u/Last-Profession-427

Hello, I've posted about this a few times recently, but I found out recently that my grandfather was an Amazigh man from Southern Morocco.

I want to find ways to learn about and connect with the culture and language, but..my mother was not raised with the culture either. My grandfather has dementia and is often confused, and even when he's lucid, he will not speak of his past or culture. He has no living parents, siblings, or anyone else I can find to speak to directly. I live in the United States and speak only English.

I've been trying to research through google, resources for learning about Amazigh culture. Clothing, foods, holidays, language, but I've found remarkably little. I'm going to try to learn as much Tachelhit as I can from the few resources I've found so far, but if anybody has resources or information on..pretty much anything to do with Amazigh culture (especially within southern morocco) I would be eternally grateful if you could share.

Thank you.

Hello.

For context, I live in the United States. My grandfather was an Amazigh man whose family came from Morocco, but he hid it from me my entire life, and I only found out recently.

I want to connect with the culture, but since my grandfather will not speak to me of it (and has no living parents or siblings i can contact either), and trying to trace his genealogy has gotten me nowhere, I have no clue where exactly in Morocco he is from.

This makes it impossible to know what tribe, exactly, I descend from, and because of that I don't know where I would begin with things like trying to learn an Amazigh language, given there are several spoken within Morocco.

Hello, I'm sorry for the ignorant question.

I have been researching the Amazigh people after finding out my grandfather is Moroccan. To cut a long story short, I live in the United States, my grandfather hid his North African heritage from me all my life and claimed to be "Italian and German", but I recently found out he's Moroccan.

At first I thought that would likely put me in line with being partially Amazigh, and nothing in my research so far has contradicted that exactly, but then I came across a Reddit thread where someone says that Amazigh identity is passed purely through the patrilineal line, and that if somebody has an Amazigh mother and a father from a different culture, they are not Amazigh at all.

Trying to google answers didn't come up with anything, so I'm verifying here, I suppose. If I have Amazigh ancestry through my mothers father, does that mean my mother is Amazigh but I am not?

And if I am not, then what would I be considered? I am mixed Moroccan, but aren't the Moroccan people Amazigh? Does that mean I can't call myself mixed Moroccan either? Does being Amazigh through my mother, rather than my father, erase that entire part of my heritage entirely?

I'm not asking to start an argument or be derisive, to be clear, I am genuinely looking for answers on how Amazigh identity is viewed, if it is in fact purely patrilineal, and how the identity of mixed race children of Amazigh mothers are viewed, because the only information I've seen on the subject has been in one reddit thread and I would like more insights, if anyone is willing to share.

Hello. I'm sorry if this is a strange thing to bring here, but:

I live in the United States. I grew up being told my entire family were European, and that my grandfather was "German and Italian", though socially I've often experienced racism from people who believed I was Arab or North African (my grandfather is tanned, dark almond eyes, dark hair, a large nose, many traits associated with "nonwhite" people where i live, and some of these traits were passed to me). I also heard whispers among family members, and from my father especially, that my grandfather was not actually German and Italian.

I learned very recently that my grandfather was actually Moroccan (i do not know if he is 100% moroccan, i know he is at least half and likely more). Why I was lied to about this, I have no idea. I would like many answers from him, but he will not speak of his heritage to me or to anybody, though.

..I, honestly, would like to learn about and incorporate aspects of Amazigh culture and language into my life.

I know I was not raised with the culture, and I know I have a small blood percentage since only one of my grandparents is Amazigh, so I don't know if I have any right to engage with the culture as part of myself.

But it feels wrong, to let cultural assimilation win. My grandfather and mother both seem ashamed of his ethnicity, and I find that immensely sad. Furthermore, I figure, if I can experience racism my whole life on account of being part Amazigh, why not try to find joy in the heritage instead of only encountering it when it's used to harm me?

I guess the reason I'm here is because I wanted to ask Amazigh people if they would consider it inappropriate, for me to identify with this part of my heritage or try to learn about the culture and language. And, if it would be okay, where I would even begin with doing that. Again, I apologize if anything about my question has been inappropriate, or if this is the wrong place to ask these things.