Sukuma
Encyclopedia
The Sukuma is the largest ethnic group in Tanzania
, with an estimated 5.5 million members representing about 16 percent of the country's total population. Sukuma means "north" and refers to "people of the north". The Sukuma refer to themselves as Basukuma (plural) and Nsukuma (singular).
The Sukuma live in northwestern Tanzania on or near the southern shores of Lake Victoria, and the territory has been divided into nine administrative districts of the Mwanza
and Shinyanga Region
. The northern area of their residence is in the famous Serengeti
Plain. Sukuma families have migrated southward, into the Rukwa area, encroaching on the territory of the Pimbwe
. These Sukuma have settled outside Pimbwe villages.
The Sukuma area is mostly a flat scrubless savannah plain between 3000 and 4000 ft. elevation. Twenty to forty inches of rain fall from November to March. High temperatures range from 79 to 90 while lows at night seldom drop below the upper 50's. Population is very spread out among small farm plots and sparse vegetation.
, etc. The Wasukuma call themselves, Sukuma, (Northerners) when speaking to Nyamwezi, but use Nyamwezi when speaking to anyone else. It can be called the Nyamwezi-Sukuma complex, for while never united, they were very closely related in attitude and way of life. Like most of their neighbors they were an ethnic group divided into many smaller groups. Some claim they were a Nyamwezi people who had moved northwestward to escape Mirambo
's raids with the result that game and tsetse re-occupied the deserted area.
Unyanyembe, the most important chiefdom of the Wanjamwesi, centered on Tabora
, obtained its meat supplies from the Sukuma. By 1892, however, the herds of cattle began to decline due to rinderpest
and tsetse fly
, and while two-thirds of German East Africa became unsuitable for cattle, and cattle in general probably did not recover until after the First World War; large valuable herds of cattle were retained by the Sukuma who were then still able to escape any great social change by exploiting the herds economically. Sukuma tradition suggests that famine did become more common towards the end of the nineteenth century, leaving conservative Sukuma blaming religious innovation for the natural disasters and expecting regular sacrifices for the household or chiefdom ancestors.
As all Nyamwesi, the Sukuma, being agriculturalists, ridged their fields to accommodate the fertile but rather arid region. At the same time they had herds, having acquired them from the Tatoga people, but since 'mixed' farming was practiced they were not considered pastorialists. Usakma also contained and used iron deposits, re-exporting some 150,000 iron hoes to Tabora.
," and as "Busukuma." The term "Sukumaland" is sometimes used for the Sukuma area. The name "Sukuma" literally means "north," but it has become a term of ethnic identification.
The Nyamwezi and Sukuma region lies between 2°10′ and 6°20′ S and 31°00′ and 35°00′ E. The Nyamwezi "home" area is in Tabora Region and western Shinyanga Region, and Sukumaland lies to the north and east, covering eastern Shinyanga Region and also Mwanza Region. There has been much population movement in and beyond these areas, and members of both groups have also settled on the coast and elsewhere. Sukuma and members of other groups, such as the Tusi and the Sumbwa, are often found in Nyamwezi villages, but Sukuma villages are ethnically more homogeneous. Sukuma took over the Geita area of Mwanza Region during the colonial period, and they have expanded farther west since then. They have also moved down into Nzega and the neighboring Igunga District, and some have migrated into the southern highland areas of Tanzania, and even into Zambia. These Sukuma movements have stemmed from political factors, such as colonial cattle-culling policies, and from local overcrowding and deteriorating soil conditions. The two areas form a large and undulating tableland, most of it at elevations between 1,150 and 1,275 meters. There are several rivers in the region, but most of them do not flow during the drier months. The year can be broadly divided into a rainy season, from about November until April, and a dry season the rest of the year. Average annual rainfall is about 75 centimeters for most of the Sukuma area, and about 90 centimeters for Unyamwezi, but there is much variation from year to year and from place to place. Across the region, there is a regular sequence of soil and vegetation zones. The upper levels are dry woodland typified by trees of the Brachystegia-Isoberlinia association; these areas are often called miombo country, after one of these trees. Lower areas of grass and thornbush steppe are also common, and in Sukumaland there are large tracts of park steppe interspersed with baobabs.
and Sukuma are probably best considered as a single Bantu language with several mutually intelligible dialects. These features include a seven-vowel system, use of tone, true negative tenses, class prefixes to indicate size, and the restriction of double prefixes to determined situations.
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...
