Language of the Tutsi

The Tutsi share the same Central Bantu language with the Hutu and the Twa. In Burundi  it is known as Kirundi and in Rwanda it is called Kinyarwanda. They are simply different dialects of the same language. Since cattle herding is a large part of Tutsi culture, the cow is a very symbolic animal to the culture as it represents happiness, health, and prosperity. The Kirundi language has many symbolic references to cattle. For example, the Kirundi greeting Amashyo means "May you have herds of cattle". Many of the Rwandese and Burundian people also speak French, one of the official languages of Belgium which ruled over both countries after World War I. French is used in their schools and many people have French first names as a result of the socio-cultural globalization brought on by the Belgians. A small portion of the Tutsi speak also speak English, which they learned during their time as refugees in Uganda.


http://www.worldvision.org.hk/images/News/images/ireports/ir_rwanda-20yrs_20140403_img05.jpg

References:

"Countries and Their Cultures." Culture of Burundi. N.d. Electronic document, http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Burundi.html accessed March 25, 2014.

"Countries and Their Cultures." Tutsi. N.d. Electronic document, http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Brazil-to-Congo-Republic-of/Tutsi.html accessed March 25, 2014.

Effect of Colonization on the Relationship Between the Tutsi and the Hutu

The Tutsi people had migrated to the region of the Hutu. They were only 15% of the population, yet they were able to gain control of the region. Although they had political power in the region, they did not suppress the Hutu. The middle and upper class Hutu were treated the same as the Tutsi. The Tutsi did not treat the lower class Hutu badly, but the expected them to pay their taxes. In terms of physique, the Tutsi were skinnier, taller, and lighter in skin color, opposite of the Hutus. Before contact with the Europeans, the Tutsi communicated very well with the Hutu who were darker in skin color. They traded with each other and made a connection through their similarity in herding cattle. They even intermarried.

First European contact occurred in 1894 by the Germans. The Tutsi had much more similar physical characteristics to the Europeans than the Hutu and for this reason the Germans made the Tutsi greater than the Hutu. They also justified this idea by stating that because the Tutsi were similar to the Europeans, they naturally had more power and status in the country.The effect of the introduction of European culture and globalization led to the change in the Tutsi's value of equality with their neighbors. The introduction of this form of racism led to the rift between the Hutu and the Tutsi. Before their tribal affiliations, physical characteristics had no meaning. The two groups got along very well, but because the Europeans gave the affiliations racial meanings, the two groups turned on each other.

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             After World War I, Belgium was given control of this colony. During this time, the Tutsi had become increasingly stronger and were more oppressive on the Hutu. They had a system of Corvee which was like slavery but the Tutsi elite did not actually own the slaves. The Tutsi elite were actually manipulated by the colonists to treat the Hutu in this manner so that they could make their economy prosper. This sort of cruel behavior was never used before by the Tutsi until the colonialists had introduced it into their economy. Increasing power of the Tutsi led the Belgian government want to give power to the Hutu. Tutsi wanted to become independent but the Belgians knew that after leaving that the Tutsi would not continue to be exploited. For this reason they created a situation in which the Hutu would gain power. They declared that the Hutu would have the responsibility of what would occur in Rwanda, stripping the Tutsi of their power. This power change led to a sudden drop in the Tutsi's role in society and status which hurt their self worth. This further fueled the hatred between the two groups which ultimately led to the Rwandan genocide. The genocide lasted from April to July 1994. It was basically a 100 day period of Ethnic cleansing by the Hutu to eliminate the Tutsi and make them flee from Rwanda.

        The Hutu were massacring men, women, and children of all ages. Women were more subjected to sexual assault. For this reason, in present day, 70% of the Tutsi population are HIV positive. Women and young girls of the Tutsi today have a very negative view on life because of the sexual assaults they underwent during the genocide. Also many families were pulled apart during this time period.

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        In sum, the effect of globalization led to the tensioning of the relationship between the Tutsi and the Hutu. The Europeans initially declared the Tutsi as the higher power and manipulated the Tutsi elite into oppressing the Hutu. This deepened the resentment. Then the Europeans switched the power roles of the two groups and conveniently left the scene which led to a regime of Hutu leadership. This eventually led to the massacre of thousands of people. Before the Europeans, the Tutsi were in leadership and the Hutu were subservient, but they were content. Both groups were content with their relationship and equal in their society, but with the introduction of globalization, a long-term issue was encouraged.

        Even today, there is a strong resentment between the Tutsi and the Hutu. They have created a divide with each other because of this conflict which stems from the introduction of color and tribal affiliations by Europeans. One of the Hutu rebel army leaders described their relationship with the Tutsi in 2008. He said "We are fighting every day because we are Hutu and they are Tutsi. We cannot mix, we are always in conflict. We will stay enemies forever."

References:

Ka Hon Chu, Sandra, and Anne-Marie de Brouwer. N.d."Rwanda

Genocide Victims Speak Out | Herizons Magazine." Rwanda Genocide Victims Speak Out | Herizons Magazine. http://www.herizons.ca/node/334. accessed March 23, 2014.

"The Rwandan Genocide. N.d." The Rwandan Genocide.

http://modernhistoryproject2012.wordpress.com/history-of-hutu-tutsi-relations/. accessed March 23, 2014.

