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Hutu is the name given to one of the three ethnic groups occupying Burundi and Rwanda. The Hutu people are the largest group by far. 85% of Rwandans and 85% of Burundians are Hutu. Culturally, it is something of an artificial division, based more on class than ethnicity, since there are no significant language or cultural differences between the Hutu and the other ethnic groups in the area, notably the Tutsi. Historically, however, there were physical differences, principally in average height and physical appearances. Hutu and Tutsi share the same religion and language. Some scholars also point out the important role the Belgian colonisers had in creating the idea of a Hutu and Tutsi race. This refers to the Hamitic controversy of the Tutsi people.

The Hutu arrived in the Great Lakes region around the 1st century, displacing the Twa. The Hutu dominated the area with a series of small kingdoms until the 15th century. At that time, it is believed that the Tutsi came into the area from Ethiopia and conquered the Hutu (this is widely disputed--see below). The Tutsi monarchy survived until the end of the colonial era in the 1950s, the Belgian rulers using and codifying the ethnic division to support their rule. The Tutsi monarchy soon fell and the area was divided into Rwanda and Burundi in 1962. The Tutsi nonetheless remained dominant in Burundi, while the Hutu gained a degree of dominance in Rwanda until 1994.

The idea of the ethnic group in Rwanda has a long and complicated history. If the term "ethnic group" is meant to mean a collection of people who share a language or culture, Rwanda only has one ethnic group, the Rwandans, because there is only one language, Kinyarwanda, and one culture. So how are we to understand the idea of "Hutus" and "Tutsis"? Because there is no recorded history in Rwanda, it is very difficult to know what these terms meant before the arrival of the colonists. However, it is clear that the meaning of "Hutu" and "Tutsi" have changed through time and from place to place. In one instance, you find that Tutsis were associated with the king of Rwanda, but in another instance a so-called Tutsi could be impoverished and indistinguishable from so-called Hutus. In another setting, you find Belgian colonists conducting a census, and defining "Tutsi" as anyone with more than ten cows, while a "Hutu" means someone with less than ten cows. In yet another context, you find German colonists amazed by the prominent, "European-like" noses of some Rwandans; they wove fanciful historical and racial theories to explain how some Africans acquired such noses. In addition, they were amazed by the organized society existing in the Kingdom of Rwanda. According to these early twentieth-century Europeans, some of whom would later be implicated in the genocide of the Jews (1939-1945), such organization and such noses could only be explained by European descent, transmitted by way of Ethiopia. Thus arose the great myth that the "Tutsis" came from Ethiopia, which is repeated even today (examples: CNN article, PBS article). However, these remain historical myths and rumours without the slightest shred of physical evidence to support them. They also point to a major double-standard; if a major media organization claimed that a supposed segment of the population of France, for example, came from Pakistan, they would be expected to support the claim with actual evidence. Even if Westerners still repeat the myths associated with "Hutus" and "Tutsis", many Rwandans now recognize that these ideas have no relevance to reality.

See also

• L'Afrique Hundreds of articles and photographs of Rwanda

External links

• A traveler learns about the Hutu and Tutsi conflict and reflects on it
• http://www.newint.org/issue260/keynote.htm
• http://www.africaaction.org/bp/ethcen.htm

• Ethnic groups in Rwanda
• Ethnic groups in Burundi