The Tribes of Tanzania
The last census in Tanzania estimated the population to be 29,646,753
million, but as the last census was in July 1997, the true figure is
probably closer to 40 million today. This follows an estimated annual
population increase of over 3.0% per annum, rising to 4% in
Dar
es Salaam, with the birth rate at around 46.0 per 1,000 population
(1997), and death rate of 15.0 deaths per 1,000. Life expectancy is 49
years, 47 for men, 50 for women. Recent excuses for failing to carry out
more up-to-date census included the elections in 2000…but still no
census has been carried out.
The majority of the population of Tanzania is primarily of African
Bantu origin, numbering around 95 %. Other tribes include Cushitic
speakers of Nilotic origins who migrated southwards in previous
generations, often as nomadic pastoralists, and a small percentage of
descendants of the first hunter-gatherer bushmen tribes who inhabited
the land first, undisturbed until around 1,000BC when Cushitic speakers
and Bantu tribes moved southwards and westwards to share this region.
The hunter-gatherers are closely associated by physiognomic, cultural
and linguistic similarities with the Khoisan (Bushmen) of southern
Africa. The Hadzapi and Sandawe tribes represent the only small
remaining pockets of these original inhabitants.
The remaining 2% of the population dates from more recent migrations
and is made up of Arabic, Asian and European inhabitants. The population
of each of these minority groups has dropped dramatically since
Independence.
As a result of this unusual combination of peoples, The Republic of
Tanzania has evolved the greatest linguistic diversity in the whole of
the African continent, with four major African language bases, ranging
from Bantu, Cushitic and the Nilotic languages to the less
comprehensively spoken Khoisan or ‘click’ languages of the bushmen.
Within these broad language groups the different
people
of Tanzania are of hugely mixed racial origins, with around 129 ethnic
groups divided and sub-divided into smaller internal groups. It remains
questionable as to how many of these existed before the Western
influences of the colonial period categorised them, and the differences
between the different ‘tribes’ range between the blatantly obvious to
very indistinct.
Of the other three language families, the second most important is
the Nilotic group. The Nilotes can be divided into the plains Nilotic or
Wa-Maasai, the highland Nilotic, who bear close ancestral similarities
with the Wa-Barbaig of north-
central Tanzania, and the ‘river-lake’ Nilotic who immigrated from
Kenya and Uganda to settle on the eastern shores of Lake Victoria as the Luo tribe.
The Cushitic language has evolved from the Negroid Caucasoid group
known as Cushites who have come to Tanzania as the Wa-Mbulu or Iraqw,
and these people now farm the fertile volcanic northern highlands on the
Great
Rift Valley escarpment around
Ngorongoro.
It has been one of the founding directives of the Republic that no
ethnic group dominates, made easier by the fact that none of the 129
tribes and sub-tribes exceeds much more than 10% of the population. A
governmental drive continues to reduce tribal differentiation to a
merely nominal distinction, as chiefdoms are superseded by the
boundaries and requirements of national politics. There have been
directives to ban tribal clothing and insist that citizens retain a
permanent residence. However, there are still many minority tribal
groups still living in rural isolation despite the massive population
growth, and they continue to speak their own languages and hold their
own internal structures and standards. But the most successful unifying
factor in Tanzania is the propagation of Swahili as a national language,
enabling a much wider intermingling of all different peoples on the
basis of one, fundamentally Bantu, language.
A National Language for all tribes and all peoples of Tanzania.
With such diverse people contained within the boundaries of this
great republic, nothing could bring about such a strong sense of
nationality and identity as the growth of Swahili as a national
language. The language originates from the coastal regions and
Zanzibar,
where it developed in response to trade with sailors from the Arabian
Gulf, and its name evolved from the Arabic ‘sahil’, meaning coast. It
has since evolved to include many distinct examples of vocabulary taken
from the most influential foreign visitors and settlers, especially
Arabic, Portuguese, German and English, with recognisable words from
each of these often reflecting the traces of those cultures left on this
African land.
