Haya People of Tanzania

Haya People also known as Wakaya, Waziba can be found in Tanzania and they are part of the Bantu Speaking people, they grow crops such as coffee, millet, banana, cassava, yam and other crops . They are an ethnic linguistic group based in the district of Bukoba, Muleba, Karagwe at Kagera region in the northwest Tanzania, East Africa, they are said to have settled in the Kagera region of northwest Tanzania during the time of the Bantu expansion, they have been linked to one of the largest science breakthroughs of time, the advent of steel. 

According to Anthropologist Peter Schmidt they discovered through communication of the oral tradition that the HAS have been forging steel for almost 2000 years, this discovery was accidentally while they believed Schmidt was learning their oral tradition, he was led to a tree that was the spot of an ancestral fur used to forge steel, a group of elders were believed to be charged with challenge of recreating the forces, at that time they were the only ones to remember the practice, which had fallen into  due to the abundance of steel flowing into the country from foreign sources in spite of the lack of practice the elders were able to create a furnaces using mud and grass which when burnt provided the carbon needed to transform the Iron into steel Investigation of the land yielded 13 other similar furnaces in design to recreation set up by the elders, this process is very similar to open hearth the steelmaking furnace these furnaces were carbonated and were found to be as old as 200 years, while the steel of this caliber did not appear in Europe until several centuries later.  

According to Haya Oral history, The Haya are said to have settled in the Kagera region of northwest Tanzania during the time of the Bantu expansion, they are believed to be part of the earliest inhabitants in the area to practice metal work which allowed them to create various new forms of pottery, they were organized into smaller groups into a loosely affiliated one another in a similar system to feudalism with commoners and nobles as the main participants. It is believed in 1978, the ancestral region to which the Haya belong was subject to