memorized verses from the Koran at neighborhood mosques and religious schools. Children are rewarded for precise and artful recitation, which may follow depending on local custom, one of several established methods of Qur’anic chant. The calls to prayer and the scriptural recitationsrecitations araree pperformederformed Five Pillars of Islam in Arabic, the languages of the Qur’an. Whether simply spoken or elaborately sung, they emphasize clarity of pronunciation and strict adherence to the rules of Arabic. Shahada: The basic Muslim declaration Music occupies an ambiguous position in Muslim life. Since the beginning of of faith Islam, Muslim authorities have disputed the question of whether music should be permitted in worship. Because music, especially instrumental music, was Salat: Prayer associated with pagan practices and sensual entertainments, early authorities declared the act of listening to music “unworthy” of a Muslim. The debate Zakat: Charity continues. To avoid secular associations, references to music are usually avoided in mention of calls to prayer, Koranic recitations,recitations, and other forms of religiousreligious Soum: Fasting expression. In some communities, music making of any kind (religious or secular) is discouraged in the name of Islam. A few forbid music altogether, as do members of the puritanical Mozabite sect of Algeria. Nevertheless, the sung Hajj: Pligrimage praise of the Islamic deity is standard practice in most of the region, and for the most part music is celebrated throughout the Arab World.

The annual departure and return of pilgrims to Mecca, the beginning and ending of a journey every Muslim tries to make at least once, are occasions for singing religious songs. In the holy month of Ramadan, during which the faithful fast in the daylight hours, families sing religious songs as they gather for the evening or predawn meal. Special Ramadan songs also occur in street processions. Muhammad’s birthday is celebrated with hymns of praise and epic songs depicting events in his life. The best known of these is el-burda “the Prophet’s mantle.” The religious music is mainly vocal, but instruments are used in certain contexts as, in the ceremonial Thursday evening proclamations of the holy day in Morocco, with (nfi r) or oboe (ghaita) accompaniment. Pairs of oboes or , in ensemble with drums, such as the double-headed cylindrical ypes played in Niger, herald the beginning and end of Ramadan.

Pre-Islamic beliefs and unorthodox practices of Sufi mystics have mingled with canonic precepts to produce a unique form of Islam, in which the veneration of Saints is a feature. The concept of Saints as mediators between divinity and humanity, and as sources of good health and fortune, became a feature of Islamic worship in western North Africa after A.D. 1200. Religious brotherhoods arose around legendary holy fi gures, often revered as patron saints or village founders. The activities of the brotherhoods center on small cupolaed mosques, which enclose the tombs of the saints. Some of these structures also contain facilities for lodging and teaching. Each year, thousands of worshipers make pilgrimages to the tombs of locally revered Saints.

46 | www.ums.org/education Music and Islam Hymns are regularly sung at the tombs. In Tunisia, canticles of praise are performed to the accompaniment of bagpipe (mizwid) and bender (single- headed frame drum). In the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, Friday the holy day, is celebrated weekly at the tomb with a procession oboes and drums. The musicians, by virtue of their close identifi cation with the Saint, are believed to possess some of the holy man’s spiritual power, enabling them to aid the sick and offer protection to the community.

Featured in the rituals of the religious brotherhoods are songs and recitations of Sufi origin, know collectively as zikr, meaning “in recollection” of Allah. Though the zikr is usually sung in Arabic, vernaculars are occasionally used, as is the custom among the Berber Tuareg. Some practices include the repetition of raspy, guttural utterances on the syllables. These increase in intensity, and lead the participants into states of trance.

On Muhammad’s birthday or other occasions deemed appropriate, the zikr may be part of a larger ceremony known as hadra, a term meaning “in the presence of,” with allusion to the supernatural. Above: Though the hadra takes many forms, it typically includes special songs and Malouma, on rhythms, rigorous dancing, and altered states of consciousness. In trance, the right, in a participant may become possessed or may express emotional fervor with concert playing acts demonstrating extraordinary strength or oblivion to pain. In other the ardine. instances, participants seek exorcism of unwanted spirits believed to be the cause of illness or misfortune. In Libya, where the hadra is a curing ceremony, a ritual specialist performs exorcisms to an accompaniment of songs and drums-a procedure that, if the illness is sever, may be repeated for seven days or more. In Morocco, the music for the hadra is played on the ghaita and tbal (kettledrum) by professionalprofessional musicians. In Algeria, use of melody instruments is rare. In the hadra, Islamic concepts of spirits, as described in the Qur’an, merge with pre-Islamic beliefs and practices (Stone 192-193).

47 | www.ums.org/education Language Arabic Arabic is the sixth most common fi rst language in the world, and the thirteenth English words most spoken foreign language in the United States. It is the offi cial language in the twenty-one countries that make up the Arab world. Arabic is also used from the Arabic by Muslims worldwide for religious devotions, sermons, and prayers. Arabic language belongs to the Afro-Asiatic language family. A language family is a group of languages that are thought to have developed from a common parent language Admiral thousands of years ago. Language families are divided into subgroups and Alcohol individual languages. For example, English belongs to the Germanic subgroup of Algebra the Indo-European language family. This subgroup also includes other Germanic Almanac languages, such as German and Dutch. Atlas Average The Afro-Asiatic language family is divided into fi ve subgroups of languages. Candy These languages are spoken throughout the Middle East and North and Central Coffee Africa. The largest subgroup contains the Semitic languages, which include Calendar Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Arabic is thought to have developed in the Arabian Peninsula, and was spoken only there and in bordering areas to the north until Cotton the seventh century. At that time, the Arabic-speaking people, who had recently Magazine converted to Islam, began a period of expansion that carried the Arabic language Mattress throughout western Asia and North Africa, and even into Spain in southern Satin Europe. Sugar Tambourine The Arabic alphabet was adopted by many of the people ruled by Muslims, Traffi c including those who never adopted the Arabic language. Even today, the Arabic Zero script is used to write some of the Indo-European languages of western Asia, including Persian and Kurdish. Turkish was written with the Arabic alphabet until the 1920s, when they adopted the Latin alphabet. Unlike English, Arabic is written from right to left. There are twenty-eight letters in the Arabic alphabet, and these letters have different forms, depending upon whether they come at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. The Arabic script is a source of pride for Arabs, and calligraphy – artistic handwriting – because a highly developed art in the Arab world during the golden years of the Muslim Empire (Ameri & Ramey 75-77).

Translation: “Your Lebanon is a political dilemma that the days are trying to resolve, but my Lebanon is hills, rising with reverence and majesty towards the blueness of the sky.” - Kahlil Gibran, author, poet and philosopher from Lebanon

48 | www.ums.org/education The Moors The Moors are not a specifi c race of people. The word has never been clearly defi ned and remains ambiguous and confusing. This term has been broadly used to denote various people in North Africa, people who came from Morocco, Mauritania or simply to describe Muslims in general. Christians in the 13th century also referred to the Moors as “Moriscos” and “Mudejares.”

The word “Moors” may have evolved from the Greek “Mauros” which means The Webster’s “dark.” The Greeks were in Spain around 500 BC, 300 years before the Romans. New World Circa 46 B. C., the Roman army entered West Africa where they encountered Black Dictionary Africans whom they called “Maures” from the Greek adjective mauros, meaning identifi es Moors “dark or black. The Romans probably pinched it from the Greeks, complete with as “a member of its original connotation of “dark.” This might explain why the Latin ‘Maurus’ Muslim people of translates literally into “Moors,” with no further defi nition. Borrowing directly mixed Arab and from the Greek meaning, this would have been good enough for the Romans to describe the “dark” skinned people of North Africa. Berber descent.” Though the word The word was fi rst applied offi cially to the indigenous people of a Roman province “Moor” originally in North Africa called Mauritania (Latin = ‘land of the Moors’). This roughly corre- was meant to sponds to present day North Morocco and Algeria. The name Morocco is another indicate Black reminder of the region’s “Moorish” past. When the Arabs swept westward and Africans, in time captured North Africa in the 7th century, the term was revived by Europeans to came to be applied denote not only the indigenous Black Africans and fairer skinned Berbers of North to Muslims in Africa, but the Arabs as well. Following the Arab conquest of the Berbers, inter- general, especially marriages were common and the two races (Berber and Arab) gradually merged the Berbers. together.

With regards to Spain, the term “Moors” later became a convenient general term, to describe the collective Muslim conquerors and rulers in Andalucia between 711 and 1492. After the sudden death of the Visigothic King Witiza (701-711), a re- bellious baron and powerful chieftain called Roderic (also known as Rodrigo), with support from within the palace, seized the throne and proclaimed himself king. The church leaders reluctantly gave their blessing to the coronation, realizing that to do otherwise was to incite further fragmentation of a country already in great turmoil.

Roderic’s fi rst task was to travel north to suppress the rebel Basques. He knew that if they broke away from his control, other regions would follow their example and his kingdom would soon collapse. In the meantime, the sons of the late King Wit- tiza appealed to the Muslims of North Africa for assistance against Roderic. The Arab commander Musa however, had other plans.

In the year 710, a scouting party of 700 Muslim Berbers led by the Berber leader Tariq ibn Ziyad, entered southern Spain and met with little resistance as they es- tablished control over the coastline. 20,000 or so non-Muslims within Spain, who welcomed the newcomers as allies rather than conquerors, aided them willingly.

Apart from Roderic’s enemies, this number included many persecuted Jews and peasants, who hated all Visigoths. The Visigoths were so busy fi ghting amongst themselves, they were slow to realize what was really going on. When word of the invasion was fi nally sent to Roderic, he quickly returned to the south with a small band of men. They were easily overwhelmed and defeated in an ambush and Rod- eric was killed by Tariq’s men on 19th July 711 (around lunchtime). 49 | www.ums.org/education The Moors This initial incursion was followed in 712 by a mainly Arab force of 18,000. The non-Arab portion of this number included more Berbers, Egyptians, Yemenis, Syrians and Persians. After many bloody revolts and power struggles, the Arabs took control in 788. The Berbers, despite their assistance in the successful reconnaissance mission, were soon reminded of their subordinate status in the Arab Empire and were virtually treated as second class citizens.

For the next 300 years or so, despite periods of instability, Andalucia fl ourished as a center of learning, culture and trade under Arab rule. In the year 1090, a dynasty of Berbers called the Almoravids seized power from the Arabs. In 1147 an opposing dynasty of Berbers called the Almohads muscled their way into power.

