As a nomadic group, the Tigre people have their own unique way of life, including traditional clothing, social structure, and home design. Most Tigre people are nomadic herdsmen, raising cattle, goats, sheep, and camels. They are also seasonal farmers.
Tigre Lifestyle
The Tigre people will typically engage in farming until the rainy season when they migrate around the countryside with their herds. Key crops include:
- Corn
- Sorghum
- Millet
- Legumes
- Linseed
Some Tigre are completely nomadic, while some are semi-nomadic or settled farmers. They primarily use camels and donkeys for transportation.
The Tigre people are a patrilineal society, with arranged marriages. Marriage celebrations follow Tigre traditions, where the village participates fully in preparing for weddings. Some Tigre marriages are performed by proxy.
One interesting aspect of their social structure is that the last-born child inherits the family house and receives special privileges, such as being given the most fertile land, farming tools, and selecting their own calf. They are also responsible for caring for their mothers if the husband dies.
Tigre Houses
Tigre houses are usually round huts, covered with mats of goat or camel hair. They may live in temporary villages with two to three huts. However, those who live in villages permanently have round houses with cone-shaped roofs made from branches and leaves and walls made of palm mats.
Tigre Clothing
Traditional Tigre clothing is usually white and lacks adornment. For formal occasions, women wear long dresses with long sleeves, while men wear pants that are tight from knee to ankle and baggy above the knee, with a fitted long-sleeve shirt. Both wear a gabbi, or shawl, around their shoulders.
A Tigre nobleman wrapped in a traditional white shawl.
 |
Women commonly wear their hair in micro-braids, known as fegiret and qedamit. Some fegiret styles also include two groups of seven strands of braids that partially cover the forehead.
