Unique African Crafts - Tuareg Mat

Tuareg is one of the most important tribes that live in Sahara Desert. They are the people that use the tuareg mat as their everyday floor cover. This group of people came to Africa to search for a new home. They migrated from their native places in West Africa to Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Algeria in search for greener pastures. During their migration, they also brought their tools and equipments along and so these are the things we see nowadays, the clothes and even the furniture are made by tuareg people. 

Tuareg rug
The Tuareg people are the original inhabitants of Sahara Desert and they are closely related to the Black people of Africa. These two groups of people had different cultures and were separated by hundreds of kilometers. The Tuareg tribe were nomadic people who had tents that they could dwell in the desert. They had horses and donkeys for transportation and they also had the use of metal tools to make their tools. These nomadic Tuareg tribes are still located in Morocco and they are doing very well in their own way of living.

This is because the tuareg people found a way to make their own tents and adorn them with beautiful rugs. And since they made their way into the Sahara Desert, they found the most suitable place to settle and build their camps. The best spot that you can find for them is the Atlas Mountains. These mountains are actually very high and at the top are over 3 kilometers long. So when there was enough space for them to live, they built their very own houses and fortresses on the sides of these mountains. The Atlas Mountains are very common places in Morocco and they can be seen in almost every town or city that you visit in Morocco.

The beauty of the tuareg mats that the Moroccan sahara natives used are as varied as their culture and even their diet is as varied as their lives. Their food consists mainly of dates, olives and camel milk. The leaves from these plants and even the bark from them are used to make the perfect paste to protect themselves from the harshness of the Sahara Desert. And they also use reed mats to protect themselves from the harshness of the sun's rays.

tuareg mats
The Tuareg people are very closely related to the Berber tribes of Morocco. And they are very closely related to the Arabs of Mauritania who are also Berber peoples. The Tuareg people were mostly forced to migrate to the dry lands of Mauritania and they still follow their tribal traditions. They are a very friendly group and they welcome all kinds of visitors in their tribe.

The Old Tuareg people have their own beliefs and their own religion too. They believe in many gods and many more things but mostly in nature. They believe in nature and believe that everything is connected to nature. And they believe that everything has its place is in the desert where it can get enough water and air to survive. In fact they say that nature is their healer and that they themselves will be healed after suffering. So they use very unique matting as they believe that their life is very important and that their life is in this desert.

The tuareg mats are very light in weight and comfortable to sit on. And because they believe that their life is so important they do not mind using them for long hours in hot sun or extreme cold. These are the only authentic African handmade rugs which have been used by the Tuareg people for centuries.