In 1237, the Arab controlled Nasrid Sultanate overthrew the decaying Almohad Empire and began building the Alhambra in Granada. By this time, all that was left of Moorish-held Spain was the southwest corner of the Peninsula. The Christians in the meantime continued their push southward until they fi nally moved in on Granada in 1492. The “capitulation” of the Catholic Kings, which took the form of the “Treaty of Granada” and outlined 69 articles of religious tolerance, was enough to woo the Muslims into surrendering peacefully. For a few short years there was a tense calm in the province but the inquisitors were never happy with the deal. The Church advisors, using religious justifi cations, convinced Ferdinand and Isabella to break the treaty and force the Muslims to become Christians or leave Spain.

To the Christians, Moor simply meant Muslim barbarian. They didn’t care where these ‘Moors’ came from. Their only interest was to evict every last one of them from Spain. Many of the Moors The Moorish remained in Spain following the Chrisitian invasion; those who remained faithful Chief, 1878. to Islam were called “Mudejares,” while those who accepted Christianity were Edward called “Moriscos.” They were allowed to stay in Spain but were kept under Charlemont close surveillance. They were persecuted by Philip II, revolted in 1568, and in the Inquisition were virtually exterminated. In 1609 the remaining Moriscos were expelled. Thus the glory of the Moorish civilization in Spain was gradually extinguished. Its contributions to Western Europe and especially to Spain were almost incalculable—in art and architecture, medicine and science, and learning (especially ancient Greek learning) (http://herso.freeservers.com/moors.html).

50 | www.ums.org/education The Berbers

Berbers are considered as people living in North Africa, from Morocco’s west coast to the oasis Siwa in Egypt, from Tunisia’s north tip to the oases in mid-Sahara. Berbers are making up a clear majority of the population of North Africa in terms of race and in terms of identity, a considerable minority. The difference between race and identity here is central to understand what being Berber is all about. The infl ux of Arabs to North Africa, has been far too small up through history to, defend the large numbers of people now claiming to be Arabs. And the infl ux of other peoples to North Africa has not been of any size since the Vandals in the 5th A Berber woman. century.

In terms of race, Berbers represent 80% of the population in Morocco and Algeria, more than 60% in Tunisia and Libya and 2% in Egypt, making up more than 50 million people. In addition there are about four million Berbers living in Europe, primarily in France. But as the Arabization has swept away the indigenous language from many regions, as well as the Berber identity, many people with Berber forefathers, are now claiming to be Arabs. In terms of identity Berbers represent 40% of all Moroccans, 30% of all Algerians, 5% of all Tunisians, and 10% of all Libyans and 0,5% of all Egyptians, making up more than 20 million people. An estimated half of the ethnic Berbers living in Europe regard themselves as Berbers, making up two million.

Berbers are just as most other peoples in the world, blended with other people. There are differences between Berbers which have inspired many stories, of European slaves and war captives, bringing blond hair and red hair as well as green and blue eyes into the Berber race. The origin of Berbers is not certain either, some believe they may have come from Europe, but it is safest to consider the Berbers as the original population of North Africa.

The Berber communities are scattered around in the North African countries. They often live in the mountains and in smaller settlements. There are around 300 lo- cal dialects among the Berbers. Berbers are Muslims, but there are more popular practices found among Berbers as more Berbers than Arabs live in rural areas, where popular practices are generally found more often. The conversion of Berbers to Islam took centuries and many areas Islam didn’t catch on until 16th century. This has, of course, left more traces of former religious practice in the Islam of the Berbers.

51 | www.ums.org/education The Berbers Of major cities in North Africa, only Marrakech has a population with a Berber identity. The Berber dominance in the mountains comes from the days of Arab conquest, when the Arabs took control over the cities, but left the countryside to its own (the number of Arabs was too small for a more profound occupation). Berbers in those days had the choice between living in the mountains, resisting Arab dominance, or moving into the Arab community, where Arab language and culture were dominating.

Right: This is a Berber encampment in Tunisia.

Up until a few years ago being Berber was considered to be secondary (like in many societies in the West: Indians in America, Aboriginals in Australia, Lapps in Norway): in the most modernized society in North Africa, Tunisia, being Berber is synonymous with being an illiterate peasant dressed in traditional garments.

As with other indigenous peoples in the world, Berbers are now protesting against the undervaluation of their culture and identity, the absence of a written language and about having little political infl uence. This has been most clear in Algeria but quite evident in Morocco, too. In Algeria the situation has been so tense, that foreign commentators have speculated in the chances of a civil war and a partition of the country. Algerian Berbers are often unfamiliar with Arabic and use French as second language. Arabs in Algeria and Morocco object very much to the blossoming of Berber identity in their countries, but so far there has been little aggression between the two groups.

Up through history, Berbers have founded several dynasties strong enough to threaten countries in Europe. Numidia in Algeria was so strong in the 2nd century BC, that Rome feared that it could become a new Carthage. In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Almoravids and later in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Almohads, were Berber dynasties strong enough to control major parts of Northwest-Africa and Spain. At the dawn of colonization, Abdu l-Qadir in the Algerian Kabyles halted French occupation for many years (until 1847) (http://i-cias.com/e.o/ berbers.htm).

52 | www.ums.org/education Traditional Clothing Overview Arabs believe that to dress modestly is to show that one has strong morals and is trustworthy. Dressing modestly means dressing conservatively, or covering up, rather than showing off one’s body. This is why Arab men tend not to wear shorts and sometimes wear a taqiya, a cap that covers the top of the head. Arab women usually cover their heads with a head scarf called a hijab. The hijab is mainly worn by Muslim women, but there are many Christian women who also wear head scarves. Although some people feel that Arab women are not required by their religion or their culture to cover their heads, other say that it is mandatory for an upright Muslim woman to war the hijab because there is reference to it in the Qur’an.

The hijab means different things to different women. Many Arab girls will start wearing the hijab when they are young while girls sometimes feel pressure from family and friends to wear the hijab, Arab women will often begin to wear it as a way of expressing pride in their heritage and respect for the value of modesty.

In general there is much diversity in the clothes Arab women wear now. While some choose to ear the hijab, other wear jeans, skirts, or dresses. There is no one style of dress for Arab women (Ameri & Ramey, 140).

What Guides Clothing? Climate People living in a desert environment often covered up in loose clothing to protect themselves from the sun and to keep cool. White clothing was cooler than dark clothing in the sunlight. And head coverings were important for protection against the sun, too.

Fabrics Five main fabrics are traditionally available for clothing. Cotton was a cool fabric. The layers of In winter or in cold environments, clothing was commonly made of wool. Camel loose clothing hair was also woven into clothing for cold weather. Some clothing was made from the man above plant fi bers called linen. Silk was imported from China or Persia and was very ex- pensive, so only the rich could afford it. is wearing help him keep cool Traditions, status, and group identity in the desert. Cultural traditions were also important in style of clothing. In each culture, clothing showed the social status of its people. Married and unmarried women might wear different clothing or head coverings. Young girls would not be required to wear the clothing of older girls nearing the age of marriage and married women may wear another style of clothing. Rich and poor, educated and uneducated, military or civil- ian might wear different styles of clothing which showed who they were and their occupation or status. Clothing worn out in public would be very different from clothing worn in the home, especially for women. A Muslim student, a scholar or judge would wear appropriate clothing showing his religious status. An older man would have a beard while a younger man might not. And a slave would wear very different clothing than a master. People from one tribe, village, or culture tradition- ally wore one type of clothing to show their group membership. Also, clothing would differ as to the situation one was in. Clothing while doing hard farm work, for example, would be different from clothing when going to a mosque (www. sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Clothing/). 53 | www.ums.org/education Traditional Clothing What does the Qur’an say? • The Qur’an tells both women and men to be modest • The Qur’an tells men that they should not wear silk or gold jewelry to show off their wealth. • Clothing should not attract attention or be worn to show off. • Clothing must cover the entire body; only the hands and face may remain visible. • The material must not be so thin that one can see through it. • Clothing must hang loose so that the shape of the body is not shown off. • The woman’s clothing must not resemble the man’s clothing, nor should the man’s clothing resemble the woman’s. • Women shouldn’t artifi cially lengthen their hair with wigs or weaves, nor have tattoos. • A Muslim should not wear clothing to look like a non-Muslim. (For example, the Persians were known for wearing red, many silk robes, and their men’s robes had long trains which dragged behind them. The Prophet Muhammad was against Muslims copying these styles.) • Men’s robes or shirts should extend down from halfway below the shin but over the ankles, but not so long as to trail behind on the ground. • While praying in a mosque, clothing should be plain and not be distracting. • A man’s hair might be criticized if it was shoulder-length or longer. The Prophet Muhammad preferred men to wear their hair neat and cut a little below the ears (www. sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/ sch618/Clothing/).

54 | www.ums.org/education Muslim Calendar Muslims use a purely lunar calendar. It was adopted in A.D. 632, two months Visit UMS Online before the death of Mohammed. By direct injunction of the Koran, they eliminated intercalation of extra months that had previously been added to keep their www.ums.org/ calendar in phase with seasons. education At that time, Muslims did not maintain a count of years. They measured the passing of time (longer than weeks) only by months. The caliph Omar, who succeeded Mohammed as the leader of Islam, established a year count starting from the time of Mohammed’s migration from Makkah to Medina in A.D. 622. The Muslim Calendar usually consists of six 29-day months and six 30-day months, Although for a total of 354 days. That’s a little more than eleven days short of a solar year. calendars Because of this, all months cycle backwards through the seasons. are printed for planning That calendar is used to schedule religious feasts in the Muslim world; purposes, they consequently, these feasts also shift through the solar year. New Year’s Day, the fi rst are based on of Muharram, occurs eleven days earlier each year than it had the year before. In estimates of the order to avoid confusion, Muslim countries use the Western calendar to schedule secular events. visibility of the lunar crescent, Islamic months begin at sunset on the day that the lunar crescent is actually and the Islamic sighted. Religious doctrine requires that visual sighting is necessary to determine month may the start of a month, even though the date a new crescent is likely to be visible actually start can be accurately predicted. As indicated above, Muslim festivals are also timed 1-2 days earlier according to local sightings of various phases of the moon. or later than predicted. Visibility of a new crescent depends on a large number of factors including weather conditions, atmospheric pollution and whether or not optical aids are used. Because of this, some members of the religion believe they should use predicted dates of new crescents rather than actual sightings. However, many Muslim scholars support using calculations only to negate erroneous sightings, not to replace correct sighting (http://www.12x30.net/muslim.html).

