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127-598: (Redirected from Fuliru ) Furiiru may refer to: Furiiru people Furiiru language Bafuliiru Chiefdom Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Furiiru . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Furiiru&oldid=1173979558 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

254-504: A host of men, a band of comrades as well as a swarm or flock of animals. In Classical Greek , the word took on a meaning comparable to the concept now expressed by "ethnic group", mostly translated as " nation , tribe, a unique people group"; only in Hellenistic Greek did the term tend to become further narrowed to refer to "foreign" or " barbarous " nations in particular (whence the later meaning "heathen, pagan"). In

381-537: A "Rwandan-origin" community that established themselves in the Kivu region and were not known by this name during the colonial period. Using "Banyamulenge" as an ethnic identify, they campaigned for Congolese citizenship along with land possessed by indigenous Fuliru populace. In the early stages of the First and Second Congo Wars , a large contingent of Banyamulenge traversed into Bafuliru communities to provide support to

508-627: A Banyamulenge rebel groups, reportedly torched homes and property belonging to the Bafuliru in the village of Babengwa. Between February 2019 and 2020, a large number of Bafuliru were killed and displaced, leading them to the Bijombo camp in the South Kivu Province. Despite efforts to prioritize and act on serious cases in the immediate aftermath of the ethnic violence , there have been few prosecutions and fewer convictions, as well as

635-436: A badge of their new identity. Congolese historian Jacques Depelchin traces the clan's origins to Mwami Kahamba Kalingishi, believed to have arrived in the 16th century, per Belgian colonial records, or the 17th century, as argued by historians Kingwengwe Mupe and Bosco Muchukiwa Rukakiza. Other accounts suggest that the Bafuliru and the neighboring Vira people migrated from the northeast, crossing Lwindi and settling in

762-556: A colonial administrator who extensively studied the Bantu communities in eastern Belgian Congo , noted that the Bahamba clan migrated from the direction of Lwindi, led by Chief Kikanwe, to their present territory, which they found uninhabited. Moeller de Laddersous describes the Bahamba as the region's earliest settlers, in an area known as "Bufulero". Over time, the Bahamba dynasty changes their eponym from Bahamba (Wahamba) to Bafuliru as

889-603: A favorable environment for growing cassava , coffee , banana , beans and maize . The High Plateau, on the other hand, form a watershed between the tributaries of the Ulindi and the Elila rivers , as well as the torrents that flow into the Ruzizi River and Lake Tanganyika . The High Plateaus are characterized by a rugged landscape with steep slopes and elevations ranging from 1800 to 2700 meters. The main villages located on

1016-405: A feudal system existed in which Hutus were expected to leave their land available for Tutsis to graze their cows. This arrangement was enforced through a system of clientelism , where Tutsis loaned their cows to Hutus, who in turn were required to lend their land. Wealth was measured by the number of cows one possessed, and the richest Tutsis had the largest herds. At the top of this social hierarchy

1143-421: A focus on the interface between groups. "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries", therefore, is a focus on the interconnectedness of ethnic identities. Barth writes: "...   categorical ethnic distinctions do not depend on an absence of mobility, contact, and information, but do entail social processes of exclusion and incorporation whereby discrete categories are maintained despite changing participation and membership in

1270-422: A form of call-and-response singing, where one group of singers will lead with a phrase, and another group will respond with a harmonized phrase . This technique creates a rich and layered sound that is both engaging and captivating. Bafuliru also have songs that praise their leaders and ancestors, and these are often performed during political rallies and other communal events. Wedding songs are central to

1397-685: A large number of people were brutally killed and displaced in Uvira, including the former Mulenge post chief, Ladislas Matalambu, who met his demise on 1 October 1998, at 7:30 p.m. Additionally, Alexis Deyidedi, the former administrative secretary of the Bafuliiru Chiefdom, was assassinated on 2 October 1998, at 11 p.m. The AFDL troops forced many Bafuliru, Babembe , Warega , and Bavira individuals to flee and take refuge in neighboring countries such as Burundi , Tanzania , Uganda , Kenya , Zambia , and Mozambique . The displacement caused

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1524-528: A local treat and are also exported to nearby countries like Rwanda and Burundi. Some are sold in Bukavu. Two species of coffee exist in the Bafuliru Chiefdom are Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora . The arabica species is the most common in Bafuliru Chiefdom. It is a culture of exporting coffee to Burundi. Bafuliru music is characterized by a variety of traditional instruments such as

1651-503: A mercurial character. Ronald Cohen concluded that ethnicity is "a series of nesting dichotomizations of inclusiveness and exclusiveness". He agrees with Joan Vincent's observation that (in Cohen's paraphrase) "Ethnicity   ... can be narrowed or broadened in boundary terms in relation to the specific needs of political mobilization." This may be why descent is sometimes a marker of ethnicity, and sometimes not: which diacritic of ethnicity

1778-597: A near total lack of investigations of those who organized and financed the violence. Kifuliru is a member of the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo language family. The English linguist Malcolm Guthrie classified it in the D50 subgroup along with Shi , Havu , Vira, Tembo , and Nyindu , placing Kifuliru among the African Great Lakes Bantu languages . Achille Emile Meeussen and linguists at

1905-724: A newly established ethnic group known as " Banyamulenge " (literally 'those who live in Mulenge ') through an entirely fabricated ethnogenesis . This emerging identity allowed them to lay claim to land and resources in the area, setting off conflicts with Fuliru, who consider Mulenge as their ancestral homeland . Following the nation's independence, the Banyarwanda, both Tutsi and Hutu, striven to establish recognition of their rights as " indigenous ", vouching they possessed two " chefferies " (traditional chiefdoms) unrecognized by other ethnic groups. The Tutsi contended that their migration to

2032-519: A preoccupation with scientists, theologians, and the public. Religious institutions asked questions about whether there had been multiple creations of races (polygenesis) and whether God had created lesser races. Many of the foremost scientists of the time took up the idea of racial difference and found that white Europeans were superior. The ethnicity theory was based on the assimilation model. Park outlined four steps to assimilation: contact, conflict, accommodation, and assimilation. Instead of attributing

