1. MALI Tuareg Dogon A Crisis in Cultures

2. Mali Geography Mali has three distinct geographical areas. These are the: 1. Sahara Desert in the northeast 2. The Sahel a semi arid area that is supplied with water from the Niger River and thus is agriculturally productive. 3. A coastal rainforest

3. Sub-Saharan Mali Cultures The people of the Niger The Bozo are a people who live by fishing an farming The Mandinka Malinke are a mostly Muslim but blend in They founded the Mali empire. The Dogon,a farming people The Bambara are a farming people living in the coastal rainforest The Bozo, Malinke and Bambura are all muslim but blend it with traditional beliefs. Some Dogon are Muslim or Christian but most practice a traditional animist religion.

4. The Tuaregs The Tuareg people are a Berber people related to to those who live north of the Sahara. They live in the central highlands of the Sahara and are fundamentalist Muslims As a result of European colonial borders that did not respect the traditional cultures they were divided and did not get a country of their own In 2012 they rebelled and early in 2013 they invaded the lands of the other groups

5. Civil War! Armed with weapons from the Libyan revolution and led by radical Muslims affiliated with Al- qaeda they took Timbuktu and other cities. In Timbuktu the capital of the ancient mali empire they destroyed many sacred texts. The Army of Mali wasn’t strong enough to drive them out alone. Currently the former colonial power France is helping out and the Tuareg have been driven from the Cites they took The war continues