I know many people are interested in hearing about the Safaris and my travel to Haydom but I wanted to focus this post on the important work that the 4CCP (Four Corners Cultural Programme) is doing in Haydom and the work I will be doing with them.
History states that the region of Haydom is the melting pot of culture because this is where the four main African language groups from four different corners of the continent converged and settled. These language groups are Bantu, Khoisan, Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic. In Tanzania alone there are over 120 tribes, each with their tribal language which is separate form Swahili. Having the four language groups in one location makes Haydom and Tanzania unique and rich in culture.
For my work, 4CCP wants me to focus on four tribes in the area, the Iraqw, Datooga, Bantu and Hdzabe. For those that are wondering the famous Maasai tribe of Tanzania have the same language as the Datooga which is part of the Nilo-Saharan language family.
After arriving on Monday, I went to the Four Corners Cultural Center where I received a tour of the grounds which included the pavilion where the performances for the cultural festival takes place, the Museum that has tools and small items used by each group and the authentic houses from each tribe. I also watched a few videos (about 4 or 5 hours worth) that focused on the history and culture of the four different groups and also about the festival.
Interesting facts that I have learned over the past two days (and some from the entire trip):
- Apparently Cows when given a name will learn and know their own name. When the first wife (the other wives can do it but only with permission) in a Datooga family goes out to milk the cows, she calls them by name and they only come when they hear their name called. Even more amazing, calves know their mother's name and when her name is called the calf will come out of their area (kept separate from their mother cows) and join her.
- Chickens know where they live and the way home. In most villages in Arusha and Haydom if a family owns chickens they train the new chickens to know their home for about a week and then once the chicken know it's home they are free to roam around the village and at night they make their way home. I was also told that if a rooster loses his way all he has to do is follow the chickens home. Talk about free range!
- majority of children in remote villages (like the ones I am visiting this week) do not attend school unless their parents want them to.
-there is a high percentage of people in the villages that are not able to read or write. I saw this first hand today during our visit to Iraqw village where 4 out of 20 people were the only ones able to sign their own name. The alternative option instead of a signature here is to use a fingerprint.
- Iraqw people believe it is better to miss farming than to miss dancing. Even with the early start their day their dancing can go til 3am.
- Datooga custom states that a married woman is not allowed to have sex outside the house even if she is traveling with her husband she is only permitted to have sex with her husband in the house. Also wedding ceremonies are two day affairs that only the women attend and their burial ritual is to put the person in a sitting position and build a tomb like enclosure.
- The Hdzabe people are a matriarchal society where the women own everything while the men only own their hunting tools. The men hunt for food while the women gather fruit. They collect enough food for the day only if they have too much they will invite neighbouring Hdzabe to the meal. They believe that because they were successful today with hunting and gathering food, they will be successful tomorrow. They do not have a set time to eat, they eat when the food has been found.
- Both the Bantu and Datooga are polygamist societies. In order to have multiple wives the man must prove that he can provided for all needs for all wives and children.
- The employment rate in Tanzania has risen from 20% to 40% over the past 7 months due to the new president's plan to get the population to work. His slogan 'Hapa Kazi tu' means everyone must work hard.
The 4CCP's mandate is to preserve the culture of the people in the area, the showcase the uniqueness of the Haydom area and the number of different tribes that cohabitate in this area. They also want to cultivate a culture for development and social welfare for all. The Cultural festival in September is one way for the 4CCP to showcase the area and these groups. They hope to grown in a manner where everyone from Tanzania will come to the festival but that international travellers will also start to travel to Tanzania to see this festival.
Next few posts.......visits to Iraqw, Datooga, Bantu and Hdzabe villages,
Very interesting. Good to note what you're learning as a reminder later on.
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