L'évolution des relations de dépendance depuis la période pré-coloniale jusqu'à nos jours chez les Iullemmeden Kel Dinnik

The study of Tuareg society has nearly always been focused on the warrior aristocracy. The dependents —free men, neither overlords nor captives — who constitute the majority of society among the Iullemeden Kel Dinnik, are studied in this article. The nature of dependency relationships are also examined. The intrusion of colonialism and the subsequent struggle against it were followed by a general social restructuring : suppression of the ettebel or general chieftaincy, break-down into autonomous "groups", creation of new chieftaincies, arbitrary redistribution of dependents. Thus, past relationships of dependency disappear, insofar as the protection guaranteed by the overlord is replaced by that of the administrative authorities.