Iraqw

Iraqw, Mbulu or Wambuly. A village numbering 198,000 according to the 1967 census, concentrated in the Mbulu district of the Aushausha region in north-central Tanzania. Their language is considered part of the Rift assemblage of the Cushitic group of the Afroasiatic family.

The indigenous social structure of the Iraqw is based on tribal democracy. The main political institution is a public meeting attended by all adult male heads of households. During the colonial period, a system of designated chiefs was imposed. The family is the unit of production and consumption. Men and women participate in agricultural tasks. Most families grow a large number of basic products. Their crops include corn, sweet potato, beans, squash, wheat, sorghum, millet, and other vegetables. Cattle raising is another important branch of their traditional economy. The use of natural resources is mainly based on the regular redistribution of land among households.

The religious conceptions of the Iraqw are connected with the spiritualization of natural elements, such as the sky, as well as with some abstract ideas and the ritual worship of their land.