Words such as “chai” (tea), “achari”, (pickle), “serikali”
(government), “sheha” (village councillor) are some of the words derived
from Persian.
The Portuguese left a legacy of words such as “leso” (handkerchief),
“meza” (table), “jela” (prison), “pesa” (money), “mvinyo” (Portuguese
‘mvinho’ for wine), etc.
The English words borrowed in Swahili are generally centred around
machines or money, with words like “baiskeli” (bicycle), “basi” (bus),
“gari” (car), “penseli” (pencil), “mashine” (machine), “kompyuta”
(computer), “resiti”, (receipt), etc.
The Germans didn’t teach the Africans their language and hence just a
few German words are found in Swahili. Words like “shule” for school.
There are over 100 dialects of Swahili, the purest form being still regarded to come from
Zanzibar and the coast, and the language shows great variations in its widespread usage throughout Tanzania and
Kenya.
Tanzanians tell how coastal people speak most rapidly, and nowadays
tend to include more slang expressions in their speech, whereas in rural
areas Swahili reflects the local vernacular; the Wa-Sukuma around Lake
Victoria employ very emphatic tones, and the Wa-Ha on the shores of Lake
Tanganyika speak it slowly and carefully. The people of Kenya are
regarded to be far less polite in their use of Swahili than the
Tanzanians, exemplified by their preference of the phrase ‘
nataka’, I want, over the more common Tanzanian request, ‘
naomba’, I would like…
Closer proximity to other groups of peoples means that many
Tanzanians now speak a number of languages and are required to study and
converse in only Swahili in school. Bearing in mind that most tribes
were originally distinguished on account of their linguistic origins,
this indicates a general softening of ‘tribal’ distinctions and reflects
the very mixed culture in which many Tanzanians now grow up. The
relatively rapid spread of Christianity and Islam has also had an
important bearing on certain tribal beliefs and practices, although
these are often held alongside traditional beliefs, with some unusual
results. In most cases, distinctive tribal practices are becoming more
or less historic, and many individuals will explain their parentage to
be of mixed ethnic origin, showing how nowadays intermarrying between
tribes is widespread. Nevertheless, almost everyone will be very clearly
able to tell you his or her tribal lineage.
The following is not a comprehensive list of all 129 individual
tribes, but instead the following information bears reference to the
largest or most well known ethnic groups that travellers in Tanzania may
encounter, or hear about.
Considerably the largest ethnic group are the Sukuma, who make up 10 –
13% of the population and inhabit the regions around Lake Victoria in
Northern Tanzania. The greatness of the tribe has really evolved since
all of the small, independent chiefdoms in this region were grouped
together and perceived as a unit under the colonial government of
Tanzania in 1946. The Sukuma museum outside Mwanza has gathered together
a fascinating collection of memorabilia from the tribal past, including
a huge map of the distinct Sukuma regions, and tall ornamental spinning
drums showing each of the different forms of counting required,
depending on whether you were a boy or girl, shepherd or elder. The
centrepiece of the museum is a large pavilion containing vast tribal
drums for each chiefdom, and other pavilions show the paraphernalia of
historically acclaimed witch doctors and the costumes for traditional
dance groups. The Sukuma traditionally dance with snakes, which they
regard as an important spiritual omen, and often keep snakeskins hanging
inside their double-walled round huts. Much of their culture is centred
around the large, round boulders that dominate the landscape around the
shores of Lake Victoria, used by women to grind corn, and by men to
peek over the top and spy out the strongest unmarried girl to choose as a
wife.
The Haya people of the Kagera Region in North West Tanzania are a
sizeable tribe, and also show similarities of culture, tradition and
language. They are also of Bantu origin, most closely allied with the
Bantu to the north and west of them. The Haya were traditionally divided
into a series of 130 distinct patrilineal clans, in turn organised into
eight small sub-states ruled by a
mukama chief. These broad clans included the pastoral Hima people, and the more agricultural Iru.
