Why do all Forsaken, and even Aiel prophecy have such a hard time with the Aiel calling themselves Aiel?

"He shall spill out the blood of those who call themselves Aiel as water on sand, and he shall break them as dried twigs, yet the remnant of a remnant shall he save, and they shall live."

Are the true Aiel the Tinkers?

What does it mean to be Aiel?

 

"Prophecy says when the Stone of Tear falls, we will leave the Three-fold Land at last. It says we will be changed, and find again what was ours, and was lost."

What did they lose that they are destined to find?

Is it referring to the Song that the Tinkers are hunting? Does it refer to their old way of life?

The reason the Forsaken call them the "so-called Aiel" is because in the Age of Legends, the Aiel followed the Way of the Leaf (so they were like Tinkers) and never harmed another person.  For the Aiel to now be this group of people that are amazing at warfare is the opposite of that.

 

As for that, it's possible that it refers to the Song, or servitude to the Aes Sedai, or even just a lifestyle of peace.  In that regard, if the Aiel did go back to the Way of the Leaf, or something similar, then the Shaido that returned to the Waste are the "remnant of the remnant" that survived of the old Aiel.

 

But yes, the Tinkers are the Jenn Aiel (or at least hold to the ideals still - they don't really serve the Aes Sedai anymore), and they are looking for the Song.  To a certain extant, I almost wonder if the Aiel don't still know the Song... they mention singing quite a bit, and they avoid Tinkers whenever possible, so the two groups don't sit down all that often.

Just a quick point.

 

The Jenn Aiel ARE the 'true Aiel'.  They protected the artifacts given into their care and stayed to the path of peace.  The Tinkers are the Aiel who split off during Rand's glimpse into the past. The ones who, after the battle, started throwing things off the wagons and set off on their own, talking of the song they had heard their elders speak of. 

 

In a way, both the Tinkers and the Aiel betrayed what they were.  The Tinkers betrayed their loyalty to the Aes Sedai, and the Aiel betrayed the Way.

Aye, that's correct.  Thanks for the reminder about the Tinkers splitting off.