Blog 1 - Race, Ethnicity, Culture or Religion

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 Before I travelled here to Morocco, I was only vaguely familiar with the Berbers (ie. Amazigh people). On arriving here, I started learning more about them. The Amazigh people are the historically indiginous population, and much of Moroccan culture exists upon the foundations they laid out. The "Arabization" of the country only added an extra layer on top of existing Amazigh cultures and traditions, which is a fact laid out by a handful of our tourguides thusfar as well. Encyclopedia Brittanica highlights that during the spread of Arab cultures (and the Islamic religion), the rise of written Arabic as a script had reduced the Amazigh tongue to a folk language, meaning that it was primarily spread orally (Brett, 2019). In more recent times, one of the Amazigh languages has been revived as a written language called "Tamazight." I've noticed this language and its script on the roadsigns we pass by, or on buildings such as the government buildings with French, Arabic, and now Tamazight script. 

Since Morocco's independence, there has been a push for Amazigh culture and language to be recognized formally on a national level. Many tour guides have pointed this out, but successfully in 2011, Morocco officially recognized Tamazight as an official language of the nation alongside Arabic. 




Pictured above is a stop sign in Agadier, Morocco, that uses both Arabic and Tamazight script (Agadier's First, 2026). 

I've also noticed that many of these tourguides have continued using the term "Berber", seemingly for our convenience as English-speaking American tourists. Some, such as the one in Chefchaouen and one of the previous ones (I believe in Tanger), as well as the one today in Fes, highlighted that the term "Berber" has derogatory origins. The term "Berber" is derived from words meaning barbarian, which in itself has less than stellar implications, implying these people to be from "backwards" cultures just for being different than their own (Morjani, 2026).  

I find it interesting to consider how Amazigh (meaning "free peoples") is the term of choice, and yet some guides of ours have continued using the term Berber, despite highlighting it's derogatory past to us all the same. This wraps back into my thoughts on language here. Many cultures struggle to be recognized in a way that matters, and even to be able to have the language and terminology to be recognized. My own culture, the Bengali culture, and my country's 1971 independence was spurred on by language movements and the need for linguistic freedom as well. 

All in all, I think it's interesting to see how the struggle for linguistic freedom can exist across cultures, especially ones that have intertwined as deeply as the Arab culture with the native Amazigh cultures. 

Sources Utilized

Agadiers First. (2026). Amazighworldnews.com. https://amazighworldnews.com/agadirs-first-tamazight-stop-sign-a-cultural-milestone-in-morocco/ 

Ahlam Morjani. (2026, April 7). Who Are The Amazigh People of Morocco? Journey beyond Travel. https://www.journeybeyondtravel.com/blog/morocco-travel-amazigh-berber.html

Brett, M. (2019). Berber | Definition, People, Languages, & Facts | Britannica. In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Berber

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