Matengo
Encyclopedia
The Matengo are an ethnic and linguistic group based in Mbinga District
, Ruvuma Region
in southern Tanzania
.
In 1957, the population estimate was 57,000, while in 2010, the Matengo population was estimated to number 284,000. Their religious affiliation is to Christianity
. Their Affinity Bloc is Sub-Saharan Africa
n. Their main language is Matengo
, which is one of the Bantu languages
.
since the Iron Age
.
The area in which they live was invaded by the Maseko Ngoni people
of the Dedza
district of Malawi
prior to 1750. This forced the Matengo people further into the mountainous areas around Litembo
where many moved into caves. Many people moved in the northeastern part of the district into the woodland. During the pressure from the Ngoni people, the Matengo developed a hierarchy of power amongst their peoples, with a senior chief in charge of three local chiefs. This system was strong during the colonial period until shortly before independence in 1961. In the late 1960s, a dramatic population increase amongst the Matengo peoples of the region led to food shortages, which had a direct impact upon the distribution of the people, with many moving to the eastern part of the district and forming new villages to farm the land seasonally.
in 1961, the patronymic
unit (kilau) is retained only for the purpose of naming the family siblings. The present administrative set up in the village consists of a "Village Chairman" with a complement of members to administer the village under the control of the local government authorities and the central government.
words have influenced the Matengo, particularly the lexicon. Grammar and phonology of Matengo have undergone change under Swahili influence; a certain amount of code mixing has also occurred. The Matengo language is thus getting Swahilized gradually, and as result most of the younger generation tend to speak in Swahili.
, with a heavy concentration of Caesalpiniaceae trees. The climate is typically cool, averaging a temperature of 18 °C annually and is relatively wet, with an average annual rainfall of about 1000 mm.
The traditional farming methods of the Matengo are known as Ingolo or Ngolo. Over the last 100 years, the Matengo have developed an innovative method of farming on the steep hills, digging pits on ridges on steep slopes to prevent soil erosion and to promote sustainable fertile soils. The function of the pits is to prevent heavy rain washing away the soils on the steep slopes, acting as sedimentation tanks to trap green grasses, thus providing a source of nutrients for the following season. The main crops they grow are staple food crops and coffee under this unique system of cultivation known as "Matengo Pit Cultivation". This cultivation practice usually starts in March following the rainy season.
Their method involves a 2-year one-cycle rotation of crops, with a short-fallow period, generally maize, beans and peas. For example, with maize farming amongst the Matengo, in November a farmer will make furrows of roughly 5 centimetres on the ridges and sow the seeds, and commence weeding in December. The maize is then harvested in July and then the field is reduced to fallow until the following March to allow the soils to recover. If the planting of beans is delayed, cassava
is often planted in the April or May. Often, the fields may only contain cassava which is known to the Matengo as "kibagu" and is generally grown for 2–3 years. Like sweet potato
, cassava is often grown to increase food supply during bad harvests. It is common for fields to contain a mix of maize and beans and to a lesser extent cassava. Unlike maize, the beans are harvested earlier in the season in the March. Some are also known to cultivate onion
s, cabbage
, Chinese cabbage
and tomato
.
While practicing a sedentary agriculture style in the country's mountainous region, the Matengo also cultivate the cash crop of coffee. It was introduced to Mbinga District in the 1920s by the son of ex-Paramount chief
Yohani Chrisostomus Makita Kayuni to enable the Matengo to pay poll tax
, a demand of the colonial administration. Since then, the district has developed coffee sustainability due to its cold and wet climatic conditions, which has resulted in the district becoming a major coffee producing region in Tanzania. This has also improved the economic condition of the people with some families becoming very rich. In the past, the Mbinga Cooperation Union (MBICU) was responsible for supporting the coffee industry amongst the Matengo farmers. However, in 1993, following economic liberalisation, they filed for bankruptcy as they could not compete with the private growers.
Musical changes that have occurred here are a reflection of economic and political changes as well as the gendered decision of the highland dancers.
Matengo people live in one-room jiko (house) tenements which serve as their kitchen, dining room, and favourite place to entertain guests. Ugali, is their main daily diet which is thick corn porridge; fish or meat are also added to the ugali.
. These generally involve animals or families. Notable Matengo folklore tales include "Hare and the Great Drought," "How Hare Helped Civet," and "What Hare Did To Lion and Hyena", "Hare, Civet and Antelope", "The Tale of Two Women", "The Tale of an Uncle and his Nephew", the "Tale of Nokamboka", "Katigija," "Hawk and Crow," and "The Monster in the Rice Field." The traditional folk story that is often narrated is the "How Hare Helped Civet," which is about a naive African cat, his friend Lion, who hoodwinks him and tricks him, and Hare, also a con artist who outwits the Lion and extorts retribution for Civet. Joseph Mbele has published a book of these folktales, translated into English.
