| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 713,231 [1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Uganda | |
| Languages | |
| Rufumbira, English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity and Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Banyarwanda, Barundi and Other Rwanda-Rundi speakers |
| Person | Mufumbira |
|---|---|
| People | Bafumbira |
| Language | (U)Rufumbira |
| Country | Bufumbira |
The Bafumbira (ethnonym: Bafumbira; singular Mufumbira), are a Bantu ethnic group from Kisoro District in South Western Uganda. They are of three indigenous groups: Bahutu, Batutsi and Batwa. [2] [3]
The Batwa are believed to have been the earliest inhabitants of East Africa together with the Bambuti of Mt.Rwenzori and Ndorobo of Kenya. They do not lead a permanent settled life. [4] The Bahutu are Bantu and are believed to have migrated from the Congo around AD 1000. They entered Rwanda from the northwest. The Origin of Batutsi is part Nilotic/Cushitic assimilated in Bantu. Some say they migrated through Karagwe in northern Tanzania. Others say that their origin could have been either Sudan or Ethiopia. This is because of the Batutsi semblance to the Iraqw people and Masai people. [5] [6] However because of continuous intermarriages there are no clear distinctions between these groups as all live in harmony as Bafumbira. The Bahutu, Batutsi, and Batwa are the three indigenous groups that make up the Bafumbira, they are essentially Banyarwanda and speak Kinyarwanda. [6]
The Bafumbira were part of the Kingdom of Rwanda until 1910 when Kigezi was annexed to Uganda by the colonialists. In Rwanda, they were governed by chiefs who were under the leadership of the Abami. The Mwami used the agency system to govern. He used respected Tutsis and Hutus to govern. Because of extensive agriculture and population growth, Bafumbira migrated in the 1960s to other parts of Uganda for employment, obtained land and made settlements there but have maintained the Rufumbira culture in the areas of; Kamwenge, Kihihi, Bukuya, Kasanda, Mubende, Mityana, Kyazanga, Masaka and Luwero where the Rufumbira language is spoken to date.
The Bafumbira speak a language called "Rufumbira". Rufumbira is a dialect of Kinyarwanda, The difference is in the accents and vocabulary used, as Uganda is an anglophone country and Rwanda was a francophone country. [7]
The Bafumbira are divided into clans. They have eight major clans. The clans were divided along different totems ranging from animals, plants and bird species. Each clan was identified by the hill they occupied. The Bafumbira do not name their children according to these clans. [8] The clans include:
The clans have subgroups. There are the Basinga under the Bagahe. Today, the Basinga are a clan like any other in Bufumbira.
Marriage among the Bafumbira was organised by the parents of the bride and groom. The boy and girl were not aware of the arrangement to marry until the day of marriage. It was a marriage between strangers. They would meet in a room after the wedding. The bride price was a cow. The parents of the girl would respect those of the boy.
Once a Mufumbira died, he or she was buried on the same day of his or her death if they are of a lower class without wealth, if he was of a high class of wealth and or title he would be mourned for at least two days. They would be buried in mats.
The Bafumbira named their children depending on a family situation or the circumstances at hand. If a child was born in a period of brewing beer, that child was named "Senzoga". If the birth happened when the father of the child was on a journey, that child was named "Senzira". If there was a lot of food in the household at the time of the birth, the child was named "Nyirabakire".
The Bafumbira built huts. The roofs were thatched with sorghum and grass from swamps. The walls were circular and were built with mud and sticks. Today they build brick houses with either iron sheet roofs or tiled roofs.
All Bafumbira worshipped one god, Imana (Rurema) as an all-loving, creator, provider and judge for all, a moral campus. Nyabingi and Lyangombe biheko were observed as mediums to Imana and received sacrifices in their shrines called indaro.
Today many Bafumbira have adopted Christianity and Islam, with most of them being Christians. According to the 2002 Census of Uganda, 41.5% of Bafumbira are Anglican (Church of Uganda), 37.7% are Roman Catholic, 7.4% are Pentecostal, 5.1% follow other religions, 4.5% are Seventh-day Adventist and 3.4% are Muslim. [9]
The Bafumbira are cultivators. Their staple food is sorghum. sorghum grains can be cooked if harvested fresh or eaten raw if harvested dry. They can also be ground to make flour from which a variety of drinks are prepared. They also grow potatoes that do well in volcanic soils and legumes, mainly beans. The main foods are beans, peas, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize. [8]
The Tutsi, also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi, are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi.
Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and the national language of Rwanda. It is a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is also spoken in Burundi and adjacent parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Tanzania. Kinyarwanda is universal among the native population of Rwanda and is mutually intelligible with Kirundi, the national language of neighbouring Burundi. Kinyabwishya and Kinyamulenge are mutually intelligible dialects spoken in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces of neighbouring DR Congo.
The Abagusii are a Bantu ethnic group and nation indigenous to Kisii and Nyamira counties of former Nyanza, as well as parts of Kericho and Bomet counties of the former Rift Valley province of Kenya.
Kamwenge District is a district in Western Uganda. It is named after its 'chief town', Kamwenge, where the district headquarters are located. Kamwenge District is part of the Kingdom of Toro, one of the ancient traditional monarchies in Uganda. The kingdom is coterminous with Toro sub-region. The districts that constitute the sub-region are: (a) Bunyangabu District (b) Kabarole District (c) Kamwenge District (d) Kyegegwa District (e) Kitagwenda District and (f) Kyenjojo District.