The Nyamwezi number over 400,000 and mainly inhabit the central regions around
Tabora. They rose to great prominence working along the caravan routes, especially during the 19
th
century, when they challenged even the commercial power of the Arabs
with their flare for trade across the interior. They were among the
first tribes to organise themselves into a powerful warrior state, most
impressively under the rule of their first warrior chief Mirambo,
between 1870 and 1884. They
traded mainly in copper, salt,
ironmongery and ivory and slaves, and were widely famed for their
abilities as long-distance porters. Their name was given to them by
early Swahili traders, and strangely translates as ‘People of the Moon’,
probably referring to their habitation of the desolate and vast
interior. Their traditional tribal structure developed a greatly revered
structure of aristocracy and slaves, and relied rigidly on frequent
readings by the
mfumi spirit diviner and strict spiritual
initiation rites. The Nyamwezi also bear many cultural and linguistic
similarities with the Sukuma people to the North of them.
The widely renowned Maasai tribe are originally Nilotic pastoralists,
who migrated into Tanzania along the course of the Nile from southern
Sudan. They speak Maa, which bears striking similarities with areas of
their origination;
maasai in Amharic means ‘like me’, and the Maa word
sidan, sounding much like Sudan, means ‘beautiful’ while the word
katuum,
similar to the Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, means ‘will I get?’.
Certain Maasai tribal factions migrated into Tanzania during the 17
th century, having occupied East African lands further north since the 14
th
century. There remain approximately twelve distinct groups of Maasai
around the world, the largest of which now lives in Tanzania. They call
themselves
Otunlangana loo Ngishu, meaning The People of the
Cattle, and have traditionally made enemies as a result of their
fundamental belief the all the cows in the world were rightfully given
to them by god. They have traditionally adhered to very strict social
structures and regulations, all in deference to the highest regarded
social designation, that of
Olaibon, their mediator between the
people and the spirits of their ancestors. This is a hereditary title,
and the Olaibon is responsible for solving all conflicts within his clan
and initiating and closing the tribal age-sets, to which every other
Maasai belongs. He is also the tribal healer, and will have the greatest
knowledge of plant remedies and medicines upon which the people rely
for survival in the bush. Age sets originate on a seven year scale,
mainly concerned with male children and escalating from
Engayok, young children remaining at home, to
Layooni, attributed to uncircumcised boys who begin to learn the first lessons in herding cattle, to
Sikoliyo, the name given newly circumcised boys awaiting their cleansing ceremony which will make him a Maasai
Murran, or
Morani,
a warrior. A boy remains Sikoliyo for up to three months, and during
this time he will dress in black robes and adorn his face with patterns
of white chalk and soot. He takes an arrow and ventures into the bush,
where he must kill birds and use the plumage to adorn his head. After
the boy has spent his years as
Murran, protecting the rights and safety of the community, he will become
Orpaiyan, a married man with children. He is expected to marry numerous wives, and much later becomes an elder, called
Ilmoruak, and is responsible for making wise decisions regarding the future of the clan.
The majority of the Maasai remain true to their original beliefs in
their traditional religion, based on their god Engai and his messiah,
Kindong’oi, from whom their priests descend. Worship is done under
‘holy’ fig trees, or at O’ldoinyo Lengai, which means ‘the mountain of
god’. They do not believe in life after death. The Maasai traditionally
adhere to a strict diet consisting only of cows milk, blood and meat,
and wear a red cloth rubbed with fat for warmth, called
shuka.
Such strict tribal regulations have meant that the Maasai have found
the conversion to modern living in Tanzania hard, specifically
continuing a pastoral nomadic existence in a rapidly more populous
country with ever limited space and boundaries. Some Maasai have moved
towards cultivation, and many who have had opportunities for education
have demonstrated qualities of leadership and decision-making that
afforded them positions of great importance within the countries’
universities and government.
