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The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa: the other two being the Twa (or Watwa), a pygmy people, and the original inhabitants; and the Hutu (Wahutu), a Bantu-derived people. The latter, when they moved in, dominated the Twa. Large numbers of all three were slaughtered in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.
Racial Today there is considerable debate about the racial validity of the term Tutsi as distinct from Hutu. Some researchers believe there is next to no genetic difference between the two groups, and that what difference does exist can be explained by social patterns within the Great Lakes region. Most differences between the groups are economic and cultural. Nonetheless, most Rwandans today identify themselves as either Tutsi or Hutu.
Tutsi is actually an indeterminate term. In the Kinyarwanda language, a single Tutsi is termed batutsi, and more than one (the plural) is termed watutsi. The latter is the source of the dance name Watusi.
Height differences The Tutsi can be spectacularly tall, often 7 ft (2.1 m) in height. This compares with the Twa, traditionally portrayed as short, and the Hutu of medium height. Such differences may well be attributed to nutritional factors (this is not the generally accepted view, though, but is most common among Marxists and post-modernists). Physical differences are almost as stratified within the Tutsi group as between the Tutsis and the Hutus; although some Tutsi are much taller and have sharper noses than most Hutus, most of the former are indistinguishable from the average Hutu.
Culture There is little difference between the cultures of the Tutsi and Hutu, and all three groups speak the same language. Traditionally the rate of intermarriage has been very high, and relations between the groups were generally peaceful until the 20th century.
These significant similarities lead many to conclude that Tutsi is an expression of class or caste rather than ethnicity. Experts still dispute over whether these similarities between Hutus and Tutsis came from a common ancestry or a high rate of intermarriage.
Colonial influences Both Germany (before WWI) and Belgium ruled the area in a colonial capacity. It was Belgian colonialists who created the notions of two different races rather than castes.
Genocide Although there had been much integration of Tutsi and Hutu culture up to the 1970s, in the following two decades many members of both tribes died in bloody fighting in Burundi, Rwanda, and Congo. By early August 1994, an estimated one-quarter of the pre-war population of Rwanda had either died or fled the country. International relief efforts were mobilized to care for the refugees, but available supplies were inadequate and outbreaks of disease were widespread. More than 20,000 refugees died in a cholera epidemic in the camps set up to receive them.
Today Today, there are about 130,000 people in prison waiting to be tried for their part in the genocide, and well over 300,000 children with no relatives to care for them. The government has reinstated moderate political parties and is attempting to rebuild the country.
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