The Hadza people, also known as Hadzabe, are an indigenous ethnic group in Tanzania inhabiting the southwestern part of the Karatu district in the Arusha region. The Hadza people have occupied their homelands for thousands of years without their way of life being interrupted by modernization until recently. Hadza oral history doesn’t mention them migrating to Hadza land from elsewhere.
The Hadza people have been very hostile, engaging in fights with other groups entering their territory. That’s why they have primarily been hunter-gatherers. However, the influence of farmers and cattle herders entering their land in recent years might change their perspective on life, although there have been many attempts by the Tanzanian government, and even during colonial times, to introduce farming and Christianity.
Otto Dempwolff and Eric Obst talked about meeting the Hadza people, with Eric claiming he lived with them for 8 weeks in 1911. In German Oscar Baumann’s book of 1894, it is said that Hadza people hid from outsiders. There is no significant change between the Hadza of those days and today, except that some Hadza currently practice cultivation.
UNESCO considers the Hadzane language to be vulnerable because most of their children have learned the Kiswahili language in recent years and only speak their Hadzane language at home.
Hadza land is situated 50 kilometers from Olduvai Gorge. The Laetoli archaeological site around Olduvai Gorge provides evidence suggesting that the area has been continuously occupied by hunter-gatherers like the Hadzabe for the past 50,000 years. Rock paintings around the Hadzabe area are considered to be at least 2000 years old according to their ancestors.
The Hadza hold ceremonies like the coming of age for women and circumcision of men, which they call “maitoko.” They also hold monthly dances for men at the beginning of the new moon.
Hadza people are not genetically related to any other people, although they were once mistaken to be related to the Khoisan people because of their language, which includes clicks. However, it was later discovered that the Hadza language is an isolate.
The Hadza people don’t believe in any afterlife or follow any formal religion. They have a belief in the sun and offer prayers to the sun, which they refer to as “Ishoko” or “Haine,” whom they claim to be the husband of Ishoko.
According to the Hadza people, the world was first inhabited by hairy giants they call “akakaanebe.” They believe that the “akakaane” hunted game like predators and didn’t possess tools or make fire. The second inhabitants, according to the Hadzabe, were “xhaaxhaanebee,” whom they believe to have been giants without hair. They are believed to have hunted with the help of dogs, used fire to cook meat, and lived in caves. The third inhabitants were “hamakwaanebee,” who introduced bows and arrows, used fire, and built houses. This group also came in contact with non-Hadza people, traded for iron to make tools, and invented a famous Hadza gambling game known as “lukuchuko.” The fourth-generation inhabitants of the Hadzabe are present-day Hadza people, who call themselves “Hamayishonebee.”
The Hadza live in camps of 30 to 40 people with no hierarchy. Elderly members receive respect from the young, and decision-making is done by reaching an agreement within the group. Their camps are usually abandoned when someone falls sick and dies.
The Hadza also practice seasonal migration in search of better hunting grounds. Small animals are brought back home to the camp, while when a man kills a big animal, the camp will temporarily move to the killing site. Camps are built temporarily and do not have a lot of property to carry during migration.
After marriage, the new Hadza couple decides where to live, which can be either the man’s home or the woman’s home, or they can alternatively start their own camp. The infant mortality rate for the Hadza is 21%. Hadza people do not keep track of time and age.
Hadza men go foraging individually and spend the whole day in the bush, bringing home fruits, honey, and wild game in case of a kill. Women also forage but in larger groups, with one male escorting a group of women. The Hadza treat their bows and arrows with poison from shrubs. Women specialize in foraging for berries, greens, and tubers, while men specialize in baobab fruit, honey, and meat.
Serengeti National Park
Tourists visiting the Hadza people can add a visit to Serengeti National Park to their itinerary. Serengeti National Park is one of the best places for wildlife watching in the world, boasting exotic wildlife and several species of birds. The most notable attraction in the park is the “Great Wildebeest Migration,” which involves over 1.3 million wildebeests, thousands of zebras, gazelles, and other antelopes migrating to the Masai Mara Game Reserve in Kenya. Tourists can also visit the Olduvai Gorge archaeological site, known as the “Cradle of Mankind,” to learn more about the evolution of human beings.
