Origins of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa

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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 largest conflicts related to this question were the Rwandan genocide, the Burundian genocide (Hutu and Tutsi), and the First and Second Congo Wars.

Contents

Ugandan scholar Mahmoud Mamdani identifies at least four distinct foundations for studies that support the "distinct difference between Hutu and Tutsi" school of thought: phenotype and genotype, cultural memory of inhabitants of Rwanda, archeology, and linguistics.

Most Tutsis and Hutus both carry the Haplogroup E1b1a paternal haplogroup which is common among Bantu and most other Niger-Congo-speaking populations. [1]

Overview

When Europeans arrived in Rwanda to begin documenting traditions, Rwandan society consisted of three ethnicities that also serve as social castes. The largest group is the Hutu, consisting mostly of farmers. The second largest group is the Tutsi, mostly pastoralists, warriors and aristocrats. The smallest group is the Twa, which is a group of pygmy that hunt game to trade for agricultural products from the farmers. All three groups speak Kinyarwanda, which is a Bantu language.

There is disagreement as to when and how each group appeared in Rwanda. Some suggest the three groups diverged from each other while others suggest each group arriving in separate migration waves, first Twa, then Hutu, and finally Tutsi. In the separate arrival story, there is dispute in where the groups came from, when and how they arrived, and whether the arrival of some groups brought with them certain social development.

Origin myths

Starkly contrasted, the Tutsi origin myth holds that Kanyarwanda had several sons, including Gatutsi and Gahutu, ancestors of the Tutsi and Hutu who are therefore brothers. The Hutu origin myth holds that Kigwa (patrilineal ancestor of Ruhanga and the first Tutsi) fell from the sky on an earth inhabited by Hutu. [2] : 65 

Hamitic hypothesis of Tutsi origin

The colonial scholars who found complex societies in sub-Saharan Africa developed the Hamitic hypothesis. The now rejected hypothesis posits that the Tutsi were of Hamitic stock whom originated from the Horn of Africa, and subsequently conquered Rwanda and brought civilization to the region.[ citation needed ]

Migration hypothesis of Tutsi origin

Supporters of the migration theory also support the idea that Tutsi came from the Horn of Africa, a later theory proposed that the Tutsi had instead migrated from nearby interior East Africa, and that the physical differences were the result of natural selection in an arid climate over millennia. Among the most detailed theories was one put forward by Jean Hiernaux, based on studies of blood factors and archeology. Noting the fossil record of a tall people with narrow facial features several thousand years ago in East Africa, including locations such as Gambles Cave in the Kenya Rift Valley and Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania, Hiernaux argues that while there was a migration, it was not as dramatic as some sources have proposed. He explicitly attacks the Hamitic theory that migrants from Ethiopia brought civilization to other Africans. [3] : 46–47 

However, in light of recent genetic studies, Hiernaux's theory on the origin of Tutsis in East Africa appears doubtful. [4] [5] It has also been demonstrated that the Tutsis harbor little to no Northeastern African genetic influence on their paternal line. [6] On the other hand, there is currently no mtDNA data available for the Tutsi, which might help shed light on their background.

One school of thought[ who? ] noted that the influx of pastoralists around the fifteenth century may have taken place over an extended period of time and been gradual and peaceful, rather than sudden and violent. The key distinction made was that migration was not the same as conquest. Other scholars delinked the arrival of Tutsi from the development of pastoralism and the beginning of the period of state building. It appears clear that pastoralism was practiced in Rwanda prior to the fifteenth century immigration, while the dates of state formation and pastoralist influx do not entirely match. This argument thus attempts to downplay the importance of the pastoralist migrations.[ citation needed ]

Local divergence

Still other studies point out that cultural transmission can occur without actual human migration. This raises the question of how much of the changes around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries was the result of an influx of people as opposed to the existing population being exposed to new ideas. Studies that approach the subject of racial purity are among the most controversial. These studies point out that the pastoralist migrants and pre-migration Rwandans lived side by side for centuries and practiced extensive intermarriage. The notion that current Rwandans can claim exclusively Tutsi or Hutu bloodlines is thus questioned. [3] : 48–49 

