The Tutsi, more correctly the Batutsi, are one of three native peoples of the nations of Rwanda and Burundi in central Africa. Large numbers of them were slaughtered in the Rwandan Genocide of 1994.

The exact origin of the Tutsis is not certain. Tutsis were traditionally considered a Hamitic people, however such notions are not generally accepted by the academic community today. Colonial scholars believed that the Tutsi came from East Africa, possibly Sudan or Uganda. Today there is considerable debate about the racial validity of the term Tutsi as distinct from Hutu. Some researchers believe there is next to no genetic difference between the two groups, and that what difference does exist can be explained by social patterns within the Great Lakes region. Most differences between the groups are economic and cultural. Nonetheless, most Rwandans today identify themselves as either Tutsi or Hutu.

The term Tutsi is actually an indeterminate term. In the Kinyarwanda language, a single Tutsi is termed batutsi, and more than one (the plural) is termed watutsi. This is the source of the dance name Watusi.

The Watutsi are actually the most recent arrivals in Rwanda and Burundi. The original inhabitants were the Twa (or Watwa), a pygmy people. The Hutu (Wahutu), a Bantu-derived people, subsequently moved in and dominated the Twa. Later yet, the Tutsi immigrated from the north during the 1400's and dominated both the Hutu and the Twa, establishing kingdoms that they ruled.

An interesting aspect of these three racial groups is comparative height. The Twa are traditionally portrayed as short, the Hutu medium, and the Tutsi tall (traditionally; more modern interbreeding is reducing these differences). Height differences may well be accounted for by differences in nutrition. Physical differences are almost as stratified within the Tutsi group as between the Tutsis and the Hutus. Although some Tutsi are much taller and have sharper noses than most Hutus, most Tutsi are indistinguishable from the average Hutu.

There is no difference between the culture and language of the Tutsi and Hutu. Traditionally the rate of intermarriage has been very high. Relations between the groups were generally peaceful until the 20th century.

These significant similarites lead many to conclude that Tutsi is an expression of class or caste rather than ethnicity. Experts still dispute over whether these similarities between Hutus and Tutsis came from a common ancestry or a high rate of intermarriage.

By the 1800's the Hutus and Tutsis had also evolved into socioeconomic castes. Belgian colonialisers created the notions of two different races rather than castes. Hutu, Tutsi and Twa all speak the same language.

External links

• http://www.newint.org/issue260/keynote.htm
• http://www.africaaction.org/bp/ethcen.htm