2159-412: A process known as ethnogenesis, a period of several generations of endogamy resulting in common ancestry (which is then sometimes cast in terms of a mythological narrative of a founding figure ); ethnic identity is reinforced by reference to "boundary markers" – characteristics said to be unique to the group which set it apart from other groups. Ethnicity theory argues that race

2286-527: A ripple effect of the humanitarian crisis , with many facing severe challenges, including inadequate food and water supplies , inadequate medical facilities , and substandard living conditions. On 14 May 2000, the Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie (RCD), a rebel group comprising mainly Banyamulenge child soldiers , perpetrated a massacre in the village of Katogota . The victims, numbering 375 in total, were primarily from

2413-742: A shared cultural heritage , ancestry, origin myth , history , homeland , language , dialect , religion, mythology , folklore , ritual , cuisine , dressing style , art , or physical appearance . Ethnic groups may share a narrow or broad spectrum of genetic ancestry, depending on group identification, with some groups having mixed genetic ancestry. By way of assimilation , acculturation , amalgamation , language shift , intermarriage , adoption , and religious conversion , individuals or groups may over time shift from one ethnic group to another. Ethnic groups may be divided into subgroups or tribes , which over time may become separate ethnic groups themselves due to endogamy or physical isolation from

2540-586: A significant role in the chiefdom's customs and traditions, particularly during marriage ceremonies. In Fuliru mythology, it is believed that one cannot engage in any strenuous activities without a banana. Specifically, during a wedding ceremony or after mourning, an individual intending to marry must present a jar of fermented banana and sorghum beverage , referred to as " I mbindi ya mavu yo kudeterakwo " in Kifuliru, meaning "the jar of alcohol that allows you to speak". This jar of banana alcohol must be offered to

2667-737: A social, cultural, economic, and security nature. Human rights organizations estimate that as of May 1996, the total number of deaths from the conflict stands around 70,000. The tension within Bafuliru communities originates from the circumstance where Rwandan refugees, placed by the Belgian colonial administration and the United Nations in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, failed to uphold their designated status upon their arrival. Instead, they profess to be

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2794-415: A spear attack, including his son Rubwatara. His troops were subsequently expelled from every village they had captured. However, Kinyoni's troops managed to retreat to Luvungi , where they received support from Belgian colonists , who provided them with much-needed resources and supplies. This assistance allowed Kinyoni's troops to regroup and prepare for another attempt to conquer the Bafuliru Chiefdom under

2921-519: A stand-in for "paganism" in the 18th century, but now came to express the meaning of an "ethnic character" (first recorded 1953). The term ethnic group was first recorded in 1935 and entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1972. Depending on context, the term nationality may be used either synonymously with ethnicity or synonymously with citizenship (in a sovereign state). The process that results in emergence of an ethnicity

3048-627: A sub-chief under Burundian King Mwezi Gisabo from the Banyakarama Dynasty, established his own presence along the Ruzizi River's right bank. With swift prowess, he conquered southern villages like Kigoma, Mulenge, Kihanga, and Kalengera, expanding his dominion. He then launched a northward offensive, seizing Kiringye, Kabwiba, and Kigwena, nearly half of the Bafuliru Chiefdom . Facing significant territorial setbacks,

3175-613: A town situated in the north-western region of the Uvira Territory in South Kivu Province , resulting in the loss of several dozen lives. A total of 37 individuals, including two medical personnel , lost their lives in a hospital massacre . The armed assailants also pillaged the Lemera Hospital , the largest hospital in the region, located approximately 85 kilometers north of Uvira . In October 1998,

3302-474: A vital food source for the Bafuliru, particularly for those inhabiting the Ruzizi Plain and the entire Bafuliru Chiefdom. Having a cassava field is regarded as a treasure trove and is highly valued by the community. Besides its roots, cassava leaves are also consumable, and its stems are used for lumber . Cassava's significance goes beyond its dietary value and practical uses. It has a significant role in

3429-494: Is Kivuluga, a fusion of Shi and Kifuliru, which is predominantly spoken in the Itara-Luvungi groupement . This dialect emerged due to the region's close linguistic proximity of Shi and Kifuliru speakers. The Bafuliru economy is almost exclusively agriculturally based, although they also own and raise cattle for milk and meat; their homelands in the South Kivu Province are some of the most intensively farmed areas of

3556-548: Is a group of people who identify with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include a people of a common language , culture , common sets of ancestry , traditions , society, religion , history, or social treatment. The term ethnicity is sometimes used interchangeably with the term nation , particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism . Ethnicity may be construed as an inherited or societally imposed construct. Ethnic membership tends to be defined by

3683-443: Is a social category and is only one of several factors in determining ethnicity. Other criteria include "religion, language, 'customs', nationality, and political identification". This theory was put forward by sociologist Robert E. Park in the 1920s. It is based on the notion of "culture". This theory was preceded by more than 100 years during which biological essentialism was the dominant paradigm on race. Biological essentialism

3810-423: Is called ethnogenesis , a term in use in ethnological literature since about 1950. The term may also be used with the connotation of something unique and unusually exotic (cf. "an ethnic restaurant", etc.), generally related to cultures of more recent immigrants, who arrived after the dominant population of an area was established. Depending on which source of group identity is emphasized to define membership,

3937-420: Is called ethnogenesis. Members of an ethnic group, on the whole, claim cultural continuities over time, although historians and cultural anthropologists have documented that many of the values, practices, and norms that imply continuity with the past are of relatively recent invention. Ethnic groups can form a cultural mosaic in a society. That could be in a city like New York City or Trieste , but also

Furiiru - Misplaced Pages Continue

4064-470: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Language and nationality disambiguation pages Furiiru people According to a 2009 census, their population was estimated at over 250,000, while a 1999 estimate of Kifuliru -language speakers placed the number at 300,000. The Fuliru speak the Fuliru language , a branch of the Bantu subgroup within

4191-655: Is not a noun in Britain. In effect there are no "ethnics"; there are only "ethnic relations". In the U.S., the OMB says the definition of race as used for the purposes of the US Census is not "scientific or anthropological" and takes into account "social and cultural characteristics as well as ancestry", using "appropriate scientific methodologies" that are not "primarily biological or genetic in reference". Sometimes ethnic groups are subject to prejudicial attitudes and actions by