, with an estimated 5.5 million members representing about 16 percent of the country's total population. Sukuma means "north" and refers to "people of the north". The Sukuma refer to themselves as Basukuma (plural) and Nsukuma (singular).
The Sukuma live in northwestern Tanzania on or near the southern shores of Lake Victoria, and the territory has been divided into nine administrative districts of the Mwanza
Mwanza Region
Mwanza Region is one of the regions of Tanzania. Its capital is Mwanza, which is also Tanzania's second city.The neighbouring regions are Kagera to the west, Shinyanga to the south, and Mara to the east...
and Shinyanga Region
Shinyanga Region
Shinyanga Region is one of the regions of Tanzania. Its capital is Shinyanga. It is bordered to the north by the Mwanza, Mara, and Kagera Regions, and to the south by the Tabora Region...
. The northern area of their residence is in the famous Serengeti
Serengeti
The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa. It is located in north Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya between latitudes 1 and 3 S and longitudes 34 and 36 E. It spans some ....
Plain. Sukuma families have migrated southward, into the Rukwa area, encroaching on the territory of the Pimbwe
Pimbwe
The Pimbwe are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the Rukwa Region of western Tanzania. In 1987 the Pimbwe population was estimated to number 29,000 ....
. These Sukuma have settled outside Pimbwe villages.
The Sukuma area is mostly a flat scrubless savannah plain between 3000 and 4000 ft. elevation. Twenty to forty inches of rain fall from November to March. High temperatures range from 79 to 90 while lows at night seldom drop below the upper 50's. Population is very spread out among small farm plots and sparse vegetation.
History
As with the Nyamwezi, all members of the five groups in 'Greater Unyamwezi' identified themselves as Wanjamwezi to those outside of the 'greater' area, but among themselves used, Sukuma, KongogoKonongo
The Konongo are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the Mpanda District of Rukwa Region in western Tanzania. In 1987 the Konongo population was estimated to number 51,000 ....
, etc. The Wasukuma call themselves, Sukuma, (Northerners) when speaking to Nyamwezi, but use Nyamwezi when speaking to anyone else. It can be called the Nyamwezi-Sukuma complex, for while never united, they were very closely related in attitude and way of life. Like most of their neighbors they were an ethnic group divided into many smaller groups. Some claim they were a Nyamwezi people who had moved northwestward to escape Mirambo
Mirambo
Mtyela Kasanda, better known as Mirambo , was a Nyamwezi warlord, from 1860 to 1884. Mirambo started out as a trader, and owned trade caravans traveling from the Great Lakes region in western Tanzania to the coast, mostly dealing with ivory and slaves...
's raids with the result that game and tsetse re-occupied the deserted area.
Unyanyembe, the most important chiefdom of the Wanjamwesi, centered on Tabora
Tabora
Tabora is the capital city of Tanzania's Tabora Region with a population of 127,880 . Tabora region is one of the largest geographical regions of Tanzania.- History :...
, obtained its meat supplies from the Sukuma. By 1892, however, the herds of cattle began to decline due to rinderpest
Rinderpest
Rinderpest was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelopes and deer, giraffes, wildebeests and warthogs. After a global eradication campaign, the last confirmed case of rinderpest was diagnosed in 2001...
and tsetse fly
Tsetse fly
Tsetse , sometimes spelled tzetze and also known as tik-tik flies, are large biting flies that inhabit much of mid-continental Africa between the Sahara and the Kalahari deserts. They live by feeding on the blood of vertebrate animals and are the primary biological vectors of trypanosomes, which...
, and while two-thirds of German East Africa became unsuitable for cattle, and cattle in general probably did not recover until after the First World War; large valuable herds of cattle were retained by the Sukuma who were then still able to escape any great social change by exploiting the herds economically. Sukuma tradition suggests that famine did become more common towards the end of the nineteenth century, leaving conservative Sukuma blaming religious innovation for the natural disasters and expecting regular sacrifices for the household or chiefdom ancestors.
As all Nyamwesi, the Sukuma, being agriculturalists, ridged their fields to accommodate the fertile but rather arid region. At the same time they had herds, having acquired them from the Tatoga people, but since 'mixed' farming was practiced they were not considered pastorialists. Usakma also contained and used iron deposits, re-exporting some 150,000 iron hoes to Tabora.
