In the era of globalization, technological advancement and the complexities of a pandemic, deep in the Northern part of Tanzania live four indigenous ethnic groups: the waHadzabe, waMasai, waDatoga, and waAkie, the most remarkable of the 120+ ethnic groups of which Tanzania consists. Despite ever changing external factors that continue to affect them, these groups show admirable resilience in holding on to their culture, beliefs, values, and identity to sustain themselves. We can compare these groups to the San people of Namibia, another African hunter and gatherer ethnic group that has survived ruthless intrusion of modern values into its way of life.
We enjoyed the honor to visit the waHadzabe, the last hunter-gatherer ethnic group in Tanzania. We are pleased to present our experience from the visit.
In our quest to develop a better understanding of the waHadzabe we embarked on a trip up country, one humid day in June. The journey would take us a huge distance of over 2,000 kilometres from Dar es Salaam.
For most of our trip, we enjoyed only limited/ no internet connection. We found a refreshing change from our regular lives of 24/7 connectivity. This allowed us to pay careful attention to our environment and to document every moment of the experience. We drove north over that huge distance, and through a kaleidoscope of weather changes, until we came to Arusha. From Arusha, we bore down toward our destination. Past Makuyuni, we stopped for a night in the small town of Mto wa Mbu. There, we interacted with waMasai, drinking lots of milk tea, playing games and listening to lomoni. Wamasai consider trading news about each other an important part of a visit between people. We taught them the traditional songs and dances from our ethnic groups, while we learned theirs. We made a few stops along the way. Next morning at our next stop Karatu, close to our destination and near the cold Ngorongoro Highlands, our shivering selves forced us into an unexpected shopping spree for hand gloves, beanies and socks! From Karatu, we drove to Mang’ola. Then, around midday, we arrived at Qangend, our final destination.
Right upon arrival our waHadzabe hosts offered us the ‘catch’ of the day. Correction: the hunt of the day. Was it, we wondered as we ate, antelope meat or maybe baboon? We were too polite to ask. Whatever it was, it had been freshly barbecued in an authentic Hadzabe style, and oh, it was delicious! As we ate, we noticed meat for dinner was being dried. How we wished we could have stayed for dinner.
What language do waHadzabe speak, you may be wondering? We too had wondered the same thing throughout our journey. After seeing YouTube videos of the waHadzabe, we had asked ourselves: would we face a language barrier upon arrival? Do they speak Kiswahili, Tanzania’s national language. Well. WaHadzabe speak the Hadza. Like the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa, this language consists of clicks and ejectives. Unlike the Kiswahili language in which nouns stand genderless but like Kimasai, in KiHadza language they fall into masculine and feminine nouns and feminine to others. KiHadza consists of around 1,000 speakers (Wikipedia). Most waHadzabe also speak Kiswahili. So, to our question above, no, we didn’t face language barrier. This made us greatly appreciate the legacy of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, Tanzania’s founding father who, with his visionary leadership, unified Tanzanians through the promotion of Kiswahili as our national language, which he spearheaded.
How do waHadzabe build their houses? WaHadzabe believe in shared responsibilities. With bent wood rods and grasses, women construct their houses with their bare hands. Their houses may, at first, look temporary, flimsy and makeshift. In reality though, the solid expertise with which waHazabe build them make them so sound and strong that even rain fails to find its way in. How do waHadzabe in general go about their daily tasks? Like all of us, chores/ activities keep waHadzabe busy at all hours daily. Among many other tasks, women weave beads, make clothes from animal skins, and use stones to pound the pulp of the baobab fruit into flour for porridge. Men make bow and arrows and do the hunting. Among their tasks, men make fire. They do so from scratch using wood, not by a match or lighter as you or I. They tried to teach us how. This was a unique experience for us. One of us decided to give it a go and didn’t quite succeed. It is men who also hunt using weapons they have made themselves. They hunt more than 100 animal species and birds. During our stay we witnessed men making bows and arrows, their popular hunting weapons for their inevitable next hunt. They did so with great care and love WaHadzabe believe that anything one does with love, will bring forth good fruits. After a hunt, hunters carefully distribute the day’s meat among families and individuals. They keep horns of the animals they killed as souvenirs to reward themselves for their labour.
Mang’ola land, of which Qangend our hosts’ home is part, is semi-arid. This influences the lifestyles of waHadzabe because agriculture, as a result, is not an option for a sustainable food supply. This forces waHadzabe to live as hunters and gatherers. They not only hunt animals but also gather fruits, roots, tubers and honey (awawa). As gatherers, they like the baobab tree fruit the most. It is nutritious and available for up to 10 months of the year. They love honey as well. To gather it, they follow sounds of tikiliko, a honey guide bird, to a location of wild beehives. As hunters, waHabzabe form part of the wild ecosystem. They use skins of the animals they hunted to make clothing. From furry skins, they make jackets and blankets for the cold season. For marriage dowry, waHadzabe men give the bride’s father a male baboon, an eland or honey. They give the bride’s mother beads, tobacco, or saucepans. Wahadzabe obtain goods they don’t make, gather or hunt for, through barter trade. Through barter they get things like flour, beads, tobacco, oh yes saucepans, from waDatoga, their neighbouring indigenous ethnic community in Mang’ola. In return, waHadzabe give them honey and animal skin for making donkey carriers .
We made friends among waHadzabe. One of them is called Pullu Pullu, his father Franco, whose boma (camp) is named after him. Pullu Pullu has 12 siblings. He has a 4th grade education. Because non waHadze found the man’s Hadza name, Pullu Pullu, difficult to pronounce, his father had given him an additional name, Simon, for use outside their community. WaHadzabe pronounce Pullu Pullu with clicks that only they can do. Pullu Pullu is 22 years old. He told us that he takes pride in his work as a hunter and gatherer. The most important thing for him, he continued, is for the elders in the community to trust and accept him. He pointed out to us that his waHadzabe customs and traditions form an essential part of who he is and how he leads his daily life. Pullu Pullu told us to look at the landscape around us. As we did, he pointed at a line of trees. He said, “That one is called kalahai. The other one is ngwilabe. That one there is ng’obabe.” He said those trees were all unique to the land of waHadzabe.