Roger Blench has proposed that Twa originated as a caste like they are today, which became endogamous and consequently developed into separate ethnic groups with their own languages. A mismatch in language between patron and client could later occur from population displacements. The short stature of the "forest people" could have developed in the millennia since the Bantu expansion, as happened also with Bantu domestic animals in the rainforest. Perhaps there was additional selective pressure from farmers removing the tallest women from the pygmy population by taking them back to their villages as wives. [7]

Genetic studies

More recent studies have de-emphasized physical appearance, such as height and nose width, in favor of examining blood factors, the presence of the sickle cell trait, lactose intolerance in adults, and other genotype expressions. Excoffier et al. (1987) claimed that the Tutsi and Hima, despite being surrounded by Bantu populations, are "closer genetically to Cushites and Ethiosemites". [8] [9]

Another study concluded that, while the sickle cell trait among the Rwandan Hutu was comparable to that of neighboring people, it was almost non-existent among Rwandan Tutsi. Presence of the sickle cell trait is evidence of survival in the presence of malaria over many centuries, suggesting differing origins. Regional studies of the ability to digest lactose are also supportive. The ability to digest lactose among African adults is widespread only among desert-dwelling nomadic groups that have depended upon milk for millennia. Three quarters of the adult Tutsi of Rwanda and Burundi have a high ability to digest lactose, while only 5% of the adults of the neighboring Shi people of eastern Congo can. Among Hutu, one in three adults has a high capacity for lactose digestion, a surprisingly high number for an agrarian people, which Mamdani suggests may be the result of centuries of intermarriage with Tutsi. [3] [10] [11]

In the 1988 UNESCO General History, Bethwell Ogot says that the number of pastoralists in Rwanda increased sharply around the fifteenth century. Although Luis et al. (2004) in a more general study on bi-allelic markers in many African countries found a statistically significant genetic difference between Tutsi and Hutu, the overall difference were not large. [6]

According to data from 1969, the Tutsi and Hima groups possessed the enzyme of milk sugar lactose tolerance, which is highly prevalent in European populations, but the Bantu tribes were lactose deficient, [12] similar results and conclusions were reached by the geneticist Sarah A. Tishkoff in 2007. [13]

Y-DNA (paternal)

Modern-day genetic studies of the Y-chromosome generally indicate that the Tutsi, like the Hutu, are largely of Bantu extraction (80% E1b1a, 10% B, 4% E3). Paternal genetic influences associated with the Horn of Africa and North Africa are few (less than 10% E1b1b), and are ascribed to assimilated southern Cushites. However, the Tutsi have considerably more haplogroup B paternal lineages (14.9% B) than do the Hutu (4.3% B). [1]

Trombetta et al. (2015) found 22.2% of E1b1b in a sample of Tutsis from Burundi, but no bearers of the haplogroup among the local Hutu and Twa populations. [14] The subclade was of the E-M293 variety, which suggests that the ancestors of Tutsis in this area may have been remnants of South Cushitic pastoralists. [15]

Autosomal DNA (overall ancestry)

In general, the Tutsi appear to share a close genetic kinship with neighboring Nilotic populations, particularly the Maasai. It is unclear whether this similarity is primarily due to extensive genetic exchanges between these communities through intermarriage or whether it ultimately stems from common origins.

... generations of gene flow obliterated whatever clear-cut physical distinctions may have once existed between these two Bantu peoples – renowned to be height, body build, and facial features. With a spectrum of physical variation in the peoples, Belgian authorities legally mandated ethnic affiliation in the 1920s, based on economic criteria. Formal and discrete social divisions were consequently imposed upon ambiguous biological distinctions. To some extent, the permeability of these categories in the intervening decades helped to reify the biological distinctions, generating a taller elite and a shorter underclass, but with little relation to the gene pools that had existed a few centuries ago. The social categories are thus real, but there is little if any detectable genetic differentiation between Hutu and Tutsi. [16]

Tishkoff et al. (2009) found their mixed Hutu and Tutsi samples from Rwanda to be predominately of Bantu origin, with the Tutsi having only minor gene flow from Afro-Asiatic communities. [17]

Related Research Articles

The Hutu, also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi, and Uganda where they form one of the principal ethnic groups alongside the Tutsi and the Great Lakes Twa.

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.

