The identity of the Kahina is unknown. Hence her appropriation by various groups. She can be a Berber, an Oriental, mixed Byzantine, a Jew, a Christian or a pagan. Only one aspect seems certain, she was a female. She was adopted as a symbol by women, and was used as a symbol against the foreign occupation, and later as a symbol against male hegemony. Indeed, already during the period of French Colonisation the Kahina was a model for the militant women who fought the French. In the Kabyle insurrection of 1851 and 1857, women such as Lalla Fatma N'Soumer and , who were known as chief warriors took the Kahina as a model.