Social relationships
Relationships between the Sukuma and their non-Nyamwezi neighbors, the Tatoga, were generally good and they did not regard each other as enemies. They needed one another. The Tatoga needed the grain of the Sukuma while the Sukuma needed the cattle and the highly regarded rainmaking diviners of the Tatoga. (Rainmaking experts of the Tatoga were considered the very best at this important and highly specialized activity. The Masaai, however, in contrast to the Tatoga, were considered enemies. The Tatoga-Sukuma relationship was centered on cultural and economic exchange, while the Sukuma-Massai connection was centered in fear and hatred, for cattle were the only thing the Massai wanted from the Sukuma, believing that God had granted the Massai all the cattle in the world, it is still possible that some peaceful relationship did exist. The Sukuma were very selective in what they assimilated, just as the Nyamwesi were, they were able to assimilate others but were unable to assimilate themselves into other societies. One Sukuma myth states that the Tatoga (Taturu) were their leaders and chiefs when they migrated from the north; the Taturu were the cattle herders and needed open plains for their cattle and moved on into the greater Serengeti area. The Sukuma were left closer to the big Nyanza (Lake Victoria), cleared the forests and became the agriculturalists. Even then, when the Taturu moved out toward the plains, they left Taturu administrators to "rule" over the Sukuma. For this reason, up until the time of the dissolution of the chieftain system, all chiefs and major headmen represented themselves as Taturu even though they were now within the Sukuma area.Sukuma and Nyamwezi
The Nyamwezi and Sukuma are two closely related ethnic groups that live principally in the region to the south of Lake Victoria in west-central Tanzania. When using ethnic names, they describe themselves as "Banyamwezi" (sing. Munyamwezi) and "Basukuma" (sing. Musukuma) respectively; they refer to their home areas as "Bunyamwezi" or "UnyamweziUnyamwezi
Unyamwezi, a region of German East Africa, lying South of Victoria Nyanza and East of Lake Tanganyika. It is mentioned as early as the 16th century by the Portuguese and by Antonio Pigafetta, under the name Munemugi or " Land of the Moon," which is the exact equivalent of the name Wu-nya-mweziby...
," and as "Busukuma." The term "Sukumaland" is sometimes used for the Sukuma area. The name "Sukuma" literally means "north," but it has become a term of ethnic identification.
The Nyamwezi and Sukuma region lies between 2°10′ and 6°20′ S and 31°00′ and 35°00′ E. The Nyamwezi "home" area is in Tabora Region and western Shinyanga Region, and Sukumaland lies to the north and east, covering eastern Shinyanga Region and also Mwanza Region. There has been much population movement in and beyond these areas, and members of both groups have also settled on the coast and elsewhere. Sukuma and members of other groups, such as the Tusi and the Sumbwa, are often found in Nyamwezi villages, but Sukuma villages are ethnically more homogeneous. Sukuma took over the Geita area of Mwanza Region during the colonial period, and they have expanded farther west since then. They have also moved down into Nzega and the neighboring Igunga District, and some have migrated into the southern highland areas of Tanzania, and even into Zambia. These Sukuma movements have stemmed from political factors, such as colonial cattle-culling policies, and from local overcrowding and deteriorating soil conditions. The two areas form a large and undulating tableland, most of it at elevations between 1,150 and 1,275 meters. There are several rivers in the region, but most of them do not flow during the drier months. The year can be broadly divided into a rainy season, from about November until April, and a dry season the rest of the year. Average annual rainfall is about 75 centimeters for most of the Sukuma area, and about 90 centimeters for Unyamwezi, but there is much variation from year to year and from place to place. Across the region, there is a regular sequence of soil and vegetation zones. The upper levels are dry woodland typified by trees of the Brachystegia-Isoberlinia association; these areas are often called miombo country, after one of these trees. Lower areas of grass and thornbush steppe are also common, and in Sukumaland there are large tracts of park steppe interspersed with baobabs.
Linguistic Affiliation
Although sometimes classed as two closely related languages, NyamweziNyamwezi
The Nyamwezi, or Wanyamwezi, are the second-largest of over 120 ethnic groups in Tanzania. They live in the northwest central area of the country, between Lake Victoria and Lake Rukwa...
and Sukuma are probably best considered as a single Bantu language with several mutually intelligible dialects. These features include a seven-vowel system, use of tone, true negative tenses, class prefixes to indicate size, and the restriction of double prefixes to determined situations.
External links
- East Africa Living Encyclopedia, African Studies Center at University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, - Sukuma/ Nyamwezi Language Page, African Studies Center at Michigan State UniversityMichigan State UniversityMichigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
- Sukuma Museum, Tanzania
- Daraja la Utamaduni, Denmark.