Barbaig
The Barbaig are one of the largest sub-tribes of the broader ethnic
group the Datoga. Their language has evolved from Eastern Sudanic roots,
and they have a Nilotic appearance that once physically distinguished
them from neighbouring tribes such as the WaNyaturu, WyNywamba, the
Hadzapi and Sandawe. The tribe used to practice scarification, marking
cuts around each eye and down each cheek with soot from burnt wood, and
would pierce and earlobes much like the Maasai. Neither of these
practices is considered relevant to their lifestyles today. The Barbaig
were close enemies of the Maasai tribe, although their lifestyles were
originally remarkably similar, as they also herded (zebu humped) cattle
southwards, following the course of the Nile. They continue to share an
almost identical practice for making a strong alcoholic drink from aloe
roots and wild honey. The two tribes famously endured a deciding battle
over who should inhabit the lush lands of the
Ngorongoro
Highlands, although the Maasai arrived to find the Barbaig already
settled there, and so the Maasai took precedence over the land. But
still the tribes regard each other as ‘respected enemies’, and Barbaig
elders still return to the graves of their ancestors in
Ngorongoro Crater.
The Maasai Wars were brought to a halt by the intervention of the
German military, and the British administration later put large numbers
of the Barbaig on trial. The Barbaig now live a quieter life, mainly in
the region around Mount Hanang, to the West of
Tarangire National Park and north of
Dodoma. They now combine pastoralism with local cultivation.
Traditional beliefs
The Barbaig believe strongly in the power of spirits, for good or
evil, but also in an afterlife which is a more pleasant and better
version of this one, without such destructive enemies as lion,
elephant,
rhino, cape
buffalo,
spirits in the form of snakes and invincible alien tribes. The Barbaig,
similar to the Maasai, traditionally practice polygamous, often
arranged marriages for girls between the ages of 13 and 14, and there
were once said to be no unmarried women in the tribe. The marriage
ceremony required the bride to be captured by her suitor in the cow
kraal, and the end of her residence in her father’s house was signified
by her intended husband placing a string of beads around her neck. The
ceremony often did not take place without a struggle, to the extent that
she might try to fight away the bridegroom and his helpers with a large
stick. As well she might, as her marriage signifies the complete
severance of her membership with girls of her age-group, who gather at
her home to mourn. After the marriage she is part of her husbands’
wealth, and her children, house and any belongings are his. If they
should divorce, she must leave with nothing. After marriage, the women
would wear a special pleated leather skirt, known as hananywend, with
spiritual-religious significance of
Udameselgwa, the female deity and patroness of Barbaig women.
The Sandawe and Hadza/ Hadzapi, are distinct tribes but classed
together, both being widely held to have the most ancient history of all
the tribes, and represent the last remaining ancestors of the first
hunter-gatherer tribes. They speak a language closely related to the
‘click’ language of the southern African Khoisan bushman. The Sandawe
occupy an area of northern central Tanzania and are generally more
assimilated with surrounding tribes, while the Hadza remain distinct
hunter-gatherers, keeping to the rural regions around Lake Eyasi in the
North, subsisting on roots and plants, or by bow and arrow during the
dry season; their requirements have barely changed from the ancient
Palaeolithic Era. However, the lifestyle of the Hadza is suffering from
the encroachment of other populations, whose cattle scatter the game and
pollute their water sources, and the growth of conservation areas, such
as Ngorongoro, which continue to diminish their hunting grounds. The
Hadza have developed a number of ingenious methods of attracting game
closer to their arrows, including taking the horns of a slain
impala
on their heads and bobbing around in the bush imitating the actions of a
live one. This age-old act of impressionism attracts other passing
impala straight into the cooking pot. An alternative method is to cover
themselves with an animal skin and lie in wait for hungry vultures…as
they swoop to land the Hadza hunter can grab the bird in his hand.
Remaining still while holding one bird then attracts others, and so the
tribe is fed. They supplement their diet with wild honey, a precarious
commodity to obtain, but worthwhile for trading with other tribes when
supplies of arrowheads or tobacco run dry.
Both the Hadza and the Sandawe have an ancestral tradition of rock
paintings, although it is uncertain which group were responsible for the
original rock paintings in the Kondoa area between Dodoma and
Arusha.