4318-751: Is primarily an income generator rather than a food source at the CEP Kabwe, Kaliri, and at the Community Development Center ( Cenre Developpement Communautaire ; CDC) base in Kiringye . Beans are grown predominantly in the central part of Lemera , covering areas from Rubanga to Mulenge . They are marketed in Bukavu and Uvira , with a large portion exported to nearby countries like Burundi and Rwanda. While beans, alongside rice, are exported, they usually fetch lower prices due to

4445-442: Is salient depends on whether people are scaling ethnic boundaries up or down, and whether they are scaling them up or down depends generally on the political situation. Kanchan Chandra rejects the expansive definitions of ethnic identity (such as those that include common culture, common language, common history and common territory), choosing instead to define ethnic identity narrowly as a subset of identity categories determined by

4572-529: Is situated in two distinct types of plateaus : the Middle Plateau and the High Plateau . The Middle Plateau spans between Luvungi and Mulenge , with the altitude gradually increasing from 100 m to 1800 meters. This plateau comprises several groupements and villages, including Namutiri, Ndolera, Bulaga, Langala, Bushokw, Bushuju, Butole, Lemera , Bwesho, Katala, Mulenge, and others. It is also

4699-506: Is some inconsistency in historical accounts, while some sources uphold the claim that the Bahamba clan played an instrumental role in founding the chiefdom, other narratives indicate that they supplanted the Balemera clan to establish their hegemony and royal lineage in the Bafuliru Chiefdom. Kingwengwe Mupe argues that the Bahamba clan drove out (and possibly dethroned) the Balemera clan to occupy Uvira Territory. According to Mupe's account,

4826-431: Is the belief that some races, specifically white Europeans in western versions of the paradigm, are biologically superior and other races, specifically non-white races in western debates, are inherently inferior. This view arose as a way to justify enslavement of African Americans and genocide of Native Americans in a society that was officially founded on freedom for all. This was a notion that developed slowly and came to be

4953-466: The Berlin Conference . This "historical and scientific" apologia was unlikely intended to equate the "Banyamulenge" pseudo - tribe with the indigenous Congolese ethnic groups. Under the pressure of Gisaro Muhoza, a Rwandan university administrator and revered as the creator of the term "Banyamulenge", Rugama used the term in his thesis. According to René Lemarchand , Banyamulenge constitute

5080-463: The Caribbean and South Asia . Max Weber maintained that ethnic groups were künstlich (artificial, i.e. a social construct ) because they were based on a subjective belief in shared Gemeinschaft (community). Secondly, this belief in shared Gemeinschaft did not create the group; the group created the belief. Third, group formation resulted from the drive to monopolize power and status. This

5207-646: The Congo Basin coincided with that of their Fuliru, Vira, Bembe, and Lega counterparts, antedating the establishment of the Congo Free State , and consequently, should be entitled to equivalent ethnic rights as other communities. In 1976, Faustin Tabazi Rugama, a Munyamulenge writer, attempted to legitimize the notion of a tribe called "Banyamulenge" that presumably held sway in Mulenge prior to

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5334-543: The Fizi Territory , which was further subdivided into five sectors, including Itombwe , Lulenge , Mutambala , Ndandja, and Tangani'a . Conversely, the Bafuliru Chiefdom borders Rwanda and Burundi through the Ruzizi Plain in the Uvira Territory . The sandy soil of the plain is suitable for growing crops such as groundnuts and cotton , with Luvungi , Lubarika , and Luberizi being particularly noteworthy areas for such cultivation . The Fuliru collectivity

5461-909: The Mission d'immigration des Banyarwanda (MIB), facilitated the immigration of Rwandans to other parts of the Belgian Congo. Between 10,000 of Rwandan families were established in various regions of Belgian Congo, including the current Masisi Territory , the Bwito Chiefdom in the Rutshuru Territory , the Buzi-Ziralo grouping ( groupement ) in the Kalehe Territory , and Moba in Katanga . Other eastern regions such as Baraka and Marungu were also prepared to welcome

5588-455: The New World were multi-ethnic from the onset, as they were formed as colonies imposed on existing indigenous populations. In recent decades, feminist scholars (most notably Nira Yuval-Davis) have drawn attention to the fundamental ways in which women participate in the creation and reproduction of ethnic and national categories. Though these categories are usually discussed as belonging to

5715-771: The Niger-Congo family , closely related to Vira, Shi , Havu , Tembo , and Nyindu . Occupationally, Fuliru primarily work in agriculture and herding , with a notable reputation in pottery and basket-weaving . Their handcrafted baskets are used for storage, decoration, and even as musical instruments. The Fuliru, like many other communities in the eastern part of the DRC , face ongoing challenges related to access to basic needs such as clean water, healthcare, and education. Parenthetically, they face issues related to land disputes , political marginalization , and human rights abuses. The Fuliru women and girls are particularly vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence amplified by

5842-839: The Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren categorized Kifuliru under J54, describing it as an "interlacustrine" language. The Fuliru are connected to the Vira in a Fuliru-Vira culture cluster. Both ethnic groups are interlacustrine, living between the African Great Lakes. Kifuliru is commonly spoken in the Uvira Territory , with over 275,000 speakers. It is mutually intelligible with several neighboring languages, including Nyindu and Vira, with which it shares 90% lexical similarity , and Shi, with which it has about 70% lexical similarity. One notable dialect of Kifuliru

5969-662: The Tutsi members of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo (AFDLC). This influx of Banyamulenge played a pivotal role in enabling the AFDLC to seize control of the region from local chiefs and civilians who were uprooted from their ancestral lands against their will. The conflict was marked by brutal violence against the civilian population. On 6 October 1996, Banyamulenge rebels launched an assault on Lemera ,

6096-452: The ngoma (drum), xylophone , and flute , which are used to create complex rhythms and melodies . The melodic strains of traditional instrument permeate the air, accompanied by the hypnotic rhythm of indigenous dance, which envelops the senses with its entrancing cadence. The ngoma, in particular, is an essential instrument in Bafuliru music, and it is often played during various social and religious events. Bafuliru music also incorporates

