HUTU & TUTSI
Rwanda
What’s going on?
Vocabulary
Terms


Genocide = the deliberate and systematic
extermination of a national, racial, political,
or cultural group.
Refugee= a person who flees for refuge or
safety, esp. to a foreign country, as in time
of political upheaval, war, etc.
 United Nations = The United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights works to
strengthen and coordinate United Nations
work for the protection and promotion of all
human rights of all persons around the
world.
 Ethnocentrism- the attitude that one’s own
culture is superior to any other culture.
 Cultural Diffusion- The spread of ideas from
one culture to another.
 Social Status- The position a person has in
society.
Background Information
on Hutu and Tutsi Groups
 When German explorers first came to Rwanda
they observed in the royal court a ruling class, the
Tutsis, and a subservient class, the Hutus.
 The Hutus make up about 85% of Rwanda’s
population, but they were denied higher
education, land ownership and positions in
government.
Classification of Culture Groups
 Belgians colonists divided Rwanda’s unified
population into three distinct groups: Hutu,
Tutsi, and Twa
 Belgians and Germans influenced by racist
ideas, thought that the Tutsi were a superior
group because they were more “white”
looking.
 The size of the nose and the color of the
eyes were factors that determined whether a
person was classified as Hutu, Tutsi, or Twa.
 The colonists believed that the Tutsi were
natural rulers, so they put only Tutsis into
positions of authority and discriminated
against Hutus and Twa.
Native Culture Groups
 The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of
the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in
central Africa, the other two being the Twa
and the Hutu. The Twa (or Batwa) are a
pygmy people and the original inhabitants.
The Hutu (or Bahutu) are a people of Bantu
origin, and since they moved into the area
they dominated the Twa. Large numbers of
all three were slaughtered in the Rwandan
Genocide of 1994.
Tutsi
 The division between the Hutu and the Tutsi,
the larger of the other two groups, is based
more upon social class than ethnicity
 The Tutsi were people who migrated south
from what is now Ethiopia, conquering the
Hutu kingdoms and establishing dominance
over the Hutu and Twa between the 1400's
and the 1700's.
Independence and Hutu Rule
 1959, violence between the Tutsi and Hutu
erupted.
 Hutu overthrew Tutsi rule, declared an
independent republic and elected first Hutu
president
 Mass killings of Tutsis occurred during the
transition to Hutu rule, hinting things to
come.
Hutu
 The Hutu are the largest of the three ethnic
groups in Burundi and Rwanda
 The Hutu ruled the area with a series of
small kingdoms until the arrival of the Tutsi
Hutu
 The Germans and Belgians colonial powers
both preferred the Tutsi and rewarded them
with positions of power, once Rwanda was
granted independence in 1962, battle for
control over the government, control over
the land and cattle, and control over the
social standings began.
Rwandan Genocide
 The Rwandan Genocide was the massacre
of an estimated 800,000 to 1,071,000 ethnic
Tutsis and moderate Hutus in Rwanda,
mostly carried out by two extremist Hutu
militia groups during a period of about 100
days from April 6th through mid-July 1994.
Rwanda Genocide
 Rwanda's 100 days of genocide began shortly after
 President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane was shot down on
6 April 1994.
 As civil war continued between the mainly-Hutu
government and the Tutsi-led rebel RPF, Hutu
militias began an orchestrated killing campaign.
 About 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were
killed.
Rwanda Genocide
 In the weeks prior to the attacks, the UN did
not respond to reports of Hutu militias.
The genocide ended when a Tutsidominated the rebel movement known as
the Rwandan Patriotic Front, led by Paul
Kagame, overthrew the Hutu government
and seized power.
Rwanda Genocide
 During the Rwandan Genocide of 1994,
United Nations peacekeepers stepped back
as Hutu extremists hundreds of thousands
of Tutsis as well as moderate Hutu
politicians.
 As of 2006, violence between the Hutu and
Tutsi has subsided, but the situation in both
Rwanda and Burundi is still tense, and tens
of thousands of Rwandans are still living
outside the country.
First They Came for the Jews
First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.
Pastor Martin Niemoller, 1945
Bibliography
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
Review Questions
1. Explain the impact of cultural change of societies in
Africa? 7-5-3
2. Compare and Contrast these two social institutions?
7-5-1
3. Which group declared an independent republic in 1959?
4. Explain the Rwandan genocide.
5. Which group was the largest ethnic group represented,
Huti or Tutsi?
6. Define the term social status in this situation in Africa?
7-5-2
7. Define ethnocentric and give examples of how this attitude
can lead to cultural misunderstandings. 7-5-7