Also with an extraordinarily ancient history, the Iraqw (Mbulu) who
now cultivate the highlands on the escarpment of the Great Rift Valley
in Northern Tanzania are linguistically defined on account of their rare
Southern Cushitic language. They are thought to have occupied the lands
around Lake Natron,
Manyara
and Eyasi since ancient times, perhaps since the Upper Palaeolithic
period. The Caucasoid origins of the Iraqw indicate that they may have
been among the first immigrants to originate food production in East
Africa during the 1
st millennium, and were probably
responsible for the unusually advanced irrigation systems evident in
Northern Tanzania, such as those at Engakura. However, although the
civilisation at Engakura could very likely have been initiated by people
such as the Iraqw in the 1
st millennium, evidence such as
later pottery styles found at the site suggest that this settlement
achieved much greater significance towards the middle of the 2
nd millennium AD.
The Hehe are Bantu-speaking corn and cattle farmers, settled predominately in
the southern highlands around
Iringa.
This diverse and dispersed cluster of patrilineal clans share a similar
language and culture, and were among the first to join into a single
political state in the mid-
19th century
under Munyigumba, head of the Muyinga family. Such organisation was
necessary at this time, to protect against groups of the Southern
African Ngoni tribe (see below), who were violently raiding all of the
southern Tanzanian tribes at this time. When Munyigumba died in 1879,
his power of organisation and tribal respect was passed down to his son,
Mkwawa, who continued to employ tactics of military organization
borrowed from the Ngoni, and continued to expand his people’s domain.
The tribe has been historically renowned for their fierce warrior-like
reputation, to the extent that the origins of their name have
controversially been attributed to their weird and terrifying battle
cry, although some elders also claim that the name has ancestral
connections with their place of origin.
The Hehe were subdued by German forces in 1898, but only after seven
years of successful, hard-fought resistance, which culminated when the
German forces dropped bombs on Mkwawa’s impressively large mud fortress
and Mkwawa committed suicide to avoid capture. The paramount tribal
chief was restored in 1926, and the heads of the formerly independent
peoples were reinstated as sub-chiefs.
Hehe religion has traditionally focused upon the cult of their
ancestors, but in recent times many have been converted to Christianity
and Islam. Many of the old caravan trade routes passed through their
lands, leading towards
Kilwa
and the coastal regions from the interior, and the Hehe were quick to
make the most of business opportunities, finding astute wealth from
dealing in ivory, and subsequently they have made the most of
opportunities for education and understanding and incorporating western
ways.
The Ngoni are said to have fled from Zululand in south Africa
following the force of King Shaka’s Zulu wars, and reached southern
Tanzania in 1840, searching for new lands. In around 1845 their main
party was broken up at the northern end of Lake Nyasa, and some groups
splintered off towards Songea further east, while others continued north
to Lake Victoria. Their strict internal military organisation and
consequently successful raiding techniques swiftly encouraged many of
the surrounding immigrant tribes to organise themselves into more
politically defined leaderships. These southern tribes and the Ngoni
stopped fighting among themselves in order to put up a strong and fierce
resistance against German occupation. The Ngoni put up a bloody and
hard-fought fight, before they were defeated in 1910.
The Makonde people are also of Bantu origin, and although they
continue to live on both sides of the Southern Tanzanian border with
Mozambique, they remain one of the five most populous tribes in
Tanzania. The Makonde migrated north from Mozambique across the Ruvumi
river to the Makonde plateau, now in the region of
Mtwara,
and this region has taken on a great significance to the tribe, whose
traditional creation story tells of a nomadic beginning and leads to
settling down on higher ground.
Their legend tells how before human life there lived a being who was
neither man nor animal, and it wandered the land alone. One night he
began to carve wood from a tree, which he worked into the figure of a
female. He left the carving standing upright outside his dwelling while
he slept, and the next morning, as the sun dawned on the carving, the
female figure came to life. This first beautiful woman became this first
being’s wife, and soon the couple conceived and bore a child. But three
days after the child was born, it died. The new wife suggested that
they should move to higher ground, and when they did she conceived once
again. Again a child was born to them, but again, after three days the
child died. ‘Let us move higher still, to where the thick bush grows,’
the wife said. So once again they moved. A third time a child was born,
and this time the child survived and this was the first Makonde.