6223-569: The 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of "peculiar to a tribe, race, people or nation", in a return to the original Greek meaning. The sense of "different cultural groups", and in American English "tribal, racial, cultural or national minority group " arises in the 1930s to 1940s, serving as a replacement of the term race which had earlier taken this sense but was now becoming deprecated due to its association with ideological racism . The abstract ethnicity had been used as

6350-578: The Bafuliru Chiefdom rebuffed to capitulate and shoved forward to defend Bwesho . Led by the renowned leader Katangaza—a respected and influential figure from Bwesho—they rallied their forces and readied themselves to face the ineluctable advance of Chief Kinyoni and his dexterous warrior, Rubisha. Following their advent in Bwesho, Rubisha and his army encountered fierce resistance from Bafuliru's army, resulting in Kinyoni being callously wounded and succumbed to

6477-514: The Bafuliru and Babembe communities, who sought refuge in Burundi on 10 June 2004, to escape ongoing ethnic persecution . The ongoing violence in the Bafuliru communities has been exacerbated by political instability , resource scarcity , and deep-seated mistrust between the various groups. The situation is further complicated by the involvement of different armed groups, including militias and rebel factions, who compete for control over

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6604-505: The Bafuliru community and were brutally murdered in cold blood. Some were mercilessly gunned down, while others suffered the grisly fate of having their throats slashed , and their bodies were thrown into the Ruzizi River to dispose of the evidence. The rebels also set fire to their homes, leaving many others to burn to death . The horrors of the Katogota massacre caused many to flee their homes, including up to 3,500 Congolese, mainly from

6731-584: The Bafuliru's ethnic boundaries, which stretched along Lake Tanganyika and the Ruzizi Plain from Moira to the Luvivi River, encompassing territories that sometimes overlapped with Bavira lands. Bosco Muchukiwa Rukakiza points out that Chief Luhama—a central figure in Bafuliru history and founder of the Bahamba dynasty—consolidated power by dividing his domain among his three sons to foster stability and manage local demands for autonomy. Luhama's strategic division granted his eldest son, Nyamugira, to control

6858-533: The Balemera clan can be traced back as the indigenous people who first inhabited the region. It is believed that the Bafuliru Chiefdom, which had its stronghold in Lemera, was the very heartland of their ancestral domain. In the late 1800s, various groups established themselves in Bafuliru's lands in search of more arable soil. Led by Chief Ngabwe, the Barundi arrived from Burundi and assertively requested land from

6985-681: The Bavira, forming a unique group that did not adopt the Bafuliru's original leadership structures. Among other prominent clans, the Bazige (or Bazeke), who were given land by Chief Muluta to their leader Ngabwe, either overcame or were assimilated into the Bafuliru Chiefdom. Oral history suggests the Bazige had an autonomous chiefdom in the present-day Muhungu groupement , which they governed under Kalunga, son of Mukobesi, before being conquered and subjugated by Mahina Mukogabwe (often referred to as Nyamugira Mukogabwe II)—a Fuliru chieftain whose reign spanned

7112-798: The Bavira, which they acquired between the Kiliba and Kawezi Rivers in exchange for ivory. As the tides of colonialism encroached across the region, it sparked wars of expansion on both sides. The Mwami of the Bafuliiru tenaciously claimed jurisdiction over certain villages in the Ruzizi Plain, while the Mwami of the Plain sought to establish his own authority. In the absence of a resolution, both chiefdoms resorted to warfare to vie for dominance. After Chief Ngabwe consolidated his authority, Chief Kinyoni,

7239-414: The Belgian colonial administration as essential conditions for the establishment of any chieftaincy . This was done to prevent lawlessness and to avoid violating the ancestral realities that had existed for millennia. Belgian colonial administration's criteria for establishing chieftaincies varied based on the region and the ethnic group in question. The establishment of chieftaincies was often accompanied by

7366-556: The Fuliru oral tradition . Serving both an educational and entertainment function, these songs convey cultural wisdom, teaching politeness, respect, and environmental awareness to the young couple and the wider community. Before the introduction of literacy in the 20th century, these songs were memorized and performed orally. Through the medium of song, Bafuliru wedding traditions offer insight into their worldview and everyday life. Ethnic group An ethnicity or ethnic group

7493-407: The Fuliru eventually settled in the region now known as Uvira. The origins of the Bafuliru Chiefdom , prior to its formal establishment as an administrative chiefdom of Uvira Territory in 1928 under Belgian colonial rule, are complex and subject to historical interpretation. Various hypotheses and conjectures have been proposed to explain its emergence. According to Alfred Moeller de Laddersous ,

7620-499: The Fuliru were neither conquered nor assimilated by them, but instead engaged in trade and occasional cattle raiding , leading to a deep and long-lasting social interaction that particularly impacted the Fuliru people. The Banyarwanda later acquired Mulenge and Upper Sange from the Bafuliru, and many of them settled in remote areas, including Kalamba, the Ruzizi Plain , and the Mulenge hills, before spreading to other parts of southern Kivu. The Belgian colonial administration, through

7747-610: The Greeks. Herodotus (8.144.2) gave a famous account of what defined Greek (Hellenic) ethnic identity in his day, enumerating Whether ethnicity qualifies as a cultural universal is to some extent dependent on the exact definition used. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. According to Thomas Hylland Eriksen ,

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7874-574: The High Plateaus include Kagongo, Kishusha, Mulobela, and Kashekezi. These villages are known for their cool climate and are suitable for the cultivation of crops such as Irish potatoes and beans . This plateau is mostly used for grazing cattle and is less populated compared to the Middle Plateau. Bafuliru Chiefdom is subdivided in groupements (groupings) governed by customary chiefs ( chefs de groupement ) who are appointed by

8001-525: The United States that the ethnicity theory was exclusively based on the immigration patterns of the white population and did take into account the unique experiences of non-whites in the United States. While Park's theory identified different stages in the immigration process – contact, conflict, struggle, and as the last and best response, assimilation – it did so only for white communities. The ethnicity paradigm neglected

