Tutsi

Tutsi refers to a social class or people of the Great Lakes region of Africa. Historically, they were often called watutsi, watusi, wahuma, wahima, or wahinda. The Tutsis form a subgroup of the Banyarwanda and Barundi peoples, residing primarily in Rwanda and Burundi, but with significant populations also found in Uganda and Tanzania.

Tutsis are the second largest population division among the three largest groups in Rwanda and Burundi; the other two are the Hutu (the largest) and the Twa (the smallest). A small number of people of the Hema and Kiga ethnic groups also live close to the Tutsis in Rwanda. The northern Tutsis residing in Rwanda are called ruguru (banyaruguru), while the southern Tutsis living in Burundi are known as hima, the Banyamulenge do not have their own territory.

Origins and classification

Definitions of "Hutu" and "Tutsi" they have changed depending on time and place. Social structures were not stable in Rwanda, even during the colonial days under Belgian rule. The Tutsi aristocracy or elite were distinguished from Tutsi commoners, and wealthy Hutus were often indistinguishable from upper-class Tutsi.

Under the colony of Ruanda-Urundi, the Belgians attempted to take advantage of native political structures by introducing a policy of indirect rule. In doing so, the authority of what had been the Kingdom of Rwanda was extended to areas that had previously been autonomous. Following what the Belgians considered the enshrined order of society, only Tutsis were allowed to attend secondary schools or join the colonial administration. The Belgian authorities did not use any real ethnographic method to determine who was Tutsi, but simply conducted a census and issued identity documents defining those with ten or more cows as Tutsi and those with fewer as Hutu.

It is said that the Tutsis came to the Great Lakes region from the Horn of Africa.

Some researchers consider the Tutsis to be of Nilotic origin, although they do not speak a Nilotic language and have lived in the areas where they are found for at least four hundred years, leading to considerable interbreeding with the Hutus in the area. Due to the history of mixing between Hutus and Tutsis, the consensus among ethnographers and historians is that Hutus and Tutsis cannot be considered as distinct ethnic groups.

The Tutsi people are one of the three native peoples of the Central African nations Rwanda and Burundi.

In the Kiñarwanda language the term Tutsi has an indeterminate number: the singular is batutsi (a single Tutsi), while the plural (more than one Tutsi) is Tutsis or watutsi (the latter is the origin of the watusi dance).

The Tutsis are the last people to settle in Rwanda and Burundi. The first native inhabitants of this region were the Twa or watwa (plural batwa) people, a pygmy people. Then came the Hutus (wahutu), a Bantu people, and dominated the Batwa. Later, the Tutsis immigrated and dominated both the Hutus and the Batwa, establishing various kingdoms dominated by them. The Tutsis were herders, which allowed them to be politically successful.

An interesting aspect of these three racial groups is their height. A Twa person is traditionally short, Hutus are of medium height and Tutsis are tall; although in modern times the crossing between these groups is reducing these differences.

The inequalities between the rights of racial groups were not so extreme, but they were important. For the Tutsis, the Hutus were basically considered as workers. If a Tutsi murdered a Hutu, those of the Hutu's lineage could kill the Tutsi in revenge, but if a Hutu murdered a Tutsi, those of the Tutsi's lineage could kill the Hutu and another member of his family in revenge. ^{[citation required]}

In recent years, both Rwanda and Burundi have been, at least in theory, democratic nations with the same agreed rights for all. However, the Tutsis retained the majority of power (given by the Belgians who considered them a superior race,^{[citation needed]} creating great resentment from the Hutus, that when they gained power democratically, a climate of mistrust and revenge was created that led to the genocide of the Tutsi population in 1994, where more than 75% (around 1,200,000 people) of the Rwandan Tutsis were exterminated (generically called the genocide of Rwanda).

Hutus, Tutsis and Batwa speak the same language. Some scholars maintain that the Hutus and the Tutsis are not really different races or peoples, but rather different castes. It seems that it was the Belgian colonizers who created this notion of two different races.

If a Tutsi and a Hutu have common descendants, the descendant is considered to be from the paternal ethnic group.

Culture

A traditional tutsi wrist protection (igitembe).

In the territory of Rwanda, from the 15th century until 1961, the Tutsis were ruled by a king (the Mwami). Following the national referendum that led to independence, Belgium abolished the monarchy. In contrast, in the northwestern part of the country (predominantly Hutu), the large regional landowners shared power, similar to the Buganda society (in present-day Uganda).

Under their sacred king, Tutsi culture traditionally revolved around the administration of justice and government. They were the sole owners of cattle and supported themselves with their own products. In addition, their lifestyle allowed them plenty of free time, which they devoted to cultivating the high arts of poetry, weaving, and music. Due to the dominant minority status of the Tutsis vis-à-vis Hutu farmers and other local inhabitants, this relationship has been compared to that between lords and serfs in feudal Europe.

A traditional tutsi basket.

According to Fage (2013), the Tutsis are serologically related to the Bantu and Nilotic populations. This, in turn, rules out a possible Cushite origin for the founding Tutsi-Hima ruling class of the lake kingdoms. However, the royal burial customs of these latter kingdoms are quite similar to those practiced by the ancient Cushite states of Sidama in the southern Gibe region of Ethiopia. By contrast, Bantu populations north of the Tutsi-Hima in the Mount Kenya area, such as the Agikuyu, until modern times lacked a king (instead they had a stateless age system that they adopted from the Kushite peoples).), while there were a number of Bantu kingdoms to the south of the Tutsi-Hima in Tanzania, all of which shared the Tutsi-Hima chiefdom model. Since the Cushite kingdoms of Sidama interacted with Nilotic groups, Fage proposes that the Tutsi could be descended from one of these migrant Nilotic populations. Thus, the Nilotic ancestors of the Tutsis would have acted in earlier times as cultural intermediaries, adopting some monarchical traditions from the adjacent Cushite kingdoms and later carrying these borrowed customs to the south, when they first settled among the indigenous Bantu in the area of the Tutsis. Great Lakes. However, differences between the present-day cultures of the Tutsi and the Hutu can hardly be determined; both groups speak the same Bantu language. The intermarriage rate between the two groups was traditionally very high, and relations were friendly until the 20th century. Many scholars have concluded that Tutsis determination was and is primarily an expression of class or caste, rather than ethnicity. Rwandans have their own language, but English, French, and to some extent also Swahili, are all widely spoken second languages for different historical reasons. They also have a very strong genealogical memory, with the ability to recall the names of at least six previous generations, based on knowledge of their ancestry. In your culture, the morning, afternoon and evening greetings are different. Tutsi and Hutu families are patrilineal (surnames are passed from male to male). In the past, most people had arranged marriages with people of the same social class. Today, Tutsis can choose who they want to marry. Group activities are a regular date for the couple.

Notable people

• Paul Kagame
• Stromae
• Michel Micombero
• Pierre Buyoya
• Louise Mushikiwabo
• Benjamin Sehene
• Saido Berahino
• Gaël Bigirimana