Islamic Months 1. Muharram (“Forbidden” - it is one of the four months during which it is forbidden to wage war or fi ght) 2. Safar (“Empty” or “Yellow”)“Yellow”) 3. Rabia Awal (“First spring”) 4. Rabia Thani (“Second spring”) 5. Jumaada Awal (“First freeze”)freeze”) 6. Jumaada Thani (“Second freeze”)freeze”) 7. Rajab (“To respect” - this is another holy month when fi ghting is prohibited) 8. Sha’ban (“To spread and distribute”) 9. Ramadan (“Parched thirst” - this is the month of daytime fasting) 10. Shawwal (“To be light and vigorous”) 11. Dhul-Qi’dah (“The month of rest” - another month when no warfare or fi ghting is allowed) 12. Dhul-Hijjah (“The month ofHijjah” - this is the month of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, again when no warfare or fi ghting is allowed)

(http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/islam/blfaq_islam_holydays.htm)

55 | www.ums.org/education Islamic Holidays Holidays

Al-Hijra This holiday marks the beginning of the Muslim New Year on the fi rst day of the month of Muharram. In addition to being the start of the New Year, Al-Hijra is also the anniversary of Muhammad’s hijra to Medina, an important event theologically. Sometimes this is also called Rabi Al-Awwal. Hijrah New Year (10 February 2005)

‘Ashura Taking place on the tenth day of Muharram, ‘Ashura marks the anniversary of the death of Imam Husain, the grandson of Muhammad. This is a holy day celebrated more by Shi’ites than by Sunni Muslims, because Sunnis don’t recognize Husain’s claim to being the proper successor to Muhammad. However, tradition has it that a number of other important events occurred on ‘Ashura, including Noah’s ark coming to rest, the Prophet Abraham being born, and the Kaaba being built. For Shi’ites, ‘Ashura is the most sanctifi ed day of the month, and celebrating it includes fasting and “passion plays” of his martyrdom. Because of this, the day is not “celebrated” in the way that holy days normally are. Some mourners beat their chests, lamenting and grieving over Husain’s death, and replicas of his tomb are profusely decorated on this date.

Mawlid al-Nabi This date marks the celebration of Muhammad’s birth in 570 C.E., and has been fi xed at the 12th day of the month Rabi al-Awwal. Mawlid al-Nabi appears to have been fi rst celebrated in the thirteenth century and involved a month-long festival. Today, the focus is mostly on the actual date itself and includes sermons, gift giving, and a feast. Some of the most conservative sects, like the Wahhabis, regard such a celebration as idolatrous and condemn it. Thus, Saudi Arabia does not recognize Mawlid al-Nabi at all, but other countries (like Egypt and Turkey)Turkey) have many celebrations.

Laylat Al-Isra wa Al-Miraj This literally means “the night journey and ascension,” although the day is some- times called by the shorter form Isra wa Al-Miraj. It is celebrated on the twenty- seventh day of Rajab, and tradition has it that on this date Muhammad traveled from Mecca to Jerusalem, then ascended into heaven, and returned to Mecca all in the same night. The rock from which he supposedly ascended to heaven can still be seen in the Dome of the Rock.

Muslims also believe that it was on the night or Laylat Al-Isra wa Al-Miraj that Mu- hammad established the current form of the fi ve daily prayers which all believers must recite. The story also has it that Muhammad prayed together with Abraham, Moses and Jesus in the Al-Asqa mosque in Jerusalem, and because of that this date is also regarded as demonstrating that Muslims, Christians and Jews all fol- low the same god.

Ramadan Also known as Ramadhan or Ramazan, this is a month when Muslims are ex- pected to fast all day long. Learn more about the nature of Ramadan, exemptions, what is forbidden, and special days which fall during this month on the separate Ramadan page. In 2005 Ramadan begins October 4th (http://atheism.about.com/ library/FAQs/islam/blfaq_islam_holydays.htm). 56 | www.ums.org/education Islamic Holidays

The United States Postal Service recognizes the Eid, the Muslim holiday season, with this fi rst class holiday postage stamp.

Eid Al-Adhha This holy day is the “feast of sacrifi ce” and is celebrated from the tenth through the thirteenth days of Zul-Hijjah, the twelfth month of the Muslim calendar. Eid Al-Adhha marks the anniverary of Abraham’s attempt to sacrifi ce his son Ishmael on God’s orders (In the Jewish and Christian traditions, Abraham attempted to sacrifi ce Isaac). At this time special prayers are said either in mosques or in fi elds designated for that purpose.

It is during this time of the year that people generally make the Haj, or the pil- grimage to Mecca. Whether on the Haj or at home, people celebrating this begin the fi rst day with sacrifi cing an animal as a commemoration of the Angel Gabriel providing Abraham with a lamb as a substitute. Most of the meat is shared with family and neighbors, but one-third is given to the poor. Eid Al-Adha (10 January 2006). The term Eid is the Arabic term for “festivity” or “celebration,” and is only attached to a couple of holy days in the Muslim year, signifying their importance:

Yom Arafat This holy day takes place on the ninth of Dhu Al-Hijja, just before the celebration of Eid Al-Adhha. People on the Haj assemble for the “standing” on the plain of Arafat, which is located near Mecca. Muslims elsewhere in the world gather at a local mosque for prayer and solidarity on Yom Arafat.

Laylat Al-Baraa This term Laylat Al-Baraa means “night of repentance” and it commemorates the night when all who repent are granted forgiveness. Muslims believe that it is on this night that God sets each person’s path for the coming year. Thus, Muslims ask God for forgiveness for past sins and for blessings in the coming year on Laylat Al- Baraa (http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/islam/blfaq_islam_holydays.htm). 57 | www.ums.org/education Arab American Timeline This timeline covers the years 1875 to 2004, and notes world-wide occurrences that impacted Arabs living in America (Ameri & Ramey, xix-xxv).

1875 Arab immigration to the US begins in signifi cant numbers.

Famous Arab 1880 The age of peddling begins in the US. Many Arab immigrants go into Americans business as peddlers.

Paula Abdul 1881 France colonizes Tunisia. Sen. Spencer Abraham 1882 Great Britain invades Egypt. Doug Flutie 1907 Syrians win a case against a judge who denied citizenship to a Syrian, Casey Kasem claiming that Syrians belong to the “yellow race.” Sen. George Mitchell Kathy Njimy 1912 France colonizes Morocco. Edward Said Tony Shalhoub 1915 The Arabs and the British sign the Sherif Husayn-McMahon Frank Zappa Correspondence, which promises the Arabs an independent Arab nation after World War I. This nation was to include the present-day counties of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, and Israel.

1919 The British and the French implement the Sakes Picot Agreement, dividing up the Arab world among themselves in direct contradiction to the British agreement with Sherif Husayn.

1921 The fi rst major Hollywood portrayal of an Arab character is Rudolf Valentino’s role in The Sheik, a movie that distorts Arab culture and promotes stereotypes.

1923 The fi rst Arab mosque in America is built in Highland Park, Michigan.

1924 The Johnson-Reed Quota Act passes, setting limits on how many people can immigrate from certain countries to the United States. Each Arab country receives a maximum quota of one hundred new immigrants per year.

1947 The newly formed United Nations divides Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state.

1956 Israel, Britain, and France invade Egypt when Egypt’s president, Gamal Abal Nasser, takes over the Egyptian Suez Canal, previously controlled by Britain and France.

1965 A new immigration law in the United States removes the immigration quotas that varied by county, allowing a revitalization of Arab immigration.

58 | www.ums.org/education Arab American Timeline

1973 The Supreme Court rules in Espinoza vs. Farah Manufacturing Company that nothing in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of citizenship or alien status.

1974 Congress passes the Equal Education Opportunity Act, making bilingual education available to public school students whose primary language is not English.

1981 President Anwar Sadat of Egypt is assassinated because of the peace treaty he made with Israel in 1979.

1987 Arab Americans win acknowledgement from the United States Supreme Court they are protected, under existing US civil rights legislation, from discrimination based on ethnicity.

1988 Arab American senator George Mitchell becomes US Senate majority leader.

1990 Iraq invades Kuwait.

1991 The US-led military coalition launches the Gulf War to remove Iraq from Kuwait. The coalition defeats Saddam Hussein’s forces, and many Iraqis, , and Palestinians fl ee to the United States.

1996 Ralph Nader, an Arab American, runs for President of the United States as the nominee of the Green Party, a political part primarily concerned with environmental issues.

1999 King Hussein of Jordan, the longest reigning Arab ruler dies.

2001 The World Trade Center and the Pentagon are attacked by Muslim jihadists using American commercial airlines as weapons. Ralph Nader 2002 U.N. passes Iraq resolution 1441 Security Council resolution demands unfettered access for U.N. inspectors to search for weapons of mass destruction.

2003 U.S. Launches War Against Iraq.

2004 The veteran Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, dies in a hospital.

59 | www.ums.org/educa- tion Arab Music Festivals Music Festivals in America The mahrajanat, or festivals, that were popular among Arab Americans between the 1930s and 1960s are witnessing a revival in many Arab American Communities around the country. In all of these festivals, music is the most important component that brings the community together. Local Arab American musicians, singers, and dance groups along with singers from the Arab world perform to large audiences. Most of these festivals are held over two or three days. Among the most popular Arab American Music Festivals are:

Mahrajan Al-Fann

Arabian Fest Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Arab World Festival Detroit, Michigan

East Dearborn Arab Dearborn, Michigan International Festival

Ana Al-Arabi Festival Washington, D.C.

Arabic Music Retreat South Hadley, MA

Seattle Arab Festival Seattle, WA

Arab Cultural Festival San Francisco, CA

World Music Festival , IL

New Detroit Concert of Colors Detroit, MI

Le Festival Du Monde Arabe Montreal, Canada

60 | www.ums.org/education Student busily working during a UMS in-school visit. Lesson Plans Curriculum Connections Are you interested Introduction in more lesson The following lessons and activities offer suggestions intended to be used in plans? preparation for the Malouma Youth Performance. These lessons are meant to be both fun and educational, and should be used to create anticipation for the Visit the Kennedy performance. Use them as a guide to further exploration of the art form. Teachers Center’s ArtsEdge may pick and choose from the cross-disciplinary activities and can coordinate with web site, the other subject area teachers. You may wish to use several activities, a single plan, or nation’s most pursue a single activity in greater depth, depending on your subject area, the skill comprehensive level or maturity of your students and the intended learner outcomes. source of arts-based lesson New to our Resource Guide this year is a “Teaching Points” section (See next page.) plans. This section is provided to teachers who may have a limited understanding of the art form, or who just want a brief refresher course before delving into the lessons that follow. It is intended to provide major bullet points to signifi cant details about the www.artsedge. art form or performance. kennedy-center. org Lesson plans were provided by the following students enrolled in Dr. Julie Taylor’s Multicultural Studies classes at the U-M Dearborn campus:

Aaron Shupe Anne Sucharda Rebecca Landin-Smith Joan Daniels Tasha Cronenwett Jennifer Dmitruchina Marybeth Casey Samantha West Ben Evans Karen Oman Deborah Barnett Shannon Plocharczyk Visit UMS/ Education for past Anne Salter Rebecca Majetic Allison Hudson lesson plans and Heidi Niska Nancy Franzen Kim Smith resource guides Hala Hamka Brian Chisholm Anthony Stanley Katie Rebel www.ums.org/ Education Learner Outcomes

• Each student will develop a feeling of self-worth, pride in work, respect, appreciation and understanding of other people and cultures, and a desire for learning now and in the future in a multicultural, gender-fair, and ability- sensitive environment.