Mbinga
Mbinga is one of the 5 districts of the Ruvuma Region of Tanzania. It is bordered to the North by the Iringa Region, to the East by the Songea Rural and Songea Urban Districts, to the South by Mozambique and to the West by Lake Nyasa....
, Ruvuma Region
Ruvuma Region
Ruvuma is a region in Tanzania. It is named after the Ruvuma River which forms most of its southern boundary with Mozambique. It is also bordered to the North by the Morogoro Region, to the Northeast by the Lindi Region, to the East by the Mtwara Region and to the Northwest by the Iringa Region. ...
in southern Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
.
In 1957, the population estimate was 57,000, while in 2010, the Matengo population was estimated to number 284,000. Their religious affiliation is to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Their Affinity Bloc is Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara...
n. Their main language is Matengo
Matengo language
Matengo is a Bantu language of Tanzania. Speakers are mostly monolingual, and neighboring languages are not intelligible....
, which is one of the Bantu languages
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
.
History
The Matengo people are believed to have lived in the Matengo HighlandsMatengo Highlands
The Matengo Highlands are located in the western part of the mountainous area of Mbinga District, Ruvuma Region in southern Tanzania. They are home to the Matengo people. Kindimba is the historical center of the highlands. It is located on highland's western side, approximately 15 km west of...
since the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
.
The area in which they live was invaded by the Maseko Ngoni people
Ngoni people
The Ngoni people are an ethnic group living in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, in east-central Africa. The Ngoni trace their origins to the Zulu people of kwaZulu-Natal in South Africa...
of the Dedza
Dedza
Dedza is the main township of Dedza District in the Central Region of Malawi.Dedza is located about 85 km south of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, off the M1 road to Blantyre at a point where a trans-African highway from Johannesburg enters the country....
district of Malawi
Malawi
The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...
prior to 1750. This forced the Matengo people further into the mountainous areas around Litembo
Litembo
Litembo is a village in Mbinga district in the Iringa Region of the Tanzanian Southern Highlands. It is located in the Matengo Highlands and is inhabited by the Matengo people.Litembo is located to the southwest of the town of Mbinga.It contains the Litembo Diocesan Hospital.-Hiostory:The Matengo...
where many moved into caves. Many people moved in the northeastern part of the district into the woodland. During the pressure from the Ngoni people, the Matengo developed a hierarchy of power amongst their peoples, with a senior chief in charge of three local chiefs. This system was strong during the colonial period until shortly before independence in 1961. In the late 1960s, a dramatic population increase amongst the Matengo peoples of the region led to food shortages, which had a direct impact upon the distribution of the people, with many moving to the eastern part of the district and forming new villages to farm the land seasonally.
Demographics
Mbinga district comprises four ethnic groups namely the Matengo, the Ngoni, the Manda and Nyasa and the Matengo constitute 60% of the population with a population density of 34 people/km², as of 2000. Specifically, in the Matnego Highlands the Matengo population density was reported to be 120/km². As a result, there is pressure on land use, which has resulted in people migrating from the highlands to the woodlands in the northeastern region.Socio-political setup
The "Socio geographic units" of the Matengo originally consisted of a political organization which was "non-hierarchical, comprising a collectivity of sovereign matrilineal groups of equivalent status and diverse origins. Each such patrilineal group (kilau) represented the descendants of a common grandfather, who during his life time had been the unquestioned leader (matukolu or bambo) of the group." Thus, the socio-political set up in the villages consisted of a headman and elders. However, after the Ngonis' invaded their territory, the Matengos' political hierarchy also evolved into an administrative system comprising a paramount chief followed by three chiefs, senior headman and two levels of headman, in the descending order of their importance in the hierarchy. During the colonial administration, this set up was strengthened. However, subsequent to independence of TanzaniaTanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
in 1961, the patronymic
Patronymic
A patronym, or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronymic. Each is a means of conveying lineage.In many areas patronyms...
unit (kilau) is retained only for the purpose of naming the family siblings. The present administrative set up in the village consists of a "Village Chairman" with a complement of members to administer the village under the control of the local government authorities and the central government.
Language
Matengo is a "middle sized language", an offshoot of the Bantu language that is commonly spoken in the southwestern corner of Tanzania. Bantu speakers are also known as "people of the woods" (a derivative from the word ‘kitengo’ meaning "dense forest"). However, the SwahiliSwahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
words have influenced the Matengo, particularly the lexicon. Grammar and phonology of Matengo have undergone change under Swahili influence; a certain amount of code mixing has also occurred. The Matengo language is thus getting Swahilized gradually, and as result most of the younger generation tend to speak in Swahili.
Climate and agriculture
The Matengo people inhabit the southern highlands of Tanzania, a mountainous area of the country which ranges in altitude from 900 to 2000 metres above sea level. The land below an altitude of 1400 metres is generally open woodland known as miomboMiombo
Miombo is the Swahili word for Brachystegia, a genus of tree comprising a large number of species. Miombo woodland is classified in the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome...