8128-994: The added value of being able to describe the commonalities between systems of group identity in both tribal and modern societies. Cohen also suggested that claims concerning "ethnic" identity (like earlier claims concerning "tribal" identity) are often colonialist practices and effects of the relations between colonized peoples and nation-states. According to Paul James , formations of identity were often changed and distorted by colonization, but identities are not made out of nothing: Categorizations about identity, even when codified and hardened into clear typologies by processes of colonization, state formation or general modernizing processes, are always full of tensions and contradictions. Sometimes these contradictions are destructive, but they can also be creative and positive. Social scientists have thus focused on how, when, and why different markers of ethnic identity become salient. Thus, anthropologist Joan Vincent observed that ethnic boundaries often have

8255-517: The already dire situation, with many facing severe challenges, including food and water insecurity, inadequate medical care, and substandard living conditions. In June 2014, 35 Fuliru were killed in an attack on the town of Mutarule . The attack was believed to be ethnically motivated . The massacres were carried out mainly by Barundi and Banyamulenge rebel groups in a determined, planned, systematic and methodical manner, and were inspired by ethnic hatred . In January 2019, Twigwaneho and Ngumino,

8382-476: The appointment of a local chief ( chefs de groupement ) or a traditional ruler who was then tasked with maintaining law and order in the area, as well as ensuring the well-being of the local population. However, the establishment of chieftains was controversial, particularly in areas where multiple ethnic groups co-exist. There were instances where the colonial administration had to navigate complex power dynamics and determine which ethnic group or faction should hold

8509-473: The area. According to the scholar Cuypers, this migration could have included a prolonged detour through Maniema rather than a direct movement. Led by an ancestral figure named Nalwindi, the group split into two: the Bafuliru, under Kahamba Kalingishi, settled around the highlands of Lemera , while the Vira, led by Kirungu, established themselves on Munanira's peak, eventually spreading to the valley lowlands and

8636-463: The attendees; otherwise, the speaker is unable to convey a meaningful message. The beverage is also called Kasigisi . Additionally, during childbirth , the banana tree is seen as holding ritual significance, as it is believed that the umbilical cords of certain children are buried near banana fields. Rice grown in the Bafuliru Chiefdom belongs to the genus Oryza and Ozyresatira species. Its various types include IR5, L9, and IRON 282. It

8763-449: The belief of common descent. Jóhanna Birnir similarly defines ethnicity as "group self-identification around a characteristic that is very difficult or even impossible to change, such as language, race, or location." Different approaches to understanding ethnicity have been used by different social scientists when trying to understand the nature of ethnicity as a factor in human life and society. As Jonathan M. Hall observes, World War II

8890-485: The case of Hutus and Tutsis, after 23 years already spent in this diocese, I am not able to say the same; how does each of these two Hutu and Tutsi groups constitute a tribe? It is up to them to understand it and convince others of it." Since the 1960s, the cohabitation between the Banyarwanda and their Congolese neighbors has been plagued by problems, resulting in serious social tensions and violence. The escalation of these tensions and violence has led to lethal conflict of

9017-495: The colonial authorities. However, this approach had some negative consequences. The proliferation of chiefdoms and groups created administrative difficulties for the colonial administration, making it challenging to maintain control over such a vast and diverse territory. Additionally, the creation of numerous chiefdoms and groups resulted in the fragmentation of ethnic groups, further exacerbating existing inter-ethnic tensions and conflicts. The Bembe and Buyu were both grouped in

9144-539: The colonial power of Belgium in the Belgian Congo, which had guardianship over Ruanda-Urundi , officially encouraged and facilitated the immigration of Rwandans to Kivu. The Rwandans who migrated to Itombwe and Uvira during this time were predominantly Tutsis, and were favored by Belgian colonists due to their perceived superiority over the Hutus. Unusually in contacts with the Tutsi pastoralists from Banyarwanda group,

9271-573: The context of European colonial expansion, when mercantilism and capitalism were promoting global movements of populations at the same time that state boundaries were being more clearly and rigidly defined. In the 19th century, modern states generally sought legitimacy through their claim to represent "nations". Nation-states , however, invariably include populations who have been excluded from national life for one reason or another. Members of excluded groups, consequently, will either demand inclusion based on equality or seek autonomy, sometimes even to

9398-437: The country. More than 90% of the population makes its livelihood by producing food crops or through industrial work involving the processing of crops. Principal food crops include cassava , corn , rice , plantains , and, to a lesser extent, bananas , beans , and peanuts . According to Bafuliru folklore, cassava originated from Lwindi Chiefdom and was introduced by them during their migration. Today, cassava remains

9525-422: The course of individual life histories." In 1978, anthropologist Ronald Cohen claimed that the identification of "ethnic groups" in the usage of social scientists often reflected inaccurate labels more than indigenous realities: ... the named ethnic identities we accept, often unthinkingly, as basic givens in the literature are often arbitrarily, or even worse inaccurately, imposed. In this way, he pointed to

9652-526: The cultural traits of such groups have no demonstrated genetic connection with racial traits. Because serious errors of this kind are habitually committed when the term "race" is used in popular parlance, it would be better when speaking of human races to drop the term "race" altogether and speak of "ethnic groups". In 1982, anthropologist David Craig Griffith summed up forty years of ethnographic research, arguing that racial and ethnic categories are symbolic markers for different ways people from different parts of

9779-451: The distant past. Perspectives that developed after the 1960s increasingly viewed ethnic groups as social constructs , with identity assigned by societal rules. The term ethnic is ultimately derived from the Greek ethnos , through its adjectival form ethnikos , loaned into Latin as ethnicus . The inherited English language term for this concept is folk , used alongside

9906-452: The distinctions of ethnicity and race that function to set off categories of workers from one another. It is, nevertheless, the process of labor mobilization under capitalism that imparts to these distinctions their effective values. According to Wolf, racial categories were constructed and incorporated during the period of European mercantile expansion , and ethnic groupings during the period of capitalist expansion . Writing in 1977 about