• Each student will develop appropriately to that individual’s potential, skill in reading, writing, mathematics, speaking, listening, problem solving, and examining and utilizing information using multicultural, gender-fair and ability-sensitive materials.

• Each student will become literate through the acquisition and use of knowledge appropriate to that individual’s potential, through a comprehensive, coordinated curriculum, including computer literacy in a multicultural, gender-fair, and ability-sensitive environment.

62 | www.ums.org/education Teaching Points

• Malouma mixes traditional Mauritanian music with modern western styles. Teaching Points • Malouma’s music is influenced by Arab, Moorish, Berber, and Wolof cultures. are designed to • Maluma is Mauritania’s most famous singer. provide quick facts about • Malouma plays the ardine, the traditional Mauritanian harp played by Malouma, women. Mauritania, and • Mauritania is located on the West Coast of Africa. Arab music.

• Malouma sings about taboo subjects in her culture; inequality, injustice, oppression, AIDS, women in society, and illiteracy.

• Much of Malouma has a musical background and her father and grandfather were well known griots in the Mauritanian culture.

• Malouma was banned in her culture for speaking out about social issues.

• Malouma used poetry and traditional lyrics and sources of material for her music.

• Three other famous women in Africa sing about issues similar to Malouma: Oumou Sangare in Mali, Fairuz in Lebanon, Najat Aatabou in Morocco.

• Mauritania is an Arabic nation.

• Mauritania is bordered by Senegal, Mali, Algeria, Morocco, and the Atlantic Ocean.

• Oum Kalthoum (1904-1975) of Egypt is indisputably the world’s greatest Arab singer, and has sold more records than any other singer in the world.

• Islam is one of the main religions practiced by Arabs. These Arabs are called Muslims, but Arabs practice many religions. It is estimated that 60% of the Arabs in Michigan are Christian and 40% are Muslim.

• The Muslim Calendar is based on the cycles of the moon.

63 | www.ums.org/education Meeting Michigan Standards UMS can help you ARTS EDUCATION meet Michigan’s Standard 1: Performing All students will apply skills and knowledge to perform in the arts. Curricular Standard 2: Creating All students will apply skills and knowledge to create in the arts. Standard 3: Analyzing in Context All students will analyze, describe, and evaluate works of art. Standards! Standard 4: Arts in Context All students will understand, analyze and describe the arts in their historical, social, and cultural contexts. The activities in this Standard 5: Connecting to other Arts, other Disciplines, and Life All students will recognize, study guide, analyze and describe connections among the arts; between the arts and other combined with the disciplines; between the arts and everyday life. live performance, are aligned with Michigan ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS Standards and Standard 3: Meaning and Communication All students will focus on meaning and Benchmarks. communication as they listen, speak, view, read, and write in personal, social, occupational, and civic contexts. Standard 6: Voice All students will learn to communicate information accurately and effectively For a complete list of and demonstrate their expressive abilities by creating oral, written and visual texts that Standards and enlighten and engage an audience. Benchmarks, visit the Michigan Department of Education online: SOCIAL STUDIES Standard I-1: Time and Chronology All students will sequence chronologically eras of American www.michigan.gov/ history and key events within these eras in order to examine relationships and to explain mde cause and effect. Standard I-3: Analyzing and Interpreting the Past All students will reconstruct the past by comparing interpretations written by others from a variety of perspectives and creating narratives from evidence. Standard II-1: People, Places, and Cultures All students will describe, compare and explain the locations and characteristics of places, cultures and settlements. Standard VII-1: Responsible Personal Conduct All students will consider the effects of an individual’s actions on other people, how one acts in accordance with the rule of law and how one acts in a virtuous and ethically responsible way as a member of society.

MATH Standard I-1: Patterns Students recognize similarities and generalize patterns, use patterns to create models and make predictions, describe the nature of patterns and relationships and construct representations of mathematical relationships. Standard I-2: Variability and Change Students describe the relationships among variables, predict what will happen to one variable as another variable is changed, analyze natural variation and sources of variability and compare patterns of change. Standard III-3: Inference and Prediction Students draw defensible inferences about unknown outcomes, make predictions and identify the degree of confidence they have in their predictions.

SCIENCE Standard I-1: Constructing New Scientific Knowledge All students will ask questions that help them learn about the world; design and conduct investigations using appropriate methodology and technology; learn from books and other sources of information; communicate their findings using appropriate technology; and reconstruct previously learned knowledge. Standard IV-4: Waves and Vibrations All students will describe sounds and sound waves; explain shadows, color, and other light phenomena; measure and describe vibrations and waves; and explain how waves and vibrations transfer energy.

64 | www.ums.org/education Each UMS lesson CAREER & EMPLOYABILITY plan is aligned to Standard 1: Applied Academic Skills All students will apply basic communication skills, apply specifi c State of scientific and social studies concepts, perform mathematical processes and apply Michigan technology in work-related situations. Standards. Standard 2: Career Planning All students will acquire, organize, interpret and evaluate information from career awareness and exploration activities, career assessment and work-based experiences to identify and to pursue their career goals. Standard 3: Developing and Presenting Information All students will demonstrate the ability to combine ideas or information in new ways, make connections between seemingly unrelated ideas and organize and present information in formats such as symbols, pictures, schemat ics, charts, and graphs. Standard 4: Problem Solving All students will make decisions and solve problems by specifying goals, identifying resources and constraints, generating alternatives, considering impacts, choosing appropriate alternatives, implementing plans of action and evaluating results. Standard 5: Personal Management All students will display personal qualities such as responsibility, self-management, self-confidence, ethical behavior and respect for self and others. Standard 7: Teamwork All students will work cooperatively with people of diverse backgrounds and abilities, identify with the group’s goals and values, learn to exercise leadership, teach others new skills, serve clients or customers and contribute to a group process with ideas, suggestions and efforts.

TECHNOLOGY Standard 2: Using Information Technologies All students will use technologies to input, retrieve, organize, manipulate, evaluate and communicate information. Standard 3: Applying Appropriate Technologies All students will apply appropriate technologies to critical thinking, creative expression and decision-making skills.

WORLD LANGUAGES Standard 2: Using Strategies All students will use a varietry of strategies to communicate in a non-English language. Standard 8: Global Community All students will define and characterize the global community. Standard 9: Diversity All students will identify diverse languages and cultures throughout the world.

65 | www.ums.org/education Exploring West AfricanFolktales 66 |www.ums.org/education GradeLevels: K-5 LESSONLESSON ONE ONE . Afterreading the folktale,theteacherwillask,“Whowere thecharactersin 6. Theteacherwill thenintroduce thefolktale, 5. Theteacherwill read thefolktaleto the children. Afterreading thefolktale, 4. Theteacherwill thenintroduce thefolktale, 3. Afterlisteningtothechildren’s responses, theteacherwillthensay, “Becausewe 2. To activatepriorknowledgetheteacherwillposefollowingquestions: “Does 1. Activity Venn Diagramchart Writing marker Sentence Strips Why MosquitoesBuzzinPeople’s Ears Anansi GoesFishing Materials Curriculum Connections quitoes BuzzinPeoplesEars Students willcreate aVenn diagrambasedontheWest Africanfolktales Students willunderstanddifferent storyelementsof a folktale. Students willgainadeeperunderstandingofWest Africanfolktales. Objective Arts Education 2:Arts Creating ARTS STANDARD story? Whatwasthesolution?” folktale wejustread? Whatwasthesetting? wastheproblem inthe then read thefolktale. differences betweenthisfolktaleandtheonewejustread.” Theteacherwill Africa. Asweread thestory, Iwantyoutobethinkingaboutthesimilarities and Ears problem inthestory?Whatwassolution?” main charactersofthestory?Whatwassetting ofthestory?Whatwas teacher willaskseveralquestionstoguidethechildren’s thinking,“Whoare the together onafishingadventure.turtle whojourney The teacherwillexplainthatitisaWest Africanfolktaleaboutaspiderand a today.” known asgriots.Herfamilytoldstoriessimilartothefolktaleswewillbereading because Maloumaisfrom West Africaandsheisfrom afamilyofstorytellers explore herbackground. Today weare goingtobereading twoAfricanfolktales, are goingtoseeMalouma singinafewdays,Ithoughtitwouldbeinteresting to solution?” you thinkfolktaleshavestoryelementssuchascharacter, setting,problem and anyone knowwhatafolktaleis?Haseverheard orread afolktale?Do , tothechildren. Theteacherwillsay, “Thisisanotherfolktalefrom West , retold byEricA.Kimmel and Anansi GoesFishing , byVerna Aardema Language Arts:Genre andCraft:8.2 cation: 1.1;3.4;3.8 Language Arts:MeaningandCommuni- Language Arts:Literature: 5.2 Math: DataAnalysisandStatistics:III.1.2 CONTENT STANDARD Why MosquitoesBuzzinPeople’s Anansi GoesFishing . , tothechildren. Why Mos-

7. The teacher will then direct the student’s attention to the Venn Diagram pocket chart. The teacher will ask the students what labels should be on the Venn Diagram in order to compare the two folktales. The students should be able to indicate that Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears should be on one side of the chart. Anansi Goes Fishing should be on the other side, and the label both should be in the middle. 8. The teacher will then ask the students to think about both folktales and to com- pare and contrast them. 9. The teacher will model the first idea that is going to be written on the Venn Diagram. The teacher will say, “In the folktale Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears, there were several animals involved in the problem of the story. So I will put this comment on the Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears side of the Venn Diagram.” The teacher will then demonstrate this. 10. The teacher will then ask, “What is something we could write on the Anansi Goes Fishing Side of the Venn Diagram?” The teacher will then call on several students for their ideas. 11. The teacher will then open the discussion to try to encourage the students to come up with many similarities and differences between the folktales. The teacher will also encourage students to place their responses in the correct sec tion of the Venn Diagram. 12. Once the Venn Diagram is complete, the teacher will ask students to read aloud the various responses on the pocket chart. 13. The teacher will then remind the children that these two folktales originated from West Africa where Malouma is from. LESSON ONE

67 | www.ums.org/education Venn Diagram Chart

Venn diagrams are a great way to collect and display data about two topics!

