HUTU & TUTSI
Rwanda
What’s going on?
Background information
 When German explorers first came to
Rwanda they observed in the royal
court a ruling class, the Tutsis, and a
subservient class, the Hutus. This class
structure was maintained by the
Belgians and the French missionaries
who followed, supporting as they did
the Tutsi minority governing class.
Massacre
 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.
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 The Hutus make up about 85% of
Rwanda’s population, but they
were denied higher education, land
ownership and positions in
government.
Racial Classification
 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.
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 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.
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.
Vocabulary

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.
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 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. The Secretary-General has made
human rights the central theme that unifies
the Organization’s work.
Natives
 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.
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
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 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.
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.
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 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.
Bibliography
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genoc
ide
1. Which group of people did the
Belgians think were a superior group?
2. Why did they think they were a
superior group?
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. What determined the classification of
each group?