10033-737: The ethnic group. The Fuliru people are made up of about 37 clans: The origin of the Fuliru people, like that of many ethnic groups in the Great Lakes region of Africa , is complex and multifaceted, shaped by migration , colonization , and conflict . The Fuliru are believed to have originated from the Bantu-speaking people who migrated from West - Central Africa as part of the Bantu migration to Central , Eastern and Southern Africa . Most, however, are descended from Bantu groups that had settled in Southeast Africa after

10160-530: The extent of complete political separation in their nation-state. Under these conditions   when people moved from one state to another, or one state conquered or colonized peoples beyond its national boundaries – ethnic groups were formed by people who identified with one nation but lived in another state. In the 1920s, Estonia introduced a flexible system of ethnicity/nationality self-choice for its citizens, which included Estonians Russians, Baltic Germans and Jews. Multi-ethnic states can be

10287-414: The fact that identification of an ethnic group by outsiders, e.g. anthropologists, may not coincide with the self-identification of the members of that group. He also described that in the first decades of usage, the term ethnicity had often been used in lieu of older terms such as "cultural" or "tribal" when referring to smaller groups with shared cultural systems and shared heritage, but that "ethnicity" had

10414-528: The fallen monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the United States. Current topics are in particular social and cultural differentiation, multilingualism, competing identity offers, multiple cultural identities and the formation of Salad bowl and melting pot . Ethnic groups differ from other social groups, such as subcultures , interest groups or social classes , because they emerge and change over historical periods (centuries) in

10541-596: The following types of (often mutually overlapping) groups can be identified: In many cases, more than one aspect determines membership: for instance, Armenian ethnicity can be defined by Armenian citizenship, having Armenian heritage, native use of the Armenian language , or membership of the Armenian Apostolic Church . Ethnography begins in classical antiquity ; after early authors like Anaximander and Hecataeus of Miletus , Herodotus laid

10668-442: The following villages: The Itara-Luvungi groupement consists of the following villages: The Lemera groupement consists of the following villages: Alternatively, Bafuliru are not a homogeneous people; it is an amalgamation of people with diverse backgrounds, a kind of multicultural state, each with distinct origins. To be considered Mufuliru one must be born into one of the thirty-seven progenitor families (clans) of

10795-672: The foundation of both historiography and ethnography of the ancient world c.  480 BC . The Greeks had developed a concept of their own ethnicity, which they grouped under the name of Hellenes . Although there were exceptions, such as Macedonia, which was ruled by nobility in a way that was not typically Greek, and Sparta, which had an unusual ruling class, the ancient Greeks generally enslaved only non-Greeks due to their strong belief in ethnonationalism. The Greeks sometimes believed that even their lowest citizens were superior to any barbarian. In his Politics 1.2–7; 3.14, Aristotle even described barbarians as natural slaves in contrast to

10922-558: The genes. Examples of various approaches are primordialism, essentialism, perennialism, constructivism, modernism, and instrumentalism. Ethnicity is an important means by which people may identify with a larger group. Many social scientists, such as anthropologists Fredrik Barth and Eric Wolf , do not consider ethnic identity to be universal. They regard ethnicity as a product of specific kinds of inter-group interactions, rather than an essential quality inherent to human groups. The process that results in emergence of such identification

11049-427: The governance of the community, serving as a source of tax revenue . Eighty percent of all taxes collected come from cassava alone. This tax collection method enables tax collectors to fill the state treasury at both community and zone levels, which, in turn, supports the local markets of the Bafuliru Chiefdom. The banana plant is an adaptable crop that thrives in nearly every region of the Bafuliru Chiefdom. It has

11176-536: The guidance of Katangaza. Despite the setback, the Bafuliiru troops pursued the retreating army and eventually expelled them from Kiringye. During the period of European penetration , the Banyarwanda , now commonly referred to as " Banyamulenge ", emerged as a significant group in the region. The term "Banyarwanda" includes Hutus , Tutsis , and Twa people from Rwanda, who share the same common language and cultural heritage . In traditional Rwandan society,

11303-400: The immigrants. This immigration policy was officially supported by the Belgian colonial government, which aimed to promote economic development and expand its control over the region. However, the influx of Rwandans led to tensions and conflicts with the local population, contributing to the ongoing ethnic tensions in the region. Another factor that fostered this immigration of Rwandans

11430-530: The initial expansion from Nigeria / Cameroon and settled in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the 16th century. By the mid-1700s, the Bafuliru people had established a significant presence in the region surrounding Lake Tanganyika , specifically in the mountainous hinterland of South Kivu along the Ulindi River . The Fuliru have a unique history as one of

11557-433: The kernel of a nation which must be defended in times of conflict, or in iconic figures such as Britannia or Marianne . Ethnicity is used as a matter of cultural identity of a group, often based on shared ancestry, language, and cultural traditions, while race is applied as a taxonomic grouping, based on physical similarities among groups. Race is a more controversial subject than ethnicity, due to common political use of

11684-651: The land from Moira to the Munyovwe River; his second son, Mutahonga, received areas from the Munyovwe to the Kise River and the eastern slopes of the Ruzizi Valley; and his third son, Lusagara, managed the mountainous regions. This arrangement retained centralized control through family ties, with power transferring from father to eldest son. Eventually, some members of the Bafuliru's Balunga clan joined

11811-654: The latinate people since the late Middle English period. In Early Modern English and until the mid-19th century, ethnic was used to mean heathen or pagan (in the sense of disparate "nations" which did not yet participate in the Christian ecumene ), as the Septuagint used ta ethne 'the nations' to translate the Hebrew goyim "the foreign nations, non-Hebrews, non-Jews". The Greek term in early antiquity ( Homeric Greek ) could refer to any large group,

11938-487: The letter, he stated: "With us, the main tribes or socio-political communities are called, I quote in alphabetical order: Bahavu, Bahunde, Banande, Banyanga, Barega, Bashi, Batembo. The Banyarwanda (Hutus and Tutsis), at least those who were, those who no longer want this title and those who still identify with this term, will want to understand that, in their case, the notion of "tribe" that they give themselves when they declare themselves Hutu and Tutsi cannot be understood in

