Tutsi << TOOT see >> are an African people who live mainly in the central African nations of Burundi and Rwanda. They are sometimes called Batutsi or Watusi. The Tutsi population is between 3 million and 4 million.
The Tutsi are by tradition a cattle-keeping people. They began to arrive in their present lands in the A.D. 1300’s or 1400’s, coming from northeastern Africa, probably in search of grazing land for their herds. Hutu people (also called Bahutu) were already living in the area when the Tutsi arrived. The Hutu were an agricultural people and were not as skilled in warfare as the Tutsi. The Tutsi gradually established themselves as the dominant group in the region politically and economically. Over the centuries, the two groups developed a common language and culture. Most Tutsi are Christians, but many also follow traditional African beliefs.
The region came under European control in the late 1800’s. The Europeans strengthened Tutsi dominance even though the Tutsi remained a minority in the region. Tensions between the Hutu and Tutsi have resulted in much violence, especially after Burundi and Rwanda became independent countries in 1962. Widespread ethnic fighting killed hundreds of thousands of people in the two countries in the 1990’s.
See also Burundi; Hutu; Ruanda-Urundi; Rwanda; Rwandan Genocide.