This story has many elements that reflect the traditions and beliefs
of the proud and extraordinarily artistic Makonde people, particularly
their widely renowned and unusual talent for wood carving, but also
their passion for stories and legends, and the origins of their belief
in a matriarchal society in which women are highly prized in leading and
advising their men. Makonde men traditionally carved wooden female
figures for protection when they made a journey, and continue to
represent the mother figure in their exceptional dark wood and ebony
carvings today. These carvings now also represent all the external
influences on their lives, including the family,
shetaani spirits,
dreams, and even more abstracted images, such as cloud formations. The
Makonde have responded strongly to the influx of Christian missionaries
in the southern region of Tanzania, and the greatest proportion has
converted to Christianity.
The tribe used to practice various forms of distinctive tribal
markings, notably small scarification marks around the face and extended
earrings and lip-plugs for women. The lip-plug invariably incurred the
top two front teeth being removed, and while it is still common to see
Makonde women with these distinctions today, the practice is dying out
among younger generations.
The Makonde are also famous for their impressively dramatic
Sindimba
dance, in which performers move and twist with superb agility on high
wooden stilts, their heads and faces covered with emotive decorated
masks.
The Chagga, (sometimes also spelt Chaga or Shaka), are Bantu-speaking people living on the fertile volcanic slopes of
Kilimanjaro.
The tribe is mainly descended from immigrants of various groups who
migrated into the once forest-covered foothills, and of the 400 main
clans most are of Kamba origin, although there are others from Teita,
Maasai, and other peoples.
As a result, Chaggaland was divided into a number of politically
independent chiefdoms, and these traditionally vied for supremacy over
each other and gradually over the whole tribe. In the mid-18
th
century, the great Chagga chief, Horombo, nicknamed ‘Kilimia’, ‘the
conqueror’, was close to uniting the whole disparate tribe and reigning
as a paramount chief. He inspired a respect and command throughout the
whole
Kilimanjaro
region, and would have very likely united them, but was killed in his
prime by Maasai warriors, and his policy of unification died with him.
The rivalry between the more powerful tribal chiefs reached a peak at the latter end of the 19
th
century when Rindi of Moshi and Sina of Marangu were at the height of
their power, and each played the other off against the influx of German
colonials. Rindi was an astute businessman who recognised opportunities
for treaties and negotiations with wealthier foreigners. When the slave
and ivory trade was at its height in
Zanzibar,
Rindi worked to ensure the Moshi was an important staging post for
both, and later, in 1885, he signed a treaty with the Germans, allowing
them to use Moshi as their central base headquarters.
Sina, on the other hand, ruled his empire with his indomitable army,
with which he terrorised surrounding clans with cattle raids.
However, there remained no paramount chief until Marealle of Marangu
was established in that position by the German/ British colonial
administration in 1893.
The fertile nature and high-altitude climate of the Chagga homelands
around Kilimanjaro is perhaps the initiating force behind the success of
the Chagga people, who have developed a reputation for being one of the
wealthiest and most highly organised of African peoples. Whether this
is true or not, they have had to develop their methods of cultivation to
support an ever-increasing and dense population, making the Kilimanjaro
region an area of intensive methods of agricultural irrigation,
permanently cultivated by means of animal fertilisers and crop
circulation. They have been forced to widely adopt the policy of
‘zero-grazing’, bringing grass to the animal rather than taking the
animal to the grass, as pastures have diminished in lieu of crops and
the National Park. But perhaps most significantly, the Chagga have
realised the benefits of farming international cash crops alongside
those grown as staples, and they are responsible for producing the
greatest extent of aromatic
Arabica coffee from the Kilimanjaro
region for world wide sale. Their position at the base of the most
phenomenal equatorial mountain in Africa has ensured that the Chagga
have had more than their share of international visitors, from the first
missionaries, geographers and colonialists who found solace from the
equatorial sun on the cooler mountain slopes, and now an endless stream
of climbers.
