Riffians, by others also known as Riyafa or Rwafa, are a Berber-speaking people of Northwestern Africa, who derive their name from the Riff region in the northern edge of Morocco. Being a part to Gibraltar Arc and living close to the Iberian peninsula, communities of Riffians are found both in northeastern Morocco and southern Spain, as well as elsewhere in Western Europe and North Africa. Their native settlements were Arabized and Islamized in and after the 7th-century, during the early expansion of Islam. They are overwhelmingly maraboutic Sunni Muslims, but retain their pre-Islamic traditions and culture and still retain largerly their native language. According to Irina Casado i Aijon, Riffians have traditionally organized themselves under "patrilineality and patrilocality principles". The oldest man in the household commands authority and responsibility for decisions, while women jointly care for the young and sick without any discrimination. Like other Berbers, temporary migration is an accepted tradition. The Riffians have been a significant source of Morocco emigrants into some European countries such as the Netherlands. Riffians speak the Tamazight group of Berber languages, specifically Tarifit or Zenatiya. The languages spoken depend on the region, with many Riffians who speak a Berber language also speaking Arabic or Spanish. Nineteen groups or social units of Riffians are known: 5 in the west along the Mediterranean coast which speak Arabic, 7 in the centre of which one speaks mainly Arabic and rest Riff language, 5 in the east and 2 in the southeastern desert area also speak the Riff-Berber language. They have inhabited an impoverished and an eroded, deforested, poorly irrigated region. Poverty rate and infant mortality rates among Riffians has been high, according to a study published in 1980 by Terri Joseph. The Riffians have lived a largely settled, agricultural lifestyle, using hand tools, oxen and cattle to plow the steeply terraced land in their valleys. Horticultural produce along with sheep and goat meat, cheese, and milk provide the traditional sustenance. Some practice sardine-seining along the Mediterranean coast. Riffians have experienced numerous wars over their history. Some of their cultural traditions reflects and remembers this history, such as the singing and dancing of Ayara Liyara, Ayara Labuya, which literally means "Oh Lady oh Lady, oh Lady Buya" and is accompanied by izran and addjun. This tradition, states Hsain Ilahiane, is linked to the 11th-century destruction and deaths of the Riffian fathers during the raid by the Almoravid leader Yusuf ibn Tashfin. In more modern times, the Riff War caused numerous deaths of Riffian people and of Spanish as well as French soldiers. The Riff War witnessed the use of chemical weapons in the 1920s by the Spanish army. In 1958, some Riffian communities launched a modern nationalist movement. In the decades that followed, the Riff region has witnessed Riffian demonstrations and demands for recognition of Riffian language, culture and Berber studies at schools and universities. A resurgent Riffian nationalism in 2010, their protests in 2013 and protests in 2017 for hogra – a humiliating treatment by an abusive state, has drawn public attention, as well as claims of brutal suppression by Moroccan authorities.