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in Anansi Goes Fishing People’s Ears Both West African Griot Traditions Objectives Grade Levels: Students will have background knowledge on a University Musical Society performance. 3-12 Students will have knowledge of the West African Griot tradition and its role as a form of oral history. Students will relate the West African Griot tradition to the impact it can have on society today by creating their own family folklore. Students will recognize the importance of folklore in the African Culture. Students will be able to locate Africa on a map.

Curriculum Connections ARTS STANDARD CONTENT STANDARD Arts Education 3: Analyzing in Context English Language Arts 6: Voice Social Studies: II.1.1; V.1.1; II.1.2; V.1.3; II.1.3

Materials CD player or classroom access to Internet Cardstock or Construction Paper Markers or Colored Pencils Scissors Tongue Depressors or Popsicle sticks Glue or Tape String or Ribbon

Activity Note: This lesson should be held several days prior to attending the Malouma Performance to allow students time to compile stories from their own family history. In preparation for the lesson, teachers will select a 5-6 short folklore tales or myths from www.afriprov. org/resources/stories (We recommend the folklore that involve animals and moral tales)~AND~ one tale from www.pbs.org/wnet/africa/explore/index_fl ash or prepare a story from their own personal or family history. Be sure to choose a story that will stimulate the students and illustrate the components of a folklore or tale.

Introduction to the lesson (5-10 Minutes) The teacher will present his or her tale in the traditional oral style of the Griots. Initiate class discussion by asking students to describe the characters of the story and the consequences of their actions. Ask students to explain the importance of this type of story in African culture. What is the moral and what does the audience learn from it.

Mini-Lecture (5-10 Minutes) Introduce Malouma and inform the students that they will be attending her performance. She is from Mauritania and belongs to a distinct class of people called “Griots”. LESSON TWO • Members of a distinct social class in West Africa. • Griots perform many roles including singing, speaking publicly, playing instruments, reciting history, telling stories, and entertaining. • Traditional Griots usually only marry other Griots. • The occupation is passed on to children. • In Mauritania, skilled craftsmen/artisan and storytellers are the two most prominent occupational castes. 69 | www.ums.org/education African GriotTraditions, cont... 70 |www.ums.org/education

Grade Levels: 3-12 LESSONLESSON TWO ONE bus onthewaytoperformance. fithe before style the Griot on traditional or in class class in the trip with share eld can Ask students to interview a family member to create their own family story, which they Optional Extension(Homework) Each group willperformtheir storyasdescribedaboveinfront oftheclass. Closing Activity(20-25minutes) Ask studentsgathermaterialstomakemasksandconstructtheminacreative way. the storyandpractice. masks to use as props in the performance. Students should decide how they will one perform student narrating and the others acting out scenes from the story. with tradition Griot the in folktales these performing be will they that students Instruct They will construct you haveselectedfrom from Malouma’s website or other West African music, handout each group a story that Ask students to form groups of four to fiActivity (15-20Minutes) ve ShowamapofAfrica. students each. While playing musical traditionalinstruments likethetidinit. selections Gospelinher musicaswellnewinstrumentsliketheguitarmixedwith • traditionalive. OneexampleishowMaloumaborrows elementsofBluesand havechanged. Theyhavemodifi edthecontentandformtokeepGriot Sincecolonialism andurbanization,manyofthetraditionalGriotwayslife bephysically orpoliticallythreatening. thattheypossess knowledgeoftheoccultandmysticalpowersthatcan • SomeMauritanians are afraidofpoetsandmusiciansbecauseitisbelieved • www.afriprov.org/resources/stories . Sound Objective Grade Levels: Students understand that instruments vary in sound. Students will have knowledge of music, rhythm and percussion of Afric/Mauritania. 3-9 Students will have the knowledge of how different materials make sounds. Students will be able to create a musical instrument by using everyday household items. Curriculum Connections ARTS STANDARD CONTENT STANDARD Arts Education 2: Creating Career & Employability 7: Teamwork Science: IV-4: Waves and Vibrations Materials tissue paper, rubber bands (different sizes), paper plates, beans, crayons, markers, stapler, staples, tin cans, scissors, shoe box, rice, cotton balls, paper clips Link to website: www.home.earthlink.net/~malouma/index.html Activity 1. Send note home 2. Gather materials 3. Read biographyabout Malouma and discuss the instruments she plays, show an example (see pages 23-34 of this Resource Guide). 4. Demonstrate how to make a different musical instruments using shoebox, rubber bands of various thickness and maracas. 5. Discuss the sounds made by the rubber bands. Ask students if they hear changes in the sound and if they know why the sounds vary. 6. Discuss that sounds as being high and low, soft or loud. 7. Describe the idea of sound waves and vibrations. Explain how the rubber bands affect the sound. Ask: Do you think anything else affects the sound? 8. Allow students to make their own variation of guitars or maracas (using boxes, coffee cans etc…) 9. Students will color and or decorate the instruments they made with crayons or markers, paints, etc. 10. After students have completed their instruments, gather and compare the sounds. Ask: Did the sound change when you used a can instead of a box? Was the sound high or low? Ask: Does how much beans you add change the sound? Ask: Does how much rice, cotton balls or paper clips you add change the sound?

Dear Parents/Guardians: Our class is doing a unit on sound. We will be creating variations of the tidnit, ardine and kora by using different household materials. Students will be discussing how the instruments vary in sound and how different materials affect the sound. We are in need of some assistance in order to make this unit academically LESSON THREE successful. If you could donate any of the following items, it would be greatly appreciated. • shoe boxes • tissue boxes • coffee cans • paper plates/bowls • beans • cotton balls • rice 71 | www.ums.org/education 72 |www.ums.org/education ons, ormarkers. countries ofAfricaonthemapbelow.below You mayusecolored pencils,cray- Using amapofAfricafromfr yourclassroom asaguide,labelandcolorthe

LESSON ONE Africa of Coloring Map om yourclassr . Y oom asaguide,labelandcolorthe ou mayusecolor ed pencils,cray- Where is Mauritania?

Objective Grade Levels: The students will learn to identify basic geographical facts about Mauritania. 3-12 The students will learn to explain how the geographic region infl uences the people of Mauritania.

Curriculum Connections ARTS STANDARD CONTENT STANDARD Arts Education 3: Analyzing in Context Geography: II.1.1, 1.2

Materials map of Mauritania “Basic Facts About Mauritania” worksheet

Activity 1. Pass out a map of Mauritania (see page 13 of this Resource Guide). 2. Post a larger map of Mauritania on the board for the students’ reference. 3. Ask the students some basic geography questions as you refer to the larger map on the board. • What continent is Mauritania on? • What hemisphere(s) is Mauritania found in? • Mauritania is near 4 major countries. Name them. • Name the major towns or cities of Mauritania. • What is the capital of Mauritania? • What do you think the weather is like in Mauritania?

4. The students will write down the answers to these questions on the handout entitled “Basic Facts About Mauritania.”

5. The students will continue taking guided notes and writing the down the answers on the handout entitled “Basic Facts About Mauritania.” • What is the state religion in Mauritania? • Name the five languages spoken in Mauritania. • What does the flag of Mauritania look like? • What is the public holiday in Mauritania? LESSON FOUR

73 | www.ums.org/education 74 |www.ums.org/education 0 Whatare someimportantIslamicholidays? ______10. Whatisthename ofthepublicholidaycelebratedinMauritania?______9. ______• ______• What doesthefl agofMauritanialooklike?Drawasketch. ______• 8. • • ______• Namethefi velanguages spokeninMauritania. ______7. • • Whatisthestatereligion inMauritania? 6. ______WhatistheclimatelikeinMauritania? ______• ______5. • ______• WhatisthecapitalofMauritania?______4. • • ______• ______• Namefi vemajortownsorcitiesinMauritania. • 4. • Mauritaniaisnearfourmajorcountries.Theyare: 3. Inwhichhemisphere(s) isMauritaniafound? 2. OnwhichcontinentisMauritaniafound? 1. Basic Facts AboutMauritania Name thefi What isthestater WhatistheclimatelikeinMauritania? What isthecapitalofMauritania?______Name fi Mauritania isnearfourmajorcountries.Theyar In whichhemispher On whichcontinentisMauritaniafound? vemajortownsorcitiesinMauritania. • • • • • • • • • • • • velanguagesspokeninMauritania.

LESSON______ONE______eligion inMauritania? e(s) isMauritaniafound? e: Basic Facts Answer Key

1. Mauritania is belongs to the continent of Africa.

2. Mauritania is located in two hemispheres: (1) Northern Hemisphere (2) Western Hemisphere.

3. Mauritania is near four major countries: (1) Morocco (2) Algeria (3) Mali (4) Senegal.

4. Mauritania has fi ve major towns or cities: (1) (2) Kifah (3) Kaedi (4) Nouadhibou (5) Nouakchott.

5. The capital of Mauritania is Nouakchott.

6. The climate in Mauritania is constantly hot, dry and dusty. It is mostly desert.

7. The state religion in Mauritania is Islam.

8. There are fi ve languages spoken in Mauritania: (1) French (2) Hassaniya Arabic (3) Pulaar (4) Soninke (5) Wolof.

9. The fl ag of Mauritania is green with a yellow fi ve-pointed star above a horizontal crescent.

10. The name of the public holiday celebrated in Mauritania is Independence Day. It is celebrated on November 28th. Mauritania received its independence on November 28, 1960.

