Citizendia
Your Ad Here

For the defunct airline TWA, see Trans World Airlines. Trans World Airlines ( TWA) renamed TWA Airlines LLC in 2001 was a major U
Twa
Batwa with traditional bow and arrow
Total population

80,000
Regions with significant populations
Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Tanzania, Uganda
Languages
Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Rukiga
Religions
7% Christian[1]
Related ethnic groups
Hutu, Tutsi

The Twa, also known as Batwa, are a pygmy people who were the oldest recorded inhabitants of the Great Lakes region of central Africa. The Republic of Rwanda (ruːˈændə or /rəˈwɑːndə/ in English ɾwanda or in Kinyarwanda is a small Landlocked country in the Burundi (buˈɾundi officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to Tanzania ˌtænzəˈniːə officially the United Republic of Tanzania (Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. Kinyarwanda (also known simply as Rwanda) is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Rwanda, where it is one of the Official languages of the Kirundi (also written Rundi) is a Bantu language (D62 in Guthrie 's classification spoken by some 6 million people in Burundi and adjacent Rukiga (also called Lukiga or Chiga is closely related to the Runyankole language spoken by the Banyankore, Banyakole or Ankole as the people are also A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth The The Tutsi are one of three native Peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa Pygmies (singular Pygmy) refers to a member of any human group whose adult males grow to less than 150 cm (4 feet 11 inches in average height or less than 155 cm The Great Lakes of Africa are a series of Lakes in and around the geographic Great Rift Valley formed by the action of the tectonic East African The article is about the geographic sense of the term For other uses including Regions and Regional, see Region (disambiguation. Central Africa is a core Region of the African Continent often considered to include Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad Current populations are found in the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and the eastern portion of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Republic of Rwanda (ruːˈændə or /rəˈwɑːndə/ in English ɾwanda or in Kinyarwanda is a small Landlocked country in the Burundi (buˈɾundi officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda The Republic of Uganda is a Landlocked country in East Africa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to In 2000, they numbered approximately 80,000 people, making them significant minority groups in these countries[2].

There are also a number of southern "Twa" populations in Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana living in swamps and deserts far from the forest. These are little studied, and this article will deal only with the Twa of the Great Lakes region.

Contents

History

Batwa women with traditional pottery
Batwa women with traditional pottery

When the Hutu, a Bantu people, arrived in the region, they subjugated the Twa. The Bantu may refer to Bantu expansion, a series of migrations of Bantu speakers Bantu languages Bantu people Around the 15th century AD, the Tutsi, a Nilotic people, subsequently arrived and dominated both the Twa and the Hutu. The Tutsi are one of three native Peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa Nilotic people or Nilotes, in its contemporary usage refers to some Ethnic groups mainly in Southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and northern The Twa speak the same language, Kinyarwanda, as the Hutu and Tutsi. Kinyarwanda (also known simply as Rwanda) is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Rwanda, where it is one of the Official languages of the For several hundred years, the Twa have been a very small minority in the area (currently 1% in Rwanda and Burundi) and have had little political role.

The Twa are often ignored in discussions about the conflict between the Hutus and Tutsis, which reached its height in the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of hundreds of thousands of Rwanda 's minority Tutsis and the moderates of its Hutu majority Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) [2]. About 30% of the Twa population of Rwanda died in the fighting. The Republic of Rwanda (ruːˈændə or /rəˈwɑːndə/ in English ɾwanda or in Kinyarwanda is a small Landlocked country in the [3]

Current situation

Traditional dance of the Batwa
Traditional dance of the Batwa

Traditionally, the Twa have been a semi-nomadic "hunter-gatherer" people group of the mountain forests. A hunter-gatherer society is one whose primary subsistence method involves the direct procurement of edible plants and animals from the wild Foraging and Hunting Due to clearing of the forests for agriculture, logging, development projects, or creation of conservation areas, the Twa have been forced to leave these areas and establish new homes. As they seek to develop new means of sustaining their communities (such as agriculture and livestock development) most are currently landless and live in poverty. Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food The ancestral land rights of the Twa have never been recognized by their governments and no compensation has been made for lands lost.

Twa children have little access to education and their communities have limited representation in local and national government. Due to their pygmy ancestry, they continue to suffer ethnic prejudice, discrimination, violence, and general exclusion from society. An ancestor is a Parent or ( recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i The word prejudice refers to prejudgment making a decision before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case or event Unlike most discrimination policies discrimination between, which is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the differences focused here discrimination against is [4][5]


Support

Groups working with the Twa

See also

Other Pygmy groups

Researchers who studied pygmy culture and music

External links

References

  1. ^ Johnstone, Patrick, and Jason Mandryk. Operation World. Waynesboro, GA: Paternoster Lifestyle, 2001.
  2. ^ a b Minorities Under Siege: Pygmies today in Africa IRIN In-Depth [This article does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. ]
  3. ^ "Minorities Under Siege: Pygmies today in Africa", UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-11. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office  
  4. ^ Forest Peoples Programme. The Forest Peoples Programme (FPP is a Non-governmental organisation that campaigns for the rights of indigenous forest-dwellers http://www.forestpeoples.org/
  5. ^ CAURWA (Communauté des Autochtones Rwandais). http://www.catgen.com/caurwa/EN

5215155411ory:Ethnic groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic