Tekna
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tekna is a Sahrawi tribal confederation of Lamta Sanhaja Berber origins in southern Morocco and parts of northern Western Sahara, but traditionally with wider migration routes.
The Tekna tribes speak Hassaniya Arabic and the Berber Tamazight in varying degrees. They are the most southernly Berberophone tribe of the area and also one of the least culturally Arabized tribes of the Western Sahara, though these strong Berber features are not at all uncommon in the Moroccan Atlas mountains.
They are divided into several subtribes, organized into the two rivalling Ait Djemel and Ait Bella leff, or factions. All Tekna are Muslims, belonging to the Maliki school of Sunni Islam. Their traditional lifestyle was partly nomadic, based on camel and goat herding, and partly sedentary, controlling important routes of the Saharan caravan trade.
