Different Ethnic Groups Involved In ' Black Tuesday'

This post is to just explain the different ethnic groups that existed and were players in the ' black Friday' incident and the conflict that occurred between Mauritania and Senegal .


The Haalpulaar population-  this population exist in the Northern Senegal Valley and speak the language of Pulaar which has close to 4 million native speakers worldwide. They are typically farmers and raise livestock , a cultural lifestyle that is typical of this area. According to John V. Magistro they are a ' cultural melange of black Sub-Saharan agropastoralists ' (Magistro 1993). There is also a different culture of farmers in this area , however a little more South . They are often ' subsumed within the ethnic category of the Haalpulaar population ' (Magistro 1993:203) however there is a difference. They are the Fulbe herders which are a semi-nomadic population of herders residing in an area called Ferlo.

The Haratin- The Haratin population are ' freed slaves' of black Sub Saharan decent who make up around 40% of the Mauritania population  . The term free is used loosely here because they are often still slaves and have masters , this is an ongoing problem that faces the country of Mauritania. The Haratin population speak Hassaniya , a Mauritania Arab dialect (Magistro 1993). The Haratin death squards were behind the terrible executions of at least 200 black africans on ' black Tuesday ' however this was under the supervision of a higher-class ethnic group called the Bidan .

The Bidan - The Bidan population was first described by Stewart (1973:8) as the ' white race' . he however later discovered that the Bidan population often married the black Sub-Saharan Africans and so the term did not really refer to a colour classification but rather a social status .

References

Magistro J (1993) Crossing over: ethnicity and transboundary conflict in the Senegal river valley. Cah d’Etud Afr 130/XXXIII-2:201 – 232

Stewart,C.C (1973) Islam and Social Order in Mauritania . A Case Study from the 19th Century (Oxford : Clarendon Press).

'Black Tuesday' - The Ethnic tension in the Senegal River Valley

This post looks at a specific day which was named ' Black Tuesday ' surrounding the conflict that has occurred in the Senegal River Valley between Senegal and Mauritania. Initially when i wrote the post entitle , ' The Manantali dam conflicts' I had no idea how brutal and ethnically motivated the conflicts were . However through extensive reading of peer reviewed literature I have read about the atrocities that occurred at the Senegal River basin , specifically between Mauritania and Senegal .

April 20th , 1989 is when a clash occurred between black Haalpilaar fishers and black Haratin Maures that resulted in two deaths. This occurred on the Northern boundary of Senegal . Several days later terrible executions and mutilations of innocent people from Mauritania and Senegal occurred and this caught the eye of critics of political relations between the two countries . This black on black conflict as described by Magistro in 1993, is what set off more deadly events between the two countries.

Late April saw shops destroyed and terrible acts of violence. Then during ' Black Tuesday ' in Nouakchott (capital city of Mauritania) 200 black africans were killed by the black haratin who were under the supervision of the white bidan patrons. The events and violence is best described by a quote in the West African  news magazine : Jeune Afrique : ' In Dakar , in Nouakchott as in the principle cities of the two countries, the scenes of pillage and of vandalism had been , everywhere , accompanied by acts of incredible savagery :mutilated bodies , heads cut off , women disemboweled , children throats slit , etc. ' (Diallo 1989:26)

As you can see the violence which occurred was terrible and it was motivated by ethnic tensions thats exist between the countries . It wasn't a case of black vs white but the ethnic differences that exist . In my next post i will go into more detail as to what the different names such as Haratin and Bidan refer to in terms of there ethnic position .

References :

Diallo, S. 1989 ' Mauritanie-Senegal: apres le cauchemar' . Jeune Afrique, 17 mai . N0 1480: 26-29

Magistro J (1993) Crossing over: ethnicity and transboundary conflict in the Senegal river valley. Cah d’Etud Afr 130/XXXIII-2:201 – 232 

Senegal River Basin

This post is a continuation on my previous post entitled the Manantali Dam conflict . The Manantali Dam is located on the Bafing river which is in the Senegal river basin . The Senegal river basin has a total drainage area of around 350,000 km2 , it had three main tributaries which are Bafin , Bakoye and Faleme (Rasmussen et al 1999). The rainfall varies across the basin and is characterised by a north- south gradient , with the highest rainfall towards the source area of the basin which is a highland area called Fouta Djalon ( up to 2000mm/ year). The lowest rainfall is towards the North of the basin .

The Manantali Dam controls around 50% of the river discharge on the Bafin tributary and has caused much conflict . However this is not the only conflict that has been occurring at the Senegal river basin . Transnational river basins often cause conflict and controversy , the majority of this comes down to a conflict of interest in the way in which the basin is managed .

In terms of managing the Senegal river basin the Organisation pour le Mise en Valeur du Fleuve Senegal (OMVS) was established and the main aim was to decide on water allocation and management principles . It has to be noted that Mali, Mauritania and Senegal are members of the OMVS however Guinee is not . Two major projects were proposed which would change the principles of management within the river basin. The first was the planned installation of HEP genarators at the Manantali Dam by the year 2000 . The second was the ' fossil Valleys Project ' which involves diverting water from the Senegal river into a fossil valley.

The second project caused conflict between Mauritania and Senegal , as it involved one phase that would benefit Senegal more favourably than Mauritania . It involved reallocating water at the expense of river discharge and thus irrigation potential in the main river valley that is shared by the two countries. ( Rasmussen et al 1999)http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00167223.1999.10649423