Adventures of the ‘Salt Lady’: Memories of First-Time Fieldwork in Mali–Mauritania (1977–8)
Between October 1977 and April 1978 in Mali and Mauritania, I was known as ‘the Salt Lady’, as I researched the history of the Ijil salt mine in Mauritania and the Saharan nomads who controlled its commerce across the desert into Mali, This ‘memoire’ recounts the adventures that happened along the w...
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Published in | Mande studies Vol. 20; pp. 93 - 110 |
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Main Author | |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Bloomington
Indiana University Press
01.01.2018
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Between October 1977 and April 1978 in Mali and Mauritania, I was known as ‘the Salt Lady’, as I researched the history of the Ijil salt mine in Mauritania and the Saharan nomads who controlled its commerce across the desert into Mali, This ‘memoire’ recounts the adventures that happened along the way. In Mauritania, I found myself working in Zouerate (close to Ijil). The War in the Western Sahara precluded travel to the mine. The article also recounts the more serious challenges of doing fieldwork in the late 1970s—violence, corruption, surveillance, extreme poverty. |
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ISSN: | 1536-5506 2379-5506 |
DOI: | 10.2979/mande.20.1.09 |