photo by Ron Wyman
Musician, Omara “Bombino” Moctar (Goumar Almoctar), has a pretty incredible background. One of 17 siblings, he was born and raised in Niger among the nomadic Tuareg people, whose ancestry is traced to to the North African Berbers. The Tuareg, also known as the Kel Tamasheq, are warriors as well as travelers and traders, fighting against colonialism and strict Islamic rule.
After a severe drought in the early 1980s killed off their livestock and forced the Tuareg people to leave the countryside and move to cities or to Algeria or Libya, these displaced communities organized uprisings against local governments that were ignoring them. Omara was forced to flee his homeland when violent rebellion raged, as people fought for their rights and preservation of their culture. The local musicians played a vital role in telling the story of their plight through song, in a style known as ishoumar (taken from the French “chomeurs,” meaning “unemployed”). He taught himself to play guitar, inspired by this music of his people. In addition to developing a passion for preserving his Tuareg heritage, he would also develop into a formidable guitarist and songwriter.
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