The Idaksahak of Mali

The Idaksahak of Mali, numbering approximately 162,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a pastoralist Berber ethnic group indigenous to the Gao Region of northeastern Mali. They are an Indigenous people in the Songhai people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Tadaksahak and their primary religion is Folk Islam.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Idaksahak

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mali
People Cluster: Songhai
Primary Language(s): Tadaksahak (dsq)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 162,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013543
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Pray for the Idaksahak of Mali

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tadaksahak
Language Family: Songhay

100%
%
Tadaksahak Speakers

Media Resources in Tadaksahak:

Films:

No entries found for: Tadaksahak(dsq). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Tadaksahak:

Or check out the Tadaksahak bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Idaksahak:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Idaksahak are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Idaksahak:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Idaksahak are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Idaksahak:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Idaksahak of Mali

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.
readRomans 4:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not waver but will grow strong in their belief, knowing that the Lord rewards those who seek Him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
readJohn 12:24

Pray that God will raise up men and women who are willing to die to their own desires, bearing much fruit for the kingdom among individuals and in places where His gospel has not been proclaimed.

Idaksahak Across Countries (ROP3 - 103948) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Definitions page.

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