Witch Way To The Sukuma Tribe

Karlene Candia
Richard, Nunez
English 122-608
24 Sept. 2015
Witch Way to the Sukuma Tribe

In early 1300 A.D. one of over 120 ethnic groups of Tanzania settled in the north-western region. The Balongo tribe is where the Basukuma originated from, it was only after 1504 the tribe became known as Sukuma. Since their establishment, the Sukuma tribe has grown to 5.5 million, making it the largest ethnic group of Tanzania. The Sukuma are a Bantu speaking people who practice mixed farming such as cattle, millet, sweet potatoes and vegetables with the occasional slaughter of livestock. The Sukuma tribe is a proud traditional culture full of conflicts and harmony within its community. Tanzania as a whole is known as the country of tranquility with

its archaeological sites such as Olduvai Gorge and landmark Mount Kilimanjaro (“Thomas”). They tell their history through oral narratives, they are a patrilineal/society and witchcraft is the dark side of their culture.
Story telling among the Sukuma should not be underestimated.

It is an important account of poetry and speech. The oral narratives of the Sukuma are handed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth. There are two main categories first the real narratives are based off true events, such as war, famine and disease the second imaginary both stories communicate messages to the people about their habitat and their way of life. In addition the Sukuma culture is very superstitious a considerable amount of stories are based on their beliefs of death and misfortune. The Sukuma belief relies heavily on orges, orges are believed to be half human and half demon. The stories they pass along from person to person are used to educate warn and to set standards to help encourage positive achievement. They also tell stories of stupid, fraudulent loving

people.
Tanzanian women must endure and assume a subservient role (The Seattle Times).

By the time a young Sukuma girl is 15 years of age, her dowry is set. The price is 10 cows, unless the young bride is tall and is lighter skin toned, then the dowry is as much as 30 cows. Once married, the bride is sent to reside with her husband’s family. In Sukuma culture the young bride is now the property of her husband. The young women are expected to produce up to 15 children before menopause. The first pregnancy is usually kept a secret, for fear that someone will bewitch the baby. In some cases not even the husband will know. The emotions of the new mother during the delivery of her infant are also kept hidden, “shouting while giving birth is considered shameful,” according to Dr. Chrisandu Mbaga. Along with the subdued delivery, if labor is prolonged it is thought that the mother was promiscuous and she will be scolded by the family. The care of a new mother during pregnancy is not a priority, the protein and dairy is reserved for the husband as he is dominant. On average 770 women die for every 100,000 births: typical and about double the world average (“Maykuth”). On the other hand an infertile women or one with many miscarriages are abandoned. With lack of care for themselves the Sukuma women only deliver seven live births out of an approximant

fifteen.
Although, the Sukuma do not follow Christianity or Islam they do follow their own traditional beliefs. Traditional religion mainly involves communicating with and propitiating ancestral spirits (“Sukuma”). Beliefs in a High God are widely held, ancestor worship is the main element in the religious complex, although witchcraft is widespread and strong (“Abrahams”). In the vast landscape of Tanzania the Sukuma tribe is dealing with the unspoken reality of witchcraft. Like any community this society is no different, it has a dark side. In recent years the killing of witches and albinos are causing not only chaos within the community, but people in the Tanzania Government are caught in the middle. Witchcraft is practiced in the western Tanzania region also known as “Sukumaland”. Being labeled a witch in “Sukumaland” varies on the idea that the tribe or the family has had misfortune. Witches are thought to use occult powers and can be male or female, they are usually an older member of the tribe, approximately 50 years of age. When a Sukuma community has the misfortune of a loss in livestock, disease, infertility, death or an unexpected storm, the community looks for someone to blame. One belief in witchcraft allows people to make sense of the seemingly arbitrary misfortunes that affect them, and pin blame on a particular person rather than on chance (“Ashforth”). Witch killings have been on the rise since the early 1960”s and reaching unbelievable numbers between 1970 and 1988, a reported 3072 accused witches were killed according to government records. The most astonishing claim is family, kin, and neighbors play an active role in the murders. “In the Sukuma community, if you kill a witch it is not really considered a crime. It is as if you are doing something good for the community (BBC, 2002). In addition to witchcraft, as recently as January 2015 the rural north western region of Tanzania has become a hot spot for the hunting of “witches” due to the rise in the killing of albinos. People with albinism are born with the absence of pigmentation. Jane Faidha Bakari lost her life when 200 young villagers broke into her home and brutally slayed her using axes, machetes and knives. The villagers were under the presumption that Bakari was a witch, killing albinos for their body parts. Body parts of an albino sell for hundreds of dollars in illegal trade, they are thought to possess magical powers (“Tonny”). In January of 2015 the government banned witchcraft. The agency now worries killings will rise with the upcoming political election. It has been known that campaigners recruit help from seers who use albino body parts to foretell the future (“Tonny”).