The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the northern border area of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-speaking peoples, Teso people also known as Iteso or people of Teso, Karo peoples, Luo peoples, Ateker peoples, Kalenjin peoples, Karamojong people also known as the Karamojong or Karimojong, Datooga, Dinka, Nuer, Atwot, Lotuko, and the Maa-speaking peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bantu expansion</span> Postulated millennia-long series of migrations

The Bantu expansion was a major series of migrations of the original Proto-Bantu-speaking group, which spread from an original nucleus around West-Central Africa. In the process, the Proto-Bantu-speaking settlers displaced, eliminated or absorbed pre-existing hunter-gatherer and pastoralist groups that they encountered.

Banyamulenge is a community that lives mainly in South Kivu province. The Banyamulenge are culturally and socially distinct from the Tutsi of South Kivu, with most speaking Kinyamulenge, a mix of Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Ha language, and Swahili. Banyamulenge their role in Mobutu's war against and victory over the Simba Rebellion, which was supported by the majority of other tribes in South Kivu, their role during the First Congo War and subsequent regional conflicts (Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma, Movement for the Liberation of the Congo, National Congress for the Defence of the People, and more importantly for the fact that two of the most influential presidents of their country declared them as enemy of the State both in 1996 and 1998.

Lactase persistence or lactose tolerance is the continued activity of the lactase enzyme in adulthood, allowing the digestion of lactose in milk. In most mammals, the activity of the enzyme is dramatically reduced after weaning. In some human populations though, lactase persistence has recently evolved as an adaptation to the consumption of nonhuman milk and dairy products beyond infancy. Lactase persistence is very high among northern Europeans, especially Irish people. Worldwide, most people are lactase non-persistent, and are affected by varying degrees of lactose intolerance as adults. However, lactase persistence and lactose intolerance can overlap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rendille people</span> Cushitic-speaking group from Kenya

The Rendille are a Cushitic ethnic group inhabiting the Eastern Province of Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haplogroup B-M60</span> Human Y chromosome DNA grouping indicating common ancestry

Haplogroup B (M60) is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup common to paternal lineages in Africa. It is a primary branch of the haplogroup BT.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haplogroup E-M96</span> Human Y chromosome DNA grouping indicating common ancestry

Haplogroup E-M96 is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. It is one of the two main branches of the older and ancestral haplogroup DE, the other main branch being haplogroup D. The E-M96 clade is divided into two main subclades: the more common E-P147, and the less common E-M75.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iraqw people</span> Cushitic ethnic group from Arusha and Manyara Regions of Tanzania

The historical site of Luxmanda suggest the DNA correlation with Pre pottery Neolithic farmers of the Levant. The site is home to Iraqw people.

The Banyarwanda are a Bantu ethnolinguistic supraethnicity. The Banyarwanda are also minorities in neighboring Burundi, DR Congo, Uganda, Tanzania.

Hutu Power is a ethnic supremacist ideology that asserts the ethnic superiority of Hutu, often in the context of being superior to Tutsi and Twa, and that therefore they are entitled to dominate and murder these two groups and other minorities. Espoused by Hutu extremists, widespread support for the ideology led to the 1994 Rwandan genocide against Tutsi and their family members, the moderate Hutu who opposed the killings, and Twa who were deemed traitors. Hutu Power political parties and movements included the Akazu, Parmehutu, the Coalition for the Defence of the Republic and its Impuzamugambi paramilitary militia, and the governing National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development and its Interahamwe paramilitary militia. The theory of Hutu people being superior is most common in Rwanda and Burundi, where they make up the majority of the population. Due to its sheer destructiveness, the ideology has been compared to historical Nazism in the Western world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamites</span> Outdated grouping of human beings

Hamites is the name formerly used for some Northern and Horn of Africa peoples in the context of a now-outdated model of dividing humanity into different races; this was developed originally by Europeans in support of colonialism and slavery. The term was originally borrowed from the Book of Genesis, in which it refers to the descendants of Ham, son of Noah.