12065-706: The local population's modest consumption of these foods as dietary staples. Traditionally, a bean dish is served with cassava mbundu . Corn is a widely grown crop in the Ruzizi Plain, particularly in the Itara-Luvungi groupement , and in the Hauts Plateaux , where it acts as the primary food source. Although many Bafuliru from the Hauts Plateaux consume corn, some don't favor corn. Peanuts are mainly grown in Luvungi and Lubarika , though they are also present in Lemera and Rubanga. Peanuts are

12192-485: The marginalized status of people of color in the United States to their inherent biological inferiority, he attributed it to their failure to assimilate into American culture. They could become equal if they abandoned their inferior cultures. Michael Omi and Howard Winant 's theory of racial formation directly confronts both the premises and the practices of ethnicity theory. They argue in Racial Formation in

12319-483: The modernist understanding of ethnicity as proposed by Ernest Gellner and Benedict Anderson see nations and nationalism as developing with the rise of the modern state system in the 17th century. They culminated in the rise of "nation-states" in which the presumptive boundaries of the nation coincided (or ideally coincided) with state boundaries. Thus, in the West, the notion of ethnicity, like race and nation , developed in

12446-479: The only highland Bantu groups to have formed a single, relatively small state that was highly centralized. According to oral tradition , the epicenter of the Fuliru people's migratory dispersion in the middle Lwalaba Basin is located at the mouth of the Ulindi River . The Mushi historian Bishikwabo Chubaka has chronicled that after migrating from Lwindi near the Ulindi River in the mountainous hinterlands,

12573-401: The paramount chief. Groupements are subdivided in localités (villages) which are also ruled by customary chiefs. Bafuliru Chiefdom is composed of five groupements : Runingu , Itara-Luvungi , Lemera , Muhungu and Kigoma. The Muhungu groupement consists of the following villages: The Kigoma groupement consists of the following villages: The Runingu groupement consists of

12700-551: The parent group. Conversely, formerly separate ethnicities can merge to form a panethnicity and may eventually merge into one single ethnicity . Whether through division or amalgamation, the formation of a separate ethnic identity is referred to as ethnogenesis . Although both organic and performative criteria characterise ethnic groups, debate in the past has dichotomised between primordialism and constructivism. Earlier 20th-century "Primordialists" viewed ethnic groups as real phenomena whose distinct characteristics have endured since

12827-492: The period between 1914 and 1927. This union merged two distinct groups, with Kalunga's lineage recognized to preserve social cohesion , mutual trust, and integration within the Bafuliru. Over time, the Bazige adopted the Kifuliiru language , strengthened by intermarriage and economic exchanges, and ultimately accepted Mukogabwe as their Mwami. The formal establishment of the Bafuliru Chiefdom came on 18 August 1928, when it

12954-467: The position of chief. This led to tensions between different ethnic groups and, in some cases, even armed conflict. Each ethnic group , however small, was assigned a chiefdom or a sector , if not, a grouping (groupement) . The administrative territories were thus constituted within the limits of the chiefdom. The aim was to regroup "ethnic units" in their own geographical entities, but this led to such fragmentation that Orientale Province , which included

13081-442: The present-day Haut-Congo Province and the former Kivu , comprised up to 2,500 chiefdoms and groups. This approach by the Belgian colonial administration was based on the principle of indirect rule , which aimed to maintain control over the local population through traditional rulers. This system was viewed as a means of preserving the existing social and political structures of the colonized societies while ensuring their loyalty to

13208-465: The present-day Uvira Territory . Depelchin also observes that both "Buvira" (today's Bavira Chiefdom) and "Bufuliro" (Bafuliru Chiefdom) had multiple bami (a term equivalent to " mwami " among many eastern Congolese Bantu groups). He firmly states that this part of the country (encompassing Bavira and Bafuliru chiefdoms) has never had one paramount chief, as the Bafuliru retained their own independent paramount chief. By 1907, colonial surveys delineated

13335-450: The problem of racism became the sole responsibility of already disadvantaged communities. It was assumed that if a Black or Latino community was not "making it" by the standards that had been set by whites, it was because that community did not hold the right values or beliefs, or were stubbornly resisting dominant norms because they did not want to fit in. Omi and Winant's critique of ethnicity theory explains how looking to cultural defect as

13462-433: The public, political sphere, they are upheld within the private, family sphere to a great extent. It is here that women act not just as biological reproducers but also as "cultural carriers", transmitting knowledge and enforcing behaviors that belong to a specific collectivity. Women also often play a significant symbolic role in conceptions of nation or ethnicity, for example in the notion that "women and children" constitute

13589-466: The region's persistent armed conflicts, which have resulted in the prevalence of a pervasive culture of impunity. At the onset of Belgian colonization , the establishment of chieftaincies was the primary method of governance , reflecting the decentralized nature of the colonial policy. These chieftaincies were established with due respect to the customs and traditions of each area, particularly based on three principal criteria defined and established by

13716-541: The region's resources and strategic locations. The proliferation of weapons and the absence of effective governance has allowed these groups to act with impunity, perpetrating horrific acts of violence against civilians and engaging in illicit activities, including the illegal exploitation of mineral resources. The impact of the conflict on the local population has been devastating, with many families displaced from their homes, and their livelihoods destroyed. The absence of adequate humanitarian assistance has only exacerbated

13843-571: The result of inherited traits and tendencies. With Weber's introduction of the idea of ethnicity as a social construct, race and ethnicity became more divided from each other. In 1950, the UNESCO statement " The Race Question ", signed by some of the internationally renowned scholars of the time (including Ashley Montagu , Claude Lévi-Strauss , Gunnar Myrdal , Julian Huxley , etc.), said: National, religious, geographic, linguistic and cultural groups do not necessarily coincide with racial groups: and

13970-488: The result of two opposite events, either the recent creation of state borders at variance with traditional tribal territories, or the recent immigration of ethnic minorities into a former nation-state. Examples for the first case are found throughout Africa , where countries created during decolonization inherited arbitrary colonial borders, but also in European countries such as Belgium or United Kingdom . Examples for

