Iwellemmedan People - Divisions

Divisions

The origins of the division into Kel Ataram ("people of the west") and Kel Dinnik ("people of the east") goes back to at least 1800, and perhaps a century earlier. The confederation remained divided under colonial rule, with the Nigerien arm to the east given its own official "chief", while after 1916, the western arm was re-divided among a number of official French chosen chieftainships. The division of eastern and western Iwellemmedan remains in the post colonial period.

The western arm of the Iwellemmedan are the Kel Ataram centered on the Malian town of Ménaka. Component "free" clans (mostly "maraboutic" or "Imajeghen" tribes which inherit local religious leadership) include the Tahabanaten and Ighatafan.

The major eastern arm of the confederation is the Kel Dinnik (var. Kel Dinnig), sometimes named the "Ouilliminden Kel Dinnik", and centered in the Azawagh, near Tchin-Tabaraden and Tahoua. Their major "free"/"Imajeghen" components include the Irreulen, Lisawan, Tiggirmat, Tellemidez, and Ikhekheren. The free/noble Kel Nan clan is the traditional source of the Amenokal, the paramount confederation leader chosen by clan heads.

Both groups are traditionally pastoralists, whose migration patterns take them north into the Sahara during the brief rainy season, and south as far as Nigeria and Burkina Faso during the dry season. Like all Tuareg groups, they are formed from a number of highly stratified castes, who interweave loyalty from a number of clans, some of whom are limited to specific castes. Ruling caste clans lead the large confederations, and engage in seasonal migration, herding, trade, war, and religious duties. Lower castes, and clans made up of subject groups of free clans are more likely sedentary and not part of confederations, even if their traditional suzerains are members of a confederation such as the Iwellemmedan. In addition, large confederations may include allied non-Tuaregs, such as local Arabic speaking tribes.