Kigezi District once covered what are now Kabale District, Kanungu District, Kisoro District and Rukungiri District, in southwest Uganda. Its terraced fields are what gives this part of Uganda its distinctive character. Kigezi was popularly known as the Switzerland of Africa. The coordinates for the region are: Latitude:01 13 20S, 29 53 20E.
Kiga people, or Abakiga, are a Bantu ethnic group native to south western Uganda and northern Rwanda.
The Hororo or Bahororo are a Bantu-speaking ethnicity mainly residing in the north of the former Kigezi District in southwestern Uganda. In 1905, they were described by a British officer as a "quiet, inoffensive people" who owned cattle. They are made up mostly of the Hima ethnic group and the Iru ethnic group. They reside mainly in Rujumbura in southwestern Uganda and are related to the Banyankole, Banyoro, Batooro, Songora and Tutsi peoples respectively. Rujumbura was ruled by the BeeneKirenzi sub-clan with Omukama Karegyesa as their last king. The Bahororo speak a dialect of Nkore-Kiga, Ruhororo. They are subdivided into clans that are similar to those of the kingdom of Ankole. Unlike Ankole, which was ruled by the Hinda clan, Mpororo was led by the Bashambo clan.
Imana is the creator deity in the traditional Banyarwanda and Barundi religion in Rwanda and Burundi and other related ethnic groups, such as Baha in Tanzania and Banyamulenge in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In current-day usage, the term refers to God as found in Christianity. Ancient Banyarwanda and Barundi believed in one god, the creator Imana. In their mythology, Imana was the creator and the supporter of all the Barundi and Banyarwanda people. Imana was seen as almighty and gracious, intervening in one of the legends in an altercation between a man who had always borrowed beans from different people but wriggled out of repaying the debt.
The Banyarwanda are a Bantu ethnolinguistic supraethnicity. The Banyarwanda are also minorities in neighboring Burundi, DR Congo, Uganda, and Tanzania.
The cuisine of Rwanda is based on local staple foods produced by the traditional subsistence-level agriculture and has historically varied across different areas.
Rwanda-Rundi is a group of Bantu languages, specifically a dialect continuum, spoken in Central Africa. Two dialects, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda, have been standardized as the national languages of Burundi and Rwanda respectively. These neighbouring dialects are mutually intelligible, but other dialects which are more distant ones may not be. The other dialects are spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Tanzania; Ha, with one million speakers, is the most widely spoken.
Katuna is a town in the Kabale District of Uganda at the border with Rwanda. The town is also called "Gatuna" in the Kinyarwanda language.
The Twa are a group of indigenous Central African foragers tribes. These cultural groups were formerly called Pygmies by European writers, but the term is no longer preferred based on its cultural and geographic inaccuracy, as well as being seen as pejorative. Cultural groups are being reclassified by themselves based on their function in society, lineage, and land ties.
The Great Lakes Twa, also known as Batwa, Abatwa or Ge-Sera, are a Bantu speaking group native to the African Great Lakes region on the border of Central and East Africa. As an indigenous pygmy people, the Twa are generally assumed to be the oldest surviving population of the Great Lakes region. Current populations of Great Lakes Twa people live in the states of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2000 they numbered approximately 80,000 people, making them a significant minority group in these countries. The largest population of Twa is located in Burundi estimated in 2008 at 78,071 people.
The Fuliiru people are a Bantu ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the east-central highlands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). They reside in the South Kivu Province, situated south of Lake Kivu and to the north and northwest of Uvira Territory, along the Ruzizi Plain near the border with Rwanda and Burundi, where a contingent of Fuliiru also resides. According to the 2009 census, their population estimate exceeded 250,000, while a 1999 estimate of Kifuliiru-language speakers placed the number at 300,000. The Fuliiru are renowned for their skilled craftsmanship, particularly in the production of pottery and basketry. Their handcrafted baskets are highly coveted for their intricate designs and exceptional quality, and are frequently employed for storage, decoration, and even as musical instruments.
Nyamanga is the community found in Kyenjojo District. It is one of the nine parishes and a village in Bufunjo Sub-county. Kyenjojo District is found in Mid - Western Uganda and in Toro Kingdom which is one of the known kingdoms in Uganda. The other kingdoms are Buganda, Bunyoro and Busoga. In this community there are a number of tribes living together with majority being the Batooro but other tribes such as Bakiga, Banyankore and Bafumbira started coming to this community as early as the 1980s and since then have become bona fide members of this community. The major language spoken is Rutooro for the Batooro and most of the other tribes speak it. Others include Runyankore-Rukiga and Rufumbira for the rest of the tribes. Almost everyone in this community understands Rutooro since it is the main language used.
The Baruuli or Baluuli, are a Bantu ethnic group native to Bunyoro-Kitara, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. They stay in an area called Buruuli. They share a common ancestry with the Banyala.
Banyala, are a Bantu ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. They stay in an area called Bugerere in Kayunga District,. They share a common ancestry with the Baruuli.
Rubanda District is a district in the Western Region of Uganda. The largest town in the district, Rubanda, serves as the main administrative and commercial center in the district.
Ebyevugo is a genre of oral poetry in the Runyankore language, spoken by the Banyankore people of southwestern Uganda. Ebyevugo are mainly composed and performed to praise cattle, brides, warriors, and political leaders. They reflect the traditional pre-colonial occupations, values, and history of the Banyankore, especially the Bahima, who are cattle keepers.