Gender Issues: The Genocide of Tutsi Women

             Gender issues with the Tutsi arose because of the marriages between Tutsi and Hutu peoples. The Tutsi were considered inferior to the Hutu. When Tutsi women married Hutu men, their offspring would be legally Hutu. As a legal Hutu, they had the same privileges as the Hutu. Because the Tutsi women had the opportunity through marriage to change the social class of their offspring, they were the primary targets of genocide. By attacking Tutsi women, they could not obtain the rights of the Hutu. Since lineage was based solely on males, Tutsi men weren't really targeted. Few Hutu women would forfeit their rights by marrying a Tutsi male.

             Tutsi women were framed by social media as the “enemy of the state.” They framed them as whores and prostitutes. They convinced the Hutu that their only objective was to seduce and marry all of the Hutu men. Propaganda convinced the Hutu that Tutsi women only married Hutu men solely for the benefit of the Tutsi community. As a result, the Hutu were enraged and resorted to sexual violence and genocide.

"Sexual Violence and Genocide Against Tutsi Women." N.d. Sexual Violence and Genocide Against Tutsi Women. http://academic.udayton.edu/race/06hrights/georegions/africa/Rwanda01.htm accessed March 1, 2014.

Globalization of the Tutsi Population

    The Tutsi’s homeland in East Central Africa is Burundi, which borders Rwanda. The Tutsi are a herding society and their country consists of many pasture lands, fertile areas, and mountain slopes. With these lands they share with numerous sorts of wildlife such as hippos, baboons, warthogs, elephants, antelopes, buffalo’s and ect. But with no natural park or sanctuaries established, the Tutsi’s animals are threatened due to outside development, deforestation, and soil erosion. And since the laws are very lackadaisical, poaching is also a very detrimental issue.

      With a population of approximately 6,054,714 in 2000, Burundi has one of the grandest densities in Africa. The Tutsi’s historical enemies, the Hutu, make up the majority of the country. Where the Tutsi’s are only accountable for 14% of the population. Due to ethnic imbalances and shifts, many Hutu fled to Rwanda, a neighboring country, to evade ethnic persecution. And a myriad of Tutsi’s liberated to Burundi so that they wouldn’t have to endure violence in Rwanda. The Tutsi now comprise 20% of the population.

     In the midst of all this, many other ethnic groups have relocated to Burundi’s capital of Bujumbura and call it their home. Most of these diversified immigrants of 3,000 Europeans and 2,000 South Asians are involved in missionaries and church related activities. Bujumbura is Burundi’s most populated and industrialized city and the majority of immigrants are clustered in the capital. Once known as Usumbura, Bujumbura used to be the colonial capital. It is one of the two urban centers in Burundi (The second largest being Gitega) and has vast amounts of architecture that are visibly influenced by Europeans. The rest of the Burundians, the majority (94%), live in rural areas and in groupings too minuscule to be called a village. Their houses are built of grass, mud, woven leaves, cattle corals, tin, and sticks. And their traditional hut is called a rugo.

     

Reference:

JRank. N.d. "Burundi." Countries and Their Cultures. Electronic document. http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Burundi.htmlFind accessed March 12, 2014.

Marriage and Family of the Tutsi Tribe

Among the Tutsi tribe, social status was a very important factor in their society and often reflected the marriages of the tribe members. A person's social status could be determined through their body posture and position, mannerisms, language, and movements. Those of high social class were expected to have standard of self-respect and not show any emotions. The social class ranking was not only used for families, but among other tribes and cultures. The Tutsi were consider to be of a higher class than the Hutu, who often served as caretakers for the Tutsi's cattle and livestock. The Tutsi people made up the majority of this ruling system, due to the fact that it was very difficult for a Hutu or someone from another tribe, to be able to join the Tutsi class. Although it was rare for a person to join the Tutsi, it was common for one to be removed from the Tutsi class and into the Hutu. This was a common penalty of someone who committed a dishonorable act.

Many of the people of the Tutsi had arranged marriages, which was generally the role of the father to find a wife for his son - usually of the same social class. The family of the groom had to pay a price for the bride, which was agreed by both families. This payment can vary in form and value, but was often composed of cattle and in modern day can be cash or clothing. Although this tradition still continues, most people in these days have the ability to choose whom they want to marry. Polygamy was still practiced among the people, even though it was strictly forbidden by the civil law and the church.

Family is important to this tribe and they strive to maintain a strong relationship with their extended family. Families live in individual homes, but are grouped together in areas with extended family. When a woman is married, she is joined with her husbands family, but in this tradition, husbands and wives do not live in a house together. In the families, children are generally born at the home, with the assistance of other women. A ceremony is held for the baby, 6 days after he/she is born. At the ceremony, the baby is presented to the family and the mother receives gifts and a crown of flowers. When the child is about one year old, a different ceremony called kuvamukiriri, the baby is given a name, which is chosen by the grandfather, and the child is baptized if the family is christian. Children are highly valued and are an important part of the family and culture of the Tutsi tribe. These holidays as well as traditional holidays are usually celebrated with dancing and drumming.


http://kjhtutsis.wikispaces.com/

References:

“Countries and Their Cultures.” N.d. Culture of Burundi. http://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Burundi.html. Accessed February 21, 2014.

“Countries and Their Cultures.” N.d. Tutsi. http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Brazil-to-Congo-Republic-of/Tutsi.html. Accessed February 21, 2014.