tutsi

The Tutsi are one of the native peoples of Rwanda, along with the Hutu and Twa. Historically, the Tutsi and Hutu were known mainly by their role; the Tutsi were mainly pastoral and usually of the nobility and the ruling class while the Hutu were more often peasant farmers, although there were Hutu rulers and Hutu and Tutsi could easily exchange roles. Hutu and Tusi share the same language and culture and intermarriage between Hutu and Tutsi is common (although a Tutsi man marrying a Hutu woman is very rare and a Hutu man marrying a Tutsi woman is quite common).

The Belgians, upon colonizing Rwanda, were taken by the (seemingly) more "European" facial features of the Tutsi (stereotypically, the Tutsi are taller and thinner, with longer, more pointed noses, straighter hair, and more angular features) and favored them over the stockier, medium-sized Hutu. Never mind that there are Hutu who look Tutsi, Tutsi who look Hutu, that many Rwandans fit neither discription and that intermarriage is common, this played a huge role in creating tension between Hutu and Tutsi... thus leading to the 1994 genocide.

By Belgian definition, a Tutsi was a person with more than ten cow and a long, pointed nose, while a Hutu was a person with less than ten cows and a broad, short nose. Discriminatory? I think so.

Tutsi were referred to by the Radio-Television des Los Mille Collines as "cockroaches," thus showing how the Hutu felt about them.

tutsi by Lorelili November 7, 2006

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tutsi

The Tutsi are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa, the other two being the Twa and the Hutu. The Twa (or Watwa) are a pygmy people and the original inhabitants. The Hutu (or Wahutu) are a people of Bantu origin, and since they moved into the area they dominated the Twa. Large numbers of all three were slaughtered in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.

The Tutsi are traditionally farmers and cattle herders. Cattle are a symbol of power and wealth, and have enabled the Tutsi to dominate the agricultural Hutu. They hold virtually all positions of importance in Burundi's government and army. Hutu rebellions were brutally suppressed in 1972 and 1988, and massacres followed the assassination of the first democratically elected Hutu president of Burundi 1993. In Rwanda, bloody ethnic violence erupted 1994 after the presidents of both Rwanda and Burundi were killed in an aircrash.

tutsi by herbiewa July 13, 2006

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Related Words

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tutsi

(Noun) The Tutsi are one of the native peoples of Rwanda, along with the Hutu and Twa.

(Verb) After the 1994 genocide perpetrated by the Tutsi tribe, the verb to Tutsi something was to metaphorically massacre it.

In very poor taste, but quite funny.

"We absolutely Tutsi-ed them 5-0 today." = "We absolutely stuffed them 5-0."

tutsi by soyabant December 13, 2008