Haplogroup E-M75 is a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup. Along with haplogroup E-P147, it is one of the two main branches of the older haplogroup E-M96.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Burundi</span>

Ethnic groups in Burundi include the three main indigenous groups of Hutu, Tutsi and Twa that have largely been emphasized in the study of the country's history due to their role in shaping it through conflict and consolidation. Burundi's ethnic make-up is similar to that of neighboring Rwanda. Additionally, recent immigration has also contributed to Burundi's ethnic diversity. Throughout the country's history, the relation between the ethnic groups has varied, largely depending on internal political, economic and social factors and also external factors such as colonialism. The pre-colonial era, despite having divisions between the three groups, saw greater ethnic cohesion and fluidity dependent on socioeconomic factors. During the colonial period under German and then Belgian rule, ethnic groups in Burundi experienced greater stratifications and solidification through biological arguments separating the groups and indirect colonial rule that increased group tensions. The post-independence Burundi has experienced recurring inter-ethnic violence especially in the political arena that has, in turn, spilled over to society at large leading to many casualties throughout the decades. The Arusha Agreement served to end the decades-long ethnic tensions, and the Burundian government has stated commitment to creating ethnic cohesion in the country since, yet recent waves of violence and controversies under the Pierre Nkurunziza leadership have worried some experts of potential resurfacing of ethnic violence. Given the changing nature of ethnicity and ethnic relations in the country, many scholars have approached the topic theoretically to come up with primordial, constructivist and mixed arguments or explanations on ethnicity in Burundi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Rwanda</span>

The largest ethnic groups in Rwanda are the Hutus, which make up about 85% of Rwanda's population; the Tutsis, which are 14%; and the Twa, which are around 1%. Starting with the Tutsi feudal monarchy rule of the 10th century, the Hutus were a subjugated social group. Belgian colonization also contributed to the tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis. The Belgians and later the Hutus propagated the myth that Hutus were the superior ethnicity. The resulting tensions would eventually foster the slaughtering of Tutsis in the Rwandan genocide. Since then, policy has changed to recognize one main ethnicity: "Rwandan".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">African Pygmies</span> Group of ethnicities native to Central Africa

The African Pygmies are a group of ethnicities native to Central Africa, mostly the Congo Basin, traditionally subsisting on a forager and hunter-gatherer lifestyle. They are divided into three roughly geographic groups:

Sarah Anne Tishkoff is an American geneticist and the David and Lyn Silfen Professor in the Department of Genetics and Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. She also serves as a director for the American Society of Human Genetics and is an associate editor at PLOS Genetics, G3, and Genome Research. She is also a member of the scientific advisory board at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genetic history of Africa</span>

The genetic history of Africa summarizes the genetic makeup and population history of African populations in Africa, composed of the overall genetic history, including the regional genetic histories of North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa, as well as the recent origin of modern humans in Africa. The Sahara served as a trans-regional passageway and place of dwelling for people in Africa during various humid phases and periods throughout the history of Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic Church in colonial Rwanda</span> Effects of Catholic church in Rwanda during colonial period

The Catholic Church in colonial Rwanda had significant influence over the country as a result of the church's involvement in most aspects of the country's infrastructure. The Catholic missionaries, also known as the White Fathers, arrived at the same time as the first German colonial empire administrators, so both parties were very involved in shaping the influence of colonizers on Rwanda. Throughout the colonial period, the Catholic Church expanded its influence in different industries. The resources of the church improved many Rwandans' lives. However, the church also perpetuated extreme inequality in the country through their favoritism of Tutsis over the other ethnic groups.