14097-575: The same sense as that of the other communities mentioned above. Indeed, unlike that of the Hutus and Tutsis, the Havu, Hunde, Nande, Nyanga and Tembo communities each have their "Mwami" and their "Balu" or "Vakama", who are respectively their heads of state and leading executives in the precolonial context. These communities have their traditional values which are based on their languages, their territories, their customs and their own family, matrimonial, cultural, economic, political and religious organizations. For

14224-588: The second case are countries such as Netherlands , which were relatively ethnically homogeneous when they attained statehood but have received significant immigration in the 17th century and even more so in the second half of the 20th century. States such as the United Kingdom , France and Switzerland comprised distinct ethnic groups from their formation and have likewise experienced substantial immigration, resulting in what has been termed " multicultural " societies, especially in large cities. The states of

14351-420: The source of inequality ignores the "concrete sociopolitical dynamics within which racial phenomena operate in the U.S." It prevents critical examination of the structural components of racism and encourages a "benign neglect" of social inequality. In some cases, especially those involving transnational migration or colonial expansion, ethnicity is linked to nationality. Anthropologists and historians, following

14478-407: The state or its constituents. In the 20th century, people began to argue that conflicts among ethnic groups or between members of an ethnic group and the state can and should be resolved in one of two ways. Some, like Jürgen Habermas and Bruce Barry, have argued that the legitimacy of modern states must be based on a notion of political rights of autonomous individual subjects. According to this view,

14605-441: The state should not acknowledge ethnic, national or racial identity but rather instead enforce political and legal equality of all individuals. Others, like Charles Taylor and Will Kymlicka , argue that the notion of the autonomous individual is itself a cultural construct. According to this view, states must recognize ethnic identity and develop processes through which the particular needs of ethnic groups can be accommodated within

14732-512: The study of ethnicity was dominated by two distinct debates until recently. According to Eriksen , these debates have been superseded, especially in anthropology , by scholars' attempts to respond to increasingly politicized forms of self-representation by members of different ethnic groups and nations. This is in the context of debates over multiculturalism in countries, such as the United States and Canada, which have large immigrant populations from many different cultures, and post-colonialism in

14859-524: The term in social studies in the 1980s and 1990s. Barth went further than Weber in stressing the constructed nature of ethnicity. To Barth, ethnicity was perpetually negotiated and renegotiated by both external ascription and internal self-identification. Barth's view is that ethnic groups are not discontinuous cultural isolates or logical a priori to which people naturally belong. He wanted to part with anthropological notions of cultures as bounded entities, and ethnicity as primordialist bonds, replacing it with

14986-446: The term. Ramón Grosfoguel (University of California, Berkeley) argues that "racial/ethnic identity" is one concept and concepts of race and ethnicity cannot be used as separate and autonomous categories. Before Weber (1864–1920), race and ethnicity were primarily seen as two aspects of the same thing. Around 1900 and before, the primordialist understanding of ethnicity predominated: cultural differences between peoples were seen as being

15113-468: The usage of the term "ethnic" in the ordinary language of Great Britain and the United States , Wallman noted The term "ethnic" popularly connotes "[race]" in Britain, only less precisely, and with a lighter value load. In North America, by contrast, "[race]" most commonly means color, and "ethnics" are the descendants of relatively recent immigrants from non-English-speaking countries. "[Ethnic]"

15240-448: The ways in which race can complicate a community's interactions with social and political structures, especially upon contact. Assimilation – shedding the particular qualities of a native culture for the purpose of blending in with a host culture – did not work for some groups as a response to racism and discrimination, though it did for others. Once the legal barriers to achieving equality had been dismantled,

15367-442: The world have been incorporated into a global economy: The opposing interests that divide the working classes are further reinforced through appeals to "racial" and "ethnic" distinctions. Such appeals serve to allocate different categories of workers to rungs on the scale of labor markets, relegating stigmatized populations to the lower levels and insulating the higher echelons from competition from below. Capitalism did not create all

15494-483: Was a turning point in ethnic studies. The consequences of Nazi racism discouraged essentialist interpretations of ethnic groups and race. Ethnic groups came to be defined as social rather than biological entities. Their coherence was attributed to shared myths, descent, kinship , a common place of origin, language, religion, customs, and national character. So, ethnic groups are conceived as mutable rather than stable, constructed in discursive practices rather than written in

15621-591: Was also facilitated by the establishment of a chiefdom for the Banyarwanda after the arrival of numerous laborers brought by missionaries from neighboring Rwanda. Monsignor Faustin Ngabu , who was the president of the Episcopate of Congo and the bishop of the Diocese of Goma , acknowledged this historical event in his Easter pastoral letter of 11 April 1998 (French: Lettre Pastorale du 11 avril 1998 ). In

15748-407: Was contrary to the prevailing naturalist belief of the time, which held that socio-cultural and behavioral differences between peoples stemmed from inherited traits and tendencies derived from common descent, then called "race". Another influential theoretician of ethnicity was Fredrik Barth , whose "Ethnic Groups and Boundaries" from 1969 has been described as instrumental in spreading the usage of

15875-404: Was recognized by the colonial authorities. Kingwengwe Mupe, a Fuliru historian, notes that Chief Matakambo, identified as the son of Mahina Mukogabwe, grandson of Nyamugira I—the first Bahamba leader—received his official appointment on 19 March 1933. Later, on 4 March 1940, Nyamugira, another of Mahina's descendants, was also made chief, consolidating Bahamba leadership over the chiefdom. There

16002-618: Was the king, known as the " Mwami ", who was believed to possess divine powers and symbolized national unity. The king surrounded himself with Tutsi warlords and Hutu advisers who oversaw the distribution of land. Over time, the Tutsis established a system of serfdom that further marginalized the Hutu people. The Belgian colonial administration formalized and solidified this social system , ultimately leading to its being perceived as an ethnic divide between Hutus and Tutsis. Between 1935 and 1955,

16129-605: Was the recruitment of labor . Between the 1920s and 1950s, the colonial authorities in Belgian Congo actively recruited labor for large mining companies such as the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga and Kivu , particularly in Kalima and Kamituga . Many of these workers were Rwandan and were hired under contract, but they did not renounce their nationality or property , which remained in Rwanda. This immigration of Rwandans

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