75 | www.ums.org/education Decolonization 76 |www.ums.org/education

Grade Levels: 6-12 LESSONLESSON FIVE ONE theseschools.Furthermore, somecivilianswenttoEurope tostudyorfi ght Duringtheearly20th-century, thecolonialrulersbeganfounding somewhateducatedworkforce, theypermittedthecolonizedpeoplestoattend universitieswithinthemajorcitiesofcontinent.Astheyneededa • Whydidcoloniesstartwantingthereturn toself-ruleafterWWII? imperialpoweraswellinexpensivehuman(slaves). metalsfrom Africa.Inessence,Europe colonizedAfricaformaterialwealthand 4. colonies.Furthermore, Europe prizedthegold,diamondsandotherprecious Europe startedcolonizingAfricainorder toacquire rawmaterials NorthAmerica.Laterinthe19thcentury, theysoldmanufactured goodstotheir necessaryforshippingandshipbuilding.Theysentslavesfrom Africato • centuries Portugal,Spain)begancolonizingAfricaandAsiaduringthe19th20th StartwithdiscussionofwhytheEuropean powers(Britain,France,Germany, Italy, Passoutmapsofcolonialandpost-colonial Africa. thesewords meantothestudents? To thecolonizers? To thecolonized people? 3. board. Askstudentstowriteforfi veminutesonthesewords. Whatdo 2. OpeningActivity:Write thewords “colonization”and“de-colonization”onthe 1. Activity http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/afri1914.htm http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/mauritania_pol95.jpg http://www.newberry.org/nl/smith/teachers/africa.JPG www.pvhs.chico.k12.ca.us/~bsilva/projects/imperialism/schuller.htm http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/timelines/htimeline4.htm Computer withAV projector andscreen Materials Curriculum Connections Students willunderstandhowde-colonizationoccurred Students willunderstandthereasons forde-colonization Students willunderstandthereasons behindEuropean colonization Objectives Teedpne ntecuty Agrasue errcmag Thesedepended onthecountry. Algeriansusedaterror (Seethefi campaign lm involvingbombingstoforce theFrench towithdrawfrom their country. • What are someof themethodsusedtoregain independence? European control. andtheoutsideworld, manybegantoquestiontheneedfor aboutgovernment 5. intheFirstandSecondWorld Wars. Asthepopulacegrew more knowledgeable hasbeenimproved/altered. Havestudents telltheclasswhatthey originallywrote andhow theirknowledge EndingActivity: Havethestudents lookattheirwritingsthebeginning ofclass. materialswhile claimingindependence. virtuallyapuppet stateofBelgium,supplying thatcountrywith uraniumandother 6. Stillother statesbecameindependentinname only. Congo,forexample,was before example,formedatemporarypartnershipgovernment gainingfullrule. lessdrastic,smallerstepstocreate amore peaceablewithdraw. Mauritania, for Arts Education 2:Arts Creating ARTS STANDARD The BattleofAlgier s formoremor information).Othercountriestook Social Studies::Social African History; I-4: 2 Career &Employability 7: teamwork e information).Othercountriestook CONTENT STANDARD Take a Trip to the Land of Sun Objective Grade Levels: Students understand that instruments vary in sound. Students will have knowledge of handling or treating materials in a safe manner. 6-12 Students will have the knowledge of how different materials make sounds. Students will be able to create a musical instrument by using everyday household items. Curriculum Connections ARTS STANDARD CONTENT STANDARD Arts Education 2: Creating Career & Employability 7: teamwork II.1.MS.1 Career & Employability 4: Problem Solv- V.1.MS.1 ing Materials Colored pencils Markers World Map handout North America Map handout Continent of Africa Map handout Comparison Chart handout List of websites Access to computers Activity 1. Tell students that they will be going on a fi eld trip to the Michigan Theater to hear the music of Malouma. 2. Teacher will play sample of Malouma’s music from www.malouma.com (click on Check videos of Malouma in concert on Mondomix website or use the CD accompanying this Resource Guide). Invite students to predict what part of the world the music comes from. 3. Distribute map handout (World, North America, Africa). Have students go to www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mr.html to locate the country of Mauritania. Have students label the country name, the capital city, the Sahara Desert, and circle the Atlantic Ocean on their Continent of Africa Map. 4. Have students trace the land/water route that Malouma will take as she travels from Mauritania to Ann Arbor, MI. 5. Distribute Comparison Chart and ask students to use the following websites to complete the chart:

www.malouma.com (click country profi le) www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mr.html http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/reference/factbook/mr/popula.html www.translation.com www.onlineconversion.com LESSON SIX 6. Wrap up with a discussion of students’ answers on the chart.

77 | www.ums.org/education People, Language, and Culture People, andCulture Language, 78 |www.ums.org/education

Grade Levels: 7-12 LESSONLESSON SEVEN ONE Objective hyfe artna t utr n t epe neapelte a en provided togivestudentsastarting pointfortheirownletter. theyfeel Mauritania, itsculture anditspeople.Anexampleletterhasbeen describes thedifferences betweenAmericanculture andMauritania,how 10. Have studentswriteafi ctitiouslettertosomeone inMauritania,that Introduce thepeopleandculture oftheMauritania. listreasons whyitwouldbeaninteresting placetolive. 9. tofi Havestudentsusetheinternet ndinteresting factsaboutthenationand timelineprovided. 8. GivestudentsabriefhistoryofhowMauritaniaemergedasnation provides thenewsinmanydifferent languages. 7. orsimilarword identifi cation.Goodstartmaybetousemsn.comwhich differences andanyitemstheymaybeabletoidentifythrough pictures Havestudentsusethewebtofi ndArabicandFrench newssitesandnote betweenArabic,French andAmericanEnglish. 6. Talk aboutdifferences betweenthetwolanguages, alongwiththedifferences 5. Identifytheoffi ciallanguagesspokeninthecountry. provided. 4. Locatetheregions inwhichdifferent languagesare spokenusingthemap 3. IdentifyMauritaniaonthemapprovided inthisguideonpage. 2. Introduce Mauritaniaasanation. 1. Activity All othermaterialsprovided. Students willneedaccesstointernet. Materials Curriculum Connections Students willhaveanunderstandingofthepeopleMauritania’s ancestry. Students willhaveknowledgeofhowMauritaniaemergedasanation. Students willbeabletoidentifydiffering languagelocationsonamap. Students willbeabletoidentifyMauritania’s geographicallocation. Arts Education2:inContext ARTS STANDARD and Processes Social Studies:II.4:Regions,Patterns Career &Employability7:Teamwork CONTENT STANDARD Lyric Comparison

Objective Grade Levels: Students will understand the traditional importance of Griots in African society. 7-12 Students will understand Malouma’s American musical influences. Students will be able to compare Malouma’s musical style to that of her American musical influences.

Curriculum Connections ARTS STANDARD CONTENT STANDARD Arts Education 2: Arts in Context Career & Employability 7: Teamwork Music History: II 1 2

Materials included CD, CD player, and/or computer with internet.

Activity 1. Play Gambia Hamab (traditional Griot music) while class is arriving. - found at http://www.webjay.org/iteminfo/62137 2. Pass out Introduction to Griot History Handout. - found at http://www.acslink.aone.net.au/christo/histmain.htm 3. Pass out Malouma Fan Website Handout and read over. - found at http://home.earthlink.net/~malouma/ 4. Pass out Lyric Comparison Handout. 5. Play Mahma el Houb by Malouma. - 3rd track on CD 6. Play I Never Loved a Man by Aretha Franklin. - Aretha Franklin was one of Malouma’s American infl uences. - sample found at www.amazon.com. Search for Aretha Franklin. 7. Open class discussion

Malouma: Mahma el Houb (English Translation)

When we spoke with our eyes, it was heavenly All smiles and fervent beginnings We tried love and it failed Yet Whatever we do, love catches up with us

Aretha Franklin: I Never Loved a Man (The Way That I Loved You) The way you treat me it’s a shame

How could ya hurt me so bad? LESSON EIGHT Baby you know that I’m the best thing That you ever had

Kiss me once again Don’t ya never, never say that we’re through Cause I ain’t never, never, never no no Loved a man, the way that I, I love you 79 | www.ums.org/education Vocabulary - Arab Music/Culture

Achwaar Traditional songs in Mauritania.

Allah The name for “God” in the Arabic language.

Ardine A harp similar in construction to the West African kora

Bedouins Nomadic people who often herd livestock and trade as they move from place to place.

Bidan White people in Mauritania.

Blues Style highly inflected, often speech-like melodies.

Caliphs The religious and political leaders of the Muslim community after the death of Mohammed.

Christianity A religion that believes Jesus Christ was the son of God. The Christians religion is based on Jesus’ teachings and the teachings of the Bible.

Crossover A broadening of the popular appeal of an artist (as a musician) or an artist’s work that is often the result of a change of the artist’s medium or style.

Daghumma A long hollowed-out gourd covered by a net of beads which act as a rattle.

Eid The Arabic word for “holiday.”

Ethnomusicology The academic study of musical culture outside of the Western classical style and tradition.

Fusion Popular music combining different styles (as jazz and rock).

Griot Any of a class of musician-entertainers of western Africa whose performances include tribal histories and genealogies.

Hadith The sayings and acts of Muhammad.

Hajj The Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

Haratin Black people in Mauritania.

Hijab The head scarf worn by some Muslim women to cover their hair and necks.

Iggawin The name for griots in Mauritanian culture.

Islam The Muslim religion. Vocabulary - Arab Music/Culture

Lute A stringed instrument having a large pear-shaped body, a vaulted back, a fretted fingerboard, and a head with tuning pegs which is often angled backward from the neck.

Maghreb The name for north West Africa.

Mecca Located in modern Saudi Arabia, it is the most important holy city to Muslims worldwide.

Moors Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus and the Maghreb, whose culture is often called “Moorish.”

Mosque The Muslim place of worship, similar to a church for Christians.

Muhammad The prophet believed by Muslims to be the most recent and final messenger of God.

Mutribatou echa’b Meaning “singer of the people” in Arabic.

Oud In Arabic meaning literally “wood;” a musical instrument of the lute family used in Southwest Asia, Northern Africa and throught the Arab World and Diaspora.

Oughniya Meaning “songs” in Arabic.

Qur’an Also spelled Koran; the holy book for Muslims.

Ramadan The ninth lunar month during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset.

Salah The Arabic word for “prayer.”

Sheik The leader of a family, village or tribe.

Tabla A pair of small different-sized hand drums used especially in the music of India.

Tidnit A four-stringed lute which plays an improtant role in Mauritanian life. Vocabulary - Arab Music

Jins (plural Ajnas) A sequence of three, four, or five notes used as a building blck for a maqam..

Sayr A set of rules that define a maqam’s general melodic development.

Maqam (plural A sequence of notes with rules that define its general melodic developement. Maqamat)

Ghammaz The pivotal note between the maqam’s first and second jins, often used as a starting point for modulation.

Qarar Used to indicate the starting note in a maqam.

Mustaqarr Used to indicate the ending note in a maqam.

Takht A small instrumental group of traditional instruments, usually an oud, qanun, nay, riq, and recently, violin.

Dawr A vocal form dating back to the beginning of the 19th century, based on the use of popular poems. The dwar is performed by a soloist and a chorus of four or more.

Iqa at The rhythmic modes in Arabic music.

Zakhrafat An Arabic word used to describe the art of adding ornamentation to music.

Nay A wooden instrument larger than, but similar to, a .

Dabka A folk dance native to Lebanon.

Sagat Finger cymbals.