, with a heavy concentration of Caesalpiniaceae trees. The climate is typically cool, averaging a temperature of 18 °C annually and is relatively wet, with an average annual rainfall of about 1000 mm.
The traditional farming methods of the Matengo are known as Ingolo or Ngolo. Over the last 100 years, the Matengo have developed an innovative method of farming on the steep hills, digging pits on ridges on steep slopes to prevent soil erosion and to promote sustainable fertile soils. The function of the pits is to prevent heavy rain washing away the soils on the steep slopes, acting as sedimentation tanks to trap green grasses, thus providing a source of nutrients for the following season. The main crops they grow are staple food crops and coffee under this unique system of cultivation known as "Matengo Pit Cultivation". This cultivation practice usually starts in March following the rainy season.
Their method involves a 2-year one-cycle rotation of crops, with a short-fallow period, generally maize, beans and peas. For example, with maize farming amongst the Matengo, in November a farmer will make furrows of roughly 5 centimetres on the ridges and sow the seeds, and commence weeding in December. The maize is then harvested in July and then the field is reduced to fallow until the following March to allow the soils to recover. If the planting of beans is delayed, cassava
Cassava
Cassava , also called yuca or manioc, a woody shrub of the Euphorbiaceae native to South America, is extensively cultivated as an annual crop in tropical and subtropical regions for its edible starchy tuberous root, a major source of carbohydrates...
is often planted in the April or May. Often, the fields may only contain cassava which is known to the Matengo as "kibagu" and is generally grown for 2–3 years. Like sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
, cassava is often grown to increase food supply during bad harvests. It is common for fields to contain a mix of maize and beans and to a lesser extent cassava. Unlike maize, the beans are harvested earlier in the season in the March. Some are also known to cultivate onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s, cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
, Chinese cabbage
Chinese cabbage
Chinese cabbage can refer to two distinct varieties of Chinese leaf vegetables used often in Chinese cuisine. These vegetables are both related to the Western cabbage, and are of the same species as the common turnip...
and tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
.
While practicing a sedentary agriculture style in the country's mountainous region, the Matengo also cultivate the cash crop of coffee. It was introduced to Mbinga District in the 1920s by the son of ex-Paramount chief
Paramount chief
A paramount chief is the highest-level traditional chief or political leader in a regional or local polity or country typically administered politically with a chief-based system. This definition is used occasionally in anthropological and archaeological theory to refer to the rulers of multiple...
Yohani Chrisostomus Makita Kayuni to enable the Matengo to pay poll tax
Poll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
, a demand of the colonial administration. Since then, the district has developed coffee sustainability due to its cold and wet climatic conditions, which has resulted in the district becoming a major coffee producing region in Tanzania. This has also improved the economic condition of the people with some families becoming very rich. In the past, the Mbinga Cooperation Union (MBICU) was responsible for supporting the coffee industry amongst the Matengo farmers. However, in 1993, following economic liberalisation, they filed for bankruptcy as they could not compete with the private growers.
Social practices
The Matengo society follows the patrilineal hierarchy and is polygamous. The land holding of each family is normally a small ridge of the hill region adjoining streams for supply of water for cultivation. The land they cultivate is termed as "ntumbo". Married women hire the ntumbo land from their father-in-law and are usually engaged in growing staple food crops such as maize and beans. They also raise livestock of cattle and pigs to supplement their income. The men, however, exclusively grow coffee, as cash crop to ensure economic prosperity.Musical changes that have occurred here are a reflection of economic and political changes as well as the gendered decision of the highland dancers.
Matengo people live in one-room jiko (house) tenements which serve as their kitchen, dining room, and favourite place to entertain guests. Ugali, is their main daily diet which is thick corn porridge; fish or meat are also added to the ugali.
Folklore
Folklore is rich amongst the Matengo and folk tales are passed on from generation to generation orally. The folk tales of Matengo people have been recorded by Catholic missionaries, and Fr. Johannes P. Häfliger was the first person to publish some of folk tales. Motengo language as such does not have any script and does not have a uniform system for its sounds. Hence, all tales narrated are an oral rendition, which are translated into EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. These generally involve animals or families. Notable Matengo folklore tales include "Hare and the Great Drought," "How Hare Helped Civet," and "What Hare Did To Lion and Hyena", "Hare, Civet and Antelope", "The Tale of Two Women", "The Tale of an Uncle and his Nephew", the "Tale of Nokamboka", "Katigija," "Hawk and Crow," and "The Monster in the Rice Field." The traditional folk story that is often narrated is the "How Hare Helped Civet," which is about a naive African cat, his friend Lion, who hoodwinks him and tricks him, and Hare, also a con artist who outwits the Lion and extorts retribution for Civet. Joseph Mbele has published a book of these folktales, translated into English.