References

  1. 1 2 Luis, J. R.; et al. (2004). "The Levant versus the Horn of Africa: Evidence for Bidirectional Corridors of Human Migrations" (PDF). American Journal of Human Genetics. 74 (3): 532–544. doi:10.1086/382286. PMC   1182266 . PMID   14973781. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-16.
  2. ↑ Vansina, Jan (1985). Oral tradition as history. Internet Archive. Madison, Wis. : University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN   978-0-299-10213-5.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Mamdani, Mahmood (2001). When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda. Princeton University Press. ISBN   9781400851720. Archived from the original on 2015-09-06. Retrieved 2015-08-25.: 45–46 
  4. ↑ Cavalli-Sforza, Luigi Luca (1994). The History and Geography of Human Genes. Princeton University Press. pp. 171 and 183. ISBN   0691087504.
  5. ↑ Brace, C. L.; Tracer, David P.; Yaroch, Lucia Allen; Robb, John; Brandt, Kari; Nelson, A. Russell (1993). "Clines and clusters versus 'Race:' a test in ancient Egypt and the case of a death on the Nile". Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 36 (S17): 1–31. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330360603 .
  6. 1 2 Luis, J. R.; Rowold, D.J.; Regueiro, M.; Caeiro, B.; Cinnioğlu, C.; Roseman, C.; Underhill, P.A.; Cavalli-Sforza, L.L.; Herrera, R.J. (2004). "The Levant versus the Horn of Africa: Evidence for Bidirectional Corridors of Human Migrations" (PDF). American Journal of Human Genetics . 74 (3): 532–544. doi:10.1086/382286. PMC   1182266 . PMID   14973781. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-16. (Errata Archived 2012-02-16 at the Wayback Machine )
  7. ↑ Blench, Roger (1999), "Are the African Pygmies an Ethnographic Fiction?", in Biesbrouck; Elders; Rossel (eds.), Challenging Elusiveness: Central African Hunter-Gatherers in a Multidisciplinary Perspective (PDF), Universiteit Leiden, pp. 41–60, ISBN   9057890186, archived from the original (PDF) on January 26, 2012, retrieved October 26, 2011
  8. ↑ Excoffier, Laurent; Pellegrini, B.; Sanchez-Mazas, A.; Simon, C.; Langaney, A. (1987). "Genetics and History of Sub-Saharan Africa". Yearbook of Physical Anthropology . 30 (S8): 151–194. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330300510 . Quoted in [3] : 45 
  9. ↑ Fage, John (2013-10-23). A History of Africa. Routledge. p. 120. ISBN   978-1317797272. Archived from the original on 2015-02-02. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  10. ↑ Cook, G. C. (1969). "Lactase Deficiency: A Probable Ethnological Marker in East Africa". Man. 4 (2): 265–267. doi:10.2307/2799573. JSTOR   2799573.
  11. ↑ Simoons, Frederick J. (1978). "Lactose Malabsorption in Africa". African Economic History (5): 16–34. doi:10.2307/3601438. JSTOR   3601438.
  12. ↑ Cook, G. C. (1969). "Lactase Deficiency: A Probable Ethnological Marker in East Africa". Man. 4 (2): 265–267. doi:10.2307/2799573. ISSN   0025-1496. JSTOR   2799573.
  13. ↑ Tishkoff, Sarah A.; Reed, Floyd A.; Ranciaro, Alessia; Voight, Benjamin F.; Babbitt, Courtney C.; Silverman, Jesse S.; Powell, Kweli; Mortensen, Holly M.; Hirbo, Jibril B.; Osman, Maha; Ibrahim, Muntaser; Omar, Sabah A.; Lema, Godfrey; Nyambo, Thomas B.; Ghori, Jilur (2007-01-01). "Convergent adaptation of human lactase persistence in Africa and Europe". Nature Genetics. 39 (1): 31–40. doi:10.1038/ng1946. ISSN   1546-1718. PMC   2672153 . PMID   17159977.
  14. ↑ Trombetta, B; et al. (2015). "Phylogeographic refinement and large scale genotyping of human Y chromosome haplogroup E provide new insights into the dispersal of early pastoralists in the African continent". Genome Biology and Evolution. 7 (7): 1940–1950. doi:10.1093/gbe/evv118. PMC   4524485 . PMID   26108492.
  15. ↑ Henn, B; et al. (2008). "Y-chromosomal evidence of a pastoralist migration through Tanzania to southern Africa". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105 (31): 10693–8. Bibcode:2008PNAS..10510693H. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0801184105 . PMC   2504844 . PMID   18678889.
  16. ↑ Joseph C. Miller (ed.), New Encyclopedia of Africa, Volume 2, Dakar-Hydrology, Charles Scribner's Sons (publisher).
  17. ↑ Campbell, Michael C.; Tishkoff, Sarah A. (September 2008). "African Genetic Diversity: Implications for Human Demographic History, Modern Human Origins, and Complex Disease Mapping". Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics. 9: 403–433. doi:10.1146/annurev.genom.9.081307.164258. PMC   2953791 . PMID   18593304.
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