8 Who Are the Blue Men of the Sahara?

The Blue Men of the Sahara is a name for the Tuareg people. People call them this name because they wear blue clothes. There are between 300,000 and one million Tuareg today. They have lived in the Sahara Desert for thousands of years. It is hot, dry, and windy there. Their lives are difficult because of the desert weather and life.

The Tuareg do not live in one place. They move from place to place to find water and food for their animals. The Tuareg live in groups of four or five families. Everybody helps each other. The men take care of the animals. The women put up the tents. The Tuareg live and sleep in the tents. Tuareg tents are usually made of animal skins, but today some Tuareg have plastic tents.

The Tuareg dress in a special way. The men cover their faces. The women do not. The men travel a lot in the desert. They need to protect their faces from the dry air and sand.

The Tuareg men have many customs about their face. They start to cover their faces at age twenty-five. They do not cover their faces for friends. They use black or white cloth. The cloth is five yards long. They wrap the cloth around their face and neck. You see their eyes, but you don't see their nose and mouth.

Every Tuareg man wraps his cloth in a unique way. In this way, everyone knows each other. On special occasions, they cover their faces with blue cloth. The blue cloth rubs on their faces. Then their faces are blue. The blue cloth is very expensive, so the rich Tuareg have blue faces. Rich women wear a blue shawl around their shoulders and arms. They rub the shawl on their faces. They want blue faces, too!

Tuareg men marry women from the same group. They often marry cousins. The Tuareg women have a lot of freedom. They decide important things about their lives. The Tuareg women have long hair and are very beautiful.

Today, many Tuareg do not live in the desert. Countries around the Sahara Desert do not want groups of people going from place to place. Many Tuareg now live in towns. Soon it will be hard to find the Blue Men of the Sahara.