Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The modern conception of Tutsi and Hutu as distinct ethnic groups in no way reflects the pre-colonial relationship between them. Tutsi and Hutu were simply groups occupying different places in the Rwandan social hierarchy, the division between which was exacerbated by slight differences in appearance propagated by occupation and pedigree.
The origins of the Hutu, Tutsi and Twa peoples is a major issue of controversy in the histories of Rwanda and Burundi, as well as the Great Lakes region of Africa.The relationship among the three modern populations is thus, in many ways, derived from the perceived origins and claim to "Rwandan-ness".
The Hutu are believed to have first emigrated to the Great Lake region from Central Africa in the great Bantu expansion. [7] Various theories have emerged to explain the purported physical differences between them and their fellow Bantu-speaking neighbors, the Tutsi. The Tutsi were pastoralists and are believed to have established aristocratic ...
The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. [4] Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were systematically killed by Hutu militias.
And there are physical differences - though there has been considerable intermingling. A rich Hutu with enough cattle could become Tutsi, and in the 19th century a number of land reforms by the Rwandan king limited grazing land and bumped a lot of Tutsis down to Hutu farmer level.
When the Hutu, a Bantu-speaking people, arrived in the region, they subjugated 'bush people' (hunter-gatherers) they called Abatwa, which are generally assumed to be the ancestors of the Twa today, though it may be that the Twa arrived alongside the Hutu, and either were a distinct people from the original inhabitants, or have mixed ancestry. [4]
The ganwa who relied on support from both Hutu and Tutsi populations to rule, were perceived within Burundi as neither Hutu nor Tutsi. [14] Rwanda was ruled as a colony by Germany (from 1897 to 1916) and by Belgium (from 1922 to 1961). Both the Tutsi and Hutu had been the traditional governing elite, but both colonial powers allowed only the ...
[13] [10] Since independence, Burundi has seen extensive violence between members of the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. [17] Burundi's post-colonial ethnic tensions have especially been compared to those in Rwanda, which saw similar ethnic tension between Hutu and Tutsi flare up into violence on several occasions, notably during the Rwandan ...