Shearing Season in the High Atlas
End of May marked the start of the annual wool-shearing season across the flocks of the Atlas Mountains. To this day, the work is carried out the old traditional way: entirely by hand, using manual shears and no machinery.
As the season begins, shepherds from across the area gather at the laazibs (seasonal transhumance encampments), working side by side in the spirit of Tiwizi, a longstanding Amazigh tradition of collective mutual aid.
Amid laughter, conversation, and the rhythms of Amazigh songs, the flocks are shorn and generations-old knowledge is passed on through practice.
Last year, we had the privilege of joining one of these heartwarming Tiwizi gatherings in the Siroua region of Morocco’s Anti-Atlas, documenting the shearing season alongside members of the Association of Imallasen n’ Siroua.
The region is home to its own distinctive local sheep breed (called Siroua, after the name of its home region), whose wool has long been prized as the preferred raw material for carpet weaving in many Amazigh regions across the country.