The Chagga are keen to claim that they have established a relatively
egalitarian society, while it remains patrilineal in rules of descent
and inheritance and polygamous marriages still occur, although are less
common. One poignant aspect of their marriage ceremony is to wrap the
mother of the bride in a large blanket, given by the invited guests, to
show that she will now feel the cold without her daughter beside her at
night. The Chagga have traditionally worshipped a great god called Ruwa,
who resides in the sky, and to whom they offer animal sacrifices, but
they also hold great regard for the spirits of the dead, believing them
to return to earth in different forms. However many of the Chagga now
follow Christianity, and have been widely receptive to the teaching
offered by many denominations of missionaries in the region.
Perhaps this open-minded attitude to new ideas is one of the reasons
behind the widely recognised success of the Chagga as a people, but
their enterprise has not always found a welcome reception within their
own country. Many Chagga have moved away from the Kilimanjaro region to
set up businesses throughout Tanzania, and many have found great success
for their entrepreneurial direction. But they have experienced much
non-constructive discrimination and adverse local feeling that seems to
stem entirely from a form of jealous resentment of their successes.
There are several groups of Africans, nearly one-third of whom are
recent arrivals from the mainland. Indigenous Bantu groups, consisting
of the
Pemba in
Pemba and the Hadimu and Tumbatu in
Zanzibar,
have absorbed the settlers who came from Persia in the 10th century.
These groups and some of the descendants of slaves call themselves
Shirazi. There are also small enclaves of Comorians and Somalis. Arab
settlements were also established early, and intermarriage with the
local people took place. Later Arab arrivals came from Oman and
constituted an elite. The poorer recent immigrants from Oman are known
as Manga. The Asians, now forming a very small minority, may be divided
into Muslim and non-Muslim groups.
Religion
Almost the whole of the Arab and the African peoples of Zanzibar
profess the Islamic faith. Traditional African beliefs are also found
existing in conjunction with Isl
am. Among Muslims, the Sunnite sect is preferred by the indigenous people.
Maasai chief Maasai Woman
Himba excursion from Gelbingen Lodge, Damaraland Himba boy
Samburu ladies Samburu dancing
San bushman, Makgadikgadi Pans San bushmen lady, excursion from Fiume Lodge
Zulu girl, South Africa Zulu dancers
With
an estimate of less than 2,000 representatives, the Hadzabe tribe is
one of the last tribes that have stayed true to their nature, far from
the madding crowds of tourism and universal globalization. Their
lifestyle is still the same as their ancestors’ from many years ago.
Kenya
is famous for its 42 cultures, but other than the nomadic Maasai and
Samburu, not many of these are widely known to the outside world. A new
cultural centre devoted to the Kikuyu, Kenya’s largest offers a unique
experience of this tradition rich culture existing in a modern world.
But
as Riuki demonstrates, this is not the case. While the traditional huts
and ceremonies may be displays of a proud history, many of the same
beliefs and customs persist in modern life.
There
is a tour of a traditionally built hut with an explanation of how the
traditional society operated. Communities always remained bound by
strict and strong ties of clan loyalty and an even stronger sense of
tribal unity - There was an age set system among young men, known as Mariika, but all clans and villages (itura) always paid deference to the wisdom and law of the tribe. 
Among
the fig trees, Gikuyu and Mumbi produced nine daughters- Wanjiku,
Wanjiru, Wanjeri, Wambui, Wangari, Wacera, Waithera, Wairimu, and
Nyambura. (Traditionally all Kikuyu girls should be given one of these
names)
A
group of local women come to the centre to perform for visitors, with a
series of dances traditionally performed at weddings and initiations
and to sing songs. These are simple love and courting songs, traditional
hunting songs and chants used when going to work in the fields. 
There are also displays of traditional medicine, healing and divination.