Mawwal In Arabic music, this refers to free, non-rhythmic singing. Malouma Word Scramble

A S R D J S U N D V I T R T N R U Z U J L A S Q A R T E Z K A A J T N U W V L I O O B F E P I U A L W S I G T R H R L S V R N T L E U G D A X C E M U O B I A G K A P M G I K B L S U A B G T W A U J B C A Y E G U F F P I I O H T K E U S H Y C O U N U L R O L N M O N L J A U W Y A S I U K A K N O N D S R E M C R K K A E N I D R A X S D R G N O I B M S N E R T B X O E U T I D N I T T R X I Q D P B U A K C E F N V U A E S X X D F G L I C C V J T A O All of the words from the left column can be found in the puzzle. These words relate to the Malouma performance. Look in all directions for the words!

Al Kahla A method of playing that is more about the roots and masculinity of music. Ardin A traditional African instrument that is like a harp. Bafours The original inhabitants of Mauritania. Berber These people displaced the Bafours when they migrated into Mauritania. Griot A practitioner of the West African tradition of praise singing. Guedra A ritualistic trance dance. Iggawin The term used for musicians in Moorish society. Malouma A popular Mauritanian singer who is known for her political activism through song. Mauritania A country in northwest Africa that Malouma calls home. Nouakchott This city is the capital of Mauritania. Raqs al Juzur A traditional Tunisian dance that involves balancing a large pot on the head. Tidnit A four-stringed lute that is shaped like an hourglass. Word Search Solution

Here are the answers to the word search:

Al Kahla Ardin Bafours Berber Griot Guedra iggawin Malouma Mauritania Nouakchott Raqs al Juzur Tidnit

A S R D J S U N D V I T R T N R U Z U J L A S Q A R T E Z K A A J T N U W V L I O O B F E P I U A L W S I G T R H R L S V R N T L E U G D A X C E M U O B I A G K A P M G I K B L S U A B G T W A U J B C A Y E G U F F P I I O H T K E U S H Y C O U N U L R O L N M O N L J A U W Y A S I U K A K N O N D S R E M C R K K A E N I D R A X S D R G N O I B M S N E R T B X O E U T I D N I T T R X I Q D P B U A K C E F N V U A E S X X D F G L I C C V J T A O Pre and Post-Performance Ideas Visit UMS Online For our friends who are in grades 1-3, here are a few additional quick and fun Ideas to use with the Malouma Youth Performance. www.ums.org/ education 1. Working Together - Write “Malouma (or any of the song titles from the Resource Disk)” on the board. Divide students into groups and assign a short period of time. Each group must work together to think of as many words as possible that can be spelled with the letters in the phrase on the board.

2. Scavenger Hunt - After reviewing some of the writings and activities in this guide, divide the students into groups. Ask each to come up with a list of at least three things their peers should listen and watch for at the performance (examples: cadenzas, etc.). Collect each group’s list and compile them into a single piece of paper. See how many you fi nd at the performance!

Pre-Performance Activities

1. Discussion/Writing Prompt - Through Malouma’s music she tries to address issues that women, for instance, have had to keep silent about in her culture. What causes or issues do you see in your own life or in your community that you would like to address or that you would like to improve? Why?

2. Building an Ensemble - Divide students into groups. Ask one to start tapping a rhythm on his/her pant leg or desktop and ask the others to try to copy it. Ask each student in the group to take a turn as leader. What strategies do the “following” students use to keep up with the leader? Try this activity with movements!

Post-Performance Activities

1. Discussion/Writing Prompt - If you could change one thing about the performance, what would it be?

2. Remembering the Performance - Who was your favorite song? Why? Did you already know your favorite or was it new to you?

85 | www.ums.org/education Still More Ideas... Share your students’ work 3. Newspaper Report - Imagine that you are a newspaper reporter who has been with UMS! chosen to report on the Youth Performance of Malouma. Create a factual report of what you saw. Here are some tips to help you write an effective news story:

We love to see • Try to answer the famous “Five W” questions: who, what, when, where, why. how you connect your curriculum • Put the main ideas in the fi rst paragraph. with UMS Youth 4. Essay Assignment - Ask students to create a comparison between a folk Performances. music concert and a pop music concert (seen live or on TV). Be creative; include in your discussion the music, clothing, lighting, audience, etc. See the inside back cover for 5. Recreating the Stage -Students can draw a seating chart of the stage with the orchestra, conductor, and soloist where they were during the performance. UMS’s contact Have them draw from whatever perspective they saw the performance.

information. 6. Ads - Program books are usually fi lled with sponsor’s advertisements for their businesses. The ads also will recognize the achievement of the performers and/or organization. Have students design a catchy advertisement for their school addressing why it is a good school and making sure to say something about the performers.

7. Make a travel brochure highlighting the art, music and culture of Mauritania. • Your brochure must be done on 8 ½ x 11 tag board. It may be made in a color of your choice. • It must include a picture, drawing or photograph of the nation’s fl ag. • Include a map of the country. • Your brochure must be a fold out.

Remember: This is a travel brochure. You are urging people to visit Mauritania. Highlight different aspects of its art, language, history and culture.

• Use lots of color! Make it visually appealing. • You may use magazines, the Internet or drawings to enhance your work. • You can even make your brochure interactive with pop-ups and cutouts for example. • Be creative.

86 | www.ums.org/education The Bust of a Moor by an unknown artist.

Resources UMS FIELD TRIP PERMISSION SLIP Dear Parents and Guardians, We will be taking a field trip to see a University Musical Society (UMS) Youth Performance of Malouma on Friday, April 8 from 11am-12noon at Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor.

We will travel (please circle one) • by car • by school bus • by private bus • by foot Leaving school at approximately ______am and returning at approximately ______pm.

The UMS Youth Performance Series brings the world’s finest performers in music, dance, theater, opera, and world cultures to Ann Arbor. This performance features the music of Malouma and the Sahel Hawl Blues .

We (circle one) • need • do not need additional chaperones for this event. (See below to sign up as a chaperone.)

Please (circle one) • send • do not send lunch along with your child on this day.

If your child requires medication to be taken while we are on the trip, please contact us to make arrangements.

If you would like more information about this Youth Performance, please visit the Education section of UMS at ums.org/education. Copies of the Teacher Resource Guide for this performance are available for you to download.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call me at ______or send email to ______. Please return this form to the teacher no later than ______.______

Sincerely,

------

My son/daughter, ______, has permission to attend the UMS Youth Performance on Friday, April 8, 2005. I understand that transportation will be by ______. I am interested in chaperoning if needed (circle one). • yes • no

Parent/Guardian Signature______Date______

Relationship to student ______

Daytime phone number______

Emergency contact person______

Emergency contact phone number______Related Videos of Interest Fairuz is one of the legendary voices and superstars of Arabic music, and this video provides audio and visual insight into the word of Arabic music through the stylistic sounds of Fairuz.

Fairuz (Live in Las Vegas) Starring: Fairuz Studio: Arab Film Distribution Release Date: October 26, 2004 Rating: Not Rated Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 179 minutes

Synopsis From Albert Hall to Carnegie Hall, She sang... Neighbor to the Moon, our Ambassador to the Stars made her Las Vegas debut with a one night only concert at the Garden Arena on May 15, attended by thousands of her fans from all over the world. The performance is a historical and musical journey through decades of innovation in Middle Eastern music as Fairuz performs the jewels of Rahbani, Naseef, Gibran, and Wahbe, along with muwashahhat and tributes to Lebanon and Palestine. Accompanied by a 42 piece orchestra, a full chorus, and conductor Michele Harro, this is the Fairuz of the people, and for one night, she sings for you.

First Set Dawwi Ya hal Andeel, Atem Ya Leil, Taree’ el Nahil, and Nassam Aleina el hawa. Choir: Haddouni, and Khayef Koun ‘eshe’tek.

Second Set Ya Ana ya ana, Ahwak, and El-nay (Gibran).

Third Set Mawal Ana wu inta, Ya Hneiyina, Leiliyi Betrja’ ya Leil, Ya Jisran Khashabian, and Sanarjiou Yauman.

Fourth Set Muwashahhat. Instrumental: Sa’aloni Enas. Choir: Qases Wara’a, and Tallou el Siyadi.

Fifth Set Arrab el mou’ed, Nihna wil Amar jiran, Ishar, Kifk Inta, Khedni, and Oudak Ranan.

Sixth Set ‘A hadir el bosta, Lammal Amar ghab, Ughniyat el Wadda’.

Final Encore Zourouni.

89 | www.ums.org/education Internet Resources Visit UMS Online Arts Resources

www.ums.org/ www.ums.org education The official website of UMS. Visit the Education section (www.ums.org/education) for study guides, information about community and family events, and more information about the UMS Youth Education Program.

www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org The nation’s most comprehensive website for arts education, including lesson plans, arts education news, grant information, etc.

Malouma and Mauritania

http://home.earthlink.net/~malouma The homepage for Malouma’s Fan Website. There are links to Malouma’s biography, information on Mauritania, and various resources concerning Malouma and her music.

www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/mr.html This site, hosted by the CIA, lists many facts and statistics about Mauritania in their World Factbook.

www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/mauritania_pol95.jpg A 1995 political map of Mauritania.

Arab Culture

www.al-bab.com/arab/music/music.htm Basic guide to Arabic music with links to articles and other web sites on religion and music, Fairouz, Oum Kalthoum, Maghreb music, Ra’i music, etc.

www.al-bab.com/ Arab gateway website. Links and articles on everything from countries in the Arab world to music, food, entertainment, women’s rights, etc.

www.maqamworld.com/ A site to help understand the maqam modal system. An index on maqams and rhythms, audio clips, information on musical forms,

www.xs4all.nl/~gregors/ud/ Oud web. Many links of interest.

www.umich.edu/~iinet/cmenas/ Official website for the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan.

www.accesscommunity.org Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services website.

Although UMS previewed each website, we recommend that teachers check all websites before introducing them to students, as content may have changed since this guide was 90 | www.ums.org/education published. Recomended Reading Resources for your classroom This page lists several recommended books to help reinforce arab music and cultre through literature. These books are available through www.amazon. com.

