Tutsi

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The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu. The Twa (or Watwa) are a pygmy people and the original inhabitants. The Hutu (or Wahutu) are a people of Bantu origin, and since they moved into the area they dominated the Twa. Large numbers of all three were slaughtered in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.

1 Origins
2 See also
3 Racial
4 Culture
5 Colonial influences
6 Genocide
7 Rwanda in popular culture
8 External links

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Origins

The ideas surrounding real and supposed ethnic groups in Rwanda have a long and complicated history. If the term "ethnic group" is meant to mean a collection of people who share a language and culture, then Rwanda has only one ethnic group, the Rwandans, because only one language, Kinyarwanda, and one culture exist in the country. So how are we to understand the idea of "Hutus" and "Tutsis"? Because there was no recorded history in pre-colonial Rwanda, it is very difficult to know what these terms meant before the arrival of the colonists. However, it is clear that the meaning of "Hutu" and "Tutsi" have changed through time and from place to place. In one instance, one finds that Tutsis were associated with the king of Rwanda, but in another instance a so-called Tutsi could be impoverished and indistinguishable from so-called Hutus. In another setting, you find Belgian colonists conducting a census, and defining "Tutsi" as anyone with more than ten cows, while a "Hutu" meant someone with less than ten cows. In yet another context, you find German colonists amazed by the prominent, "European-like" noses of some Rwandans; they wove fanciful historical and racial theories to explain how some Africans acquired such noses. In addition, they were amazed by the organized society existing in the Kingdom of Rwanda. According to these early twentieth-century Europeans, some of whom would later be implicated in the genocide of the Jews (1939-1945), such organization and such noses could only be explained by European descent, transmitted by way of Ethiopia. These ideas were taught to Rwandan schoolchildren and laid the basis for the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.

Thus arose the great myth that the "Tutsis" came from Ethiopia, which is repeated even today (examples: CNN article, PBS article). However, these remain historical myths and rumours, invented by nineteenth and twentieth-century Germans, without the slightest shred of evidence to support them. That large news organizations still repeat these rumours points to a major double-standard: if a media organization claimed that a supposed segment of the population of France came from Pakistan, for example, they would be expected to support the claim with actual evidence. Even if Westerners still repeat the myths associated with "Hutus" and "Tutsis", many Rwandans now recognize that these ideas are not based in reality.

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Racial

Today there is considerable debate about the racial validity of the term Tutsi as distinct from Hutu. Some researchers believe there is no genetic difference between the two supposed groups, and that what difference did exist can be explained by social patterns within the Great Lakes region. At one time, there may have been economic and cultural differences in the Rwandan population. One such difference was occupational. Some people were farmers and ate a varied diet. Others were cattle keepers and had a diet that consisted of mainly dairy and meat products. The so-called "Hutus" were formerly associated with the former characteristics, and the so-called "Tutsis" with the latter characteristics. Since there weren't any blood or cultural differences between the two "groups", it was easy for them to change their supposed identity. A Hutu could become a Tutsi, simply by raising cattle, and a Tutsi could become a Hutu by working in agriculture. Nonetheless, the myths associated with "Hutus" and "Tutsis" persist to some extent in Rwanda, even though there is no biological or cultural justification for this.

Tutsi is actually an indeterminate term. In the Kinyarwanda language, a single Tutsi is called umututsi, and more than one (the plural) is abatutsi.

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Culture

There is little difference between the cultures of the Tutsi and Hutu, and both groups speak the same language. These significant similarities lead many to conclude that Tutsi is mainly an expression of class or caste rather than ethnicity. Experts still dispute over whether these similarities between Hutus and Tutsis came from a common ancestry or a high rate of intermarriage, or perhaps both.

The Tutsi were ruled by their king, the mwami, from the 15th century until 1961, when the monarchy was abolished by the Belgians, under impulse from both Tutsi and Hutu. Traditionally the rate of intermarriage has been very high, and relations between the groups were generally peaceful until the 20th century.

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Colonial influences

Both Germany (before World War I) and Belgium ruled the area in a colonial capacity. It was Belgian colonialists who created the notions of two different races rather than castes. When the Belgians took over the colony in 1916 from the Germans, they felt that the colony would be better governed if they classified the different races in a hierarchical form. They felt that the Hutu were children who needed to be guided, and saw the Tutsi as the superior race. In fact they couldn't believe that the Tutsi were part of the African race at all. They thought that they had immigrated from somewhere else, or were survivors of the lost continent of Atlantis. Interestingly in 1959 the Belgian established racial hierarchy was reversed with the Hutu being considered the superior group and taking the prime positions in society. This increased oppression of the Tutsi by the Hutu, and led to many cultural conflicts, including the Tutsi Genocide.

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Genocide

The Rwandan Genocide was the organized murder of up to 1 million Rwandans in 1994. Although Rwanda's bifurcated society was relatively stable until the 1970s, the following two decades saw many members of both tribes die in bloody fighting in Burundi, Rwanda, and Congo. By early August 1994, an estimated 1/4 of the pre-war population of Rwanda had either died or fled the country. International relief efforts were mobilized to care for the refugees, but available supplies were inadequate and outbreaks of disease were widespread. More than 20,000 refugees died in a cholera epidemic in the camps set up to receive them. Today there remain approximately 130,000 people in prison waiting to be tried for their part in the genocide, and well over 300,000 children with no relatives to care for them.

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