Tutsi

Lore & Background

Historically, the Tutsi were pastoralists and filled the ranks of the warrior caste. Before 1962, they controlled Rwandan society, which consisted of Tutsi aristocrats and Hutu commoners under a clientship structure, with Tutsi occupying dominant positions in the sharply stratified society, constituting the ruling class. The definition of 'Tutsi' has changed through time and location. Social structures were unstable throughout Rwanda, even during colonial times under Belgian rule. Generally, the Tutsi elite or aristocracy was distinguished from Tutsi commoners. When the Belgian colonial administration conducted censuses, it identified the people throughout Rwanda-Burundi according to a simple classification scheme: 'Tutsi' were defined as anyone owning more than ten cows or with physical features such as a longer, thin nose, high cheekbones, or being over six feet tall. In the colonial era, the Tutsi were hypothesized to have arrived in the Great Lakes region from the Horn of Africa, in accordance with the Hamitic hypothesis. Tutsi are considered by some to be of Cushitic origin, although they do not speak a Cushitic language, and have inhabited the same areas for 400 years, leading to considerable intermarriage with Hutu in the area. Due to the history of intermingling and intermarrying of Hutu and Tutsi, some ethnographers and historians believe that the Hutu and Tutsi cannot be called distinct ethnic groups.

Reader's Guide

The Tutsi are an ethnic group established primarily in Rwanda and Burundi. They are Bantu-speaking and historically pastoralist. Their origins are complex: American historian Christopher Ehret believes the Tutsi mainly descend from speakers of an extinct branch of South Cushitic he calls 'Tale South Cushitic', who entered the African Great Lakes region sometime before 800 BC. Ehret also states the Tutsi derive a significant amount of their ancestry from the Sog Eastern Sahelians, a long-extinct Nilo-Saharan group who entered Rwanda and Burundi around 2,000 BC, and that Central Sudanic peoples likely form another part of their ancestry. However, these claims are not widely accepted by mainstream scholarship. Mainstream scholarship generally identifies the Tutsi as part of the populations of the African Great Lakes region, with a complex history shaped by long-term local and regional interactions. Modern genetic studies of the Y-chromosome generally indicate that the Tutsi, like the Hutu, are largely of Bantu extraction (60% E1b1a, 20% B, 4% E-P2(xE1b1a)). Paternal genetic influences associated with the Horn of Africa and North Africa are few (under 3% E1b1b-M35). In general, the Tutsi appear to share a close genetic kinship with neighbouring Bantu populations, particularly the Hutu, though it is unclear whether this similarity is primarily due to extensive genetic exchanges through intermarriage or common origins. Their average height is 5 ft, although individuals have been recorded as being taller than 7 ft.

Did You Know?

• The Tutsi are also called Watusi, Watutsi or Abatutsi.
• Before 1962, the Tutsi controlled Rwandan society under a clientship structure with Tutsi aristocrats and Hutu commoners.
• Belgian colonial censuses defined a Tutsi as anyone owning more than ten cows or with physical features like a long thin nose, high cheekbones, or being over six feet tall.
• Some ethnographers and historians believe that the Hutu and Tutsi cannot be called distinct ethnic groups due to intermarriage.
• Modern genetic studies show the Tutsi are largely of Bantu extraction, with little detectable genetic differentiation between Hutu and Tutsi.