Elementary School Lewin, Ted. The Storytellers. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, 1998. 32 p. . Morocco

Sales, Francesc d’A. Ibrahim. Illustrated by Eulààlia Sariola; translated by Marc Simont. New York : Lippincott, 1989. Morocco

Aggarwal, Manju. I Am a Muslim : Manju Aggarwal Meets Abu Bakar Nazir. New York: F. Watts, 1985. Islam

Haskins, Jim. Count Your Way Through the Arab World. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda, 1987. Middle East & North Africa

Hermes, Jules. The Children of Morocco. Series: World’s children. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, c1995. Morocco

Osborne, Mary Pope. One World, Many Religions : The Ways We Worship. New York: Knopf, 1996. Islam

Middle & High School Brill, Marlene Targ. Enchantment of the World: Algeria. Chicago: Children’s Press,1990. Algeria

Fox, Mary Virginia. Tunisia. Series: Enchantment of the World. Chicago: Children’s Press, 1990. Tunisia

Kagda, Falaq. Algeria. Series: Cultures of the World. : Marshall Cavendish, 1997. Alegeria

Lybia in Pictures. Series: Visual Geography. Minneapolis, MN: 1996. Lybia

Moktefi , Mokhtar. The Arabs in the Golden Age. Brookfi eld, CT: Millbrook, 1992. Arabs

Robinson, Francis. Ed. The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Islam

Sanders, Renfi eld. Libya. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2000. Libya

Scoones, Simon. The Sahara and Its People. Thomson Learning. 1993. North Africa

Stotsky, Sandra. The Arab Americans. Chelsea House, 1999. Arab Americans

Wilkins, Frances. Morocco. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Morocco 91 | www.ums.org/education Recommended Recordings Visit UMS Online Middle Eastern and North African Music

www.ums.org/ Malouma: education Dunya. Malouma. (Marabi, 2004).

Desert of Eden. Malouma. (Shanachie, 1998).

Fairuz: The Very Best of Fairuz, vol.1. Fairuz.

Sings Ziad Rahbani. Fairuz. (Emi International, 2001).

Oum Kalthoum: The Lady. Oum Kalthoum. (Buda Musique, 2003).

Diva of Arabic Music vol.1. Oum Kalthoum. (Emi International, 1999).

Mauritanian Music: Mauritania: Songs of the Griots. Ensemble El-Moukhadrami. (Institut Du Monde, 2001).

Sounds of the West Sahara Mauritania. Various Artists. (Arc Music, 2004).

Mauritania: Songs By Nemadi Women. Various Artists. (Buda Musique, 1995).

Mauritania Griotte. Various Performers. (Pias, 1997).

General Middle Eastern: The Rough Guide to West African Music. Various Performers. (World Music Network, 1995).

Café Beirut. Various Performers. (Emi International, 2001).

Arabic Groove. Various Performers. (Putumayo World Music, 2001).

Immortal Egypt. Phil Thornton, Hossan Ramzy. (New World Music, 1998).

Belly Dance Music - Arabic Rhythms Vol.1. Nourhan and Yousry Sharif. (Egyptian Academy of Oriental Dance, 2001).

Songs from the Middle East. Various Artists. (Ent. Media Partners, 2000).

Art of the Ud. Munir Bachir. (Ocora, 2001).

Without You - Masters of Persian Music. Various Artists. (World Village, 2002).

92 | www.ums.org/education Community Resources

These groups and Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) organizations can 2651 Saulino Court help you to learn Dearborn, MI 48120 more about Arab (313) 842-7010 culture, events and www.accesscommunity.org activities in the Detroit area. University of Michigan Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies (CMENAS) 1080 South University Avenue, Suite 4640 University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1106 Phone: (734)764-0350 FAX: (734)764-8523 http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/cmenas

The Arab American Institute 4917 Schaefer Rd Dearborn, MI 48126 (313) 584-8868 www.aaiusa.org

Arab American & Chaldean Council 16921 W Warren Ave Detroit, MI 48228 (313) 584-4137 www.arabacc.org

University Musical Society University of Michigan Burton Memorial Tower 881 N. University Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1011 (734) 615-0122 [email protected] www.ums.org/education

93 | www.ums.org/education Bibliography

Abdul Halim Hafez. http://www.sis.gov.eg/calendar/html/cl300397.htm Visit UMS Online Ali Farka Toure. http://www.concertedefforts.com/artists_alif.asp www.ums.org/ education Ameri, Anan & Ramey, Dawn. Arab American Encyclopedia. UXL, and imprint of the Gale Group. Detroit, 2000. pg. xix-xxv, 1-2, 75-77, 89, 92-94

“Artara the Lion”: http://www.saxakali.com/Saxakali-Publications/runoko23.htm. Copyright 1998. Runoko Rashidi.

Bonavita, Sal. The Moors. http://herso.freeservers.com/moors.html. 2005

Broughton, Simon. World Music. Rough Guides, Ltd. London, 1994. pg. 121, 180, 258-259, 260-261

Broughton, Simon & Ellingham, Mark & Trillo, Richard. World Music: Volume 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Rough Guides, Ltd. London, 1999. pg. 327, 328, 393, 563,

“Free Dictionary: Antara”: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/ Antara%20Ibn%20Shaddad. Copyright 2004. Farlex, Inc.

“Islamic Calendar and Muslim Holy Days”: http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/ islam/blfaq_islam_holydays.htm. Copyright 2005. About.com.

“Islamic New Year”: http://islam.about.com/cs/calendar/a/hijrah_calendar.htm. Copyright 2005. About.com.

Kjelien, Tore. “Berbers”. The Enclyclopedia of the Orient. http://i-cias.com/e.o/ berbers.htm. 2005

Lechner, Judith. The World of Arab and Muslim Children in Children’s Books. Auburn Univerity. http://web6.duc.auburn.edu/academic/education/eflt/lechner/ arabbooks.pdf#search=’arab%20books%20for%20children’

Malouma. Dunya. Marabi Productions; Angouleme, France. 2003.

Mann, Horace. “Muslim and Middle Eastern Clothing, Jewelry, Make-up.” Medieval Islamic Cultures. http://www.sfusd.k12.ca.us/schwww/sch618/Clothing/ Islam_Clothing,_Jewelry_Ma.html

“Mauritania Geography”: http://www.workmall.com/wfb2001/mauritania/ mauritania_geography.html. Copyright 2001. Photius Coutsoukis.

“Muslim Calendar”: http://www.12x30.net/muslim.html.

Stone, Ruth M. The Garland Handbook of African Music. Garland Publishing, Inc. New York: 2000. pg. 189-190, 192-193

94 | www.ums.org/education Bibliography

“Staying in Tune”: http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Instruments/Anglais/ accueil_en.html.

“The World Factbook”: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ mr.html#Intro. 2005.

95 | www.ums.org/education Using Multimedia The Resource Disc accompanying this Resource Guide is intended for educational purposes only and may not be duplicated for distribution or sale.

Audio Resources Track 1 - El Moumna Track 2 - Mahma El Houb Track 3 - Dunya

Powerpoint Presentations 1. Mauritania 2. Exploring Mauritania 3. Mauritanian History and Culture

96 | www.ums.org/education UMS Youth Education Season September For more 17 12 am Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, trumpet information or to -Youth Performance, Hill Auditorium receive a brochure, 27 4:30pm Paul Taylor Dance Company: Dance is Art, Music and Storytelling -Performing Arts Teacher Workshop, WISD please call October 734.615.0122 or 4 4:30pm Punch’s Progress: A Brief History of the Puppet Theater e-mail umsyouth -Performing Arts Teacher Workshop, WISD @umich.edu 8 11am Paul Taylor Dance Company -Youth Performance, Power Center November 8 4:30pm Arts Advocacy: You Can Make A Difference! -Performing Arts Teacher Workshop, WISD December 6 4:30pm Race, Identity and Art: Getting Beyond the Discomfort of Talking About “Normal” (Part One) -Performing Arts Teacher Workshop, WISD January 14 11am Rebirth of a Nation, Paul Miller (DJ Spooky) -Youth Performance, Power Center 20 4:30pm Facing Mekka: Hip Hop in Academic and Theatrical Context -Performing Arts Teacher Workshop, Community High School 28 12am Sphinx Competition -Youth Performance, Rackham Auditorium February 7 4:30pm Story Songs for the Young Child -Kennedy Center Teacher Workshop, WISD 11 11am Rennie Harris Puremovement-Facing Mekka -Youth Performance, Power Center 17 4:30pm Race, Identity and Art: Getting Beyond the Discomfort of Talking About “Normal” (Part Two) -Performing Arts Teacher Workshop, WISD March 4 10am Dan Zanes and Friends 12am -Youth Performance, Rackham Auditorium 7 4:30pm Malouma: The Culture, Dance and -Performing Arts Teacher Workshop, WISD April 8 11am Malouma -Youth Performance, Michigan Theater May 23 4:30pm Preparing for Collaboration: Theatre Games and Activities that Promote Team-Building -Kennedy Center Teacher Workshop, WISD 26 4:30pm Acting Right: Drama as a Classroom Management Strategy -Kennedy Center Teacher Workshop, WISD

Locations: Community High School - 401 N. Division Street, Ann Arbor Hill Auditorium - 888 N. University, Ann Arbor Michigan League - 911 N. University, Ann Arbor Michigan Theater - 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor Power Center - 121 Fletcher, Ann Arbor WISD (Washtenaw Intermediate School District) - 1819 S. Wagner, Ann Arbor 98 | www.ums.org/education Evening Performance Info To purchase Malouma and the Sahel Hawl Blues tickets: Saturday, April 9, 8pm Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor

By Phone The extraordinary African vocalist Malouma makes her American debut with this 734-764-2538 tour. Malouma is from Mauritania, where the musical crossroads of the historic Outside the 734 area Maghreb, Berber tribes, and the West African worlds meet. These cultures of code and within the Sahara and the American Blues have had a profound influence on Malouma’s Michigan, call toll- musical style and performance. As a daughter of a family of griots (traditional free 800-221-1229. storytellers) and musicians, she was taught Mauritanian music from a very young age. By the time she was 15, she was married, an accomplished griot herself, Or contact us at and influenced by two other important female Arabic vocalists: Oum Kalthoum and Fairuz. Integrating the Blues into her music, she emerged as a singer-song- www.ums.org writer unafraid to sing about subjects that are taboo in Mauritanian society, stir- ring people to action; denouncing inequalities, oppression, and injustice; and encouraging awareness of AIDS, child vaccinations, illiteracy, and the promotion of women in society.

This “singer of the people” was widely popular among the young and disenfran- chised, a controversial celebrity banned by the ruling class, who have finally hon- ored and accepted her. Malouma brings her 10-person band, Sahel Hawl Blues, to Ann Arbor for this performance that features different Mauritanian musical styles, all reinterpreted with a modern twist. “Backed by guitars and traditional instruments, she mixes subtle, slinky blues-edged songs with others that veer from Moorish influences through to what sounds like a new desert fusion of gospel and gently driving R&B.” (, London)

98 | www.ums.org/education Send Us Your Feedback! UMS wants to know what teachers and students think about this Youth Performance. We hope you’ll send us your thoughts, drawings, letters or reviews.

UMS Youth Education Program Burton Memorial Tower • 881 N. University Ave. • Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1011 (734) 615-0122 phone • (734) 998-7526 fax • [email protected] www.ums.org/education Download additional copies of this study guide throughout the 2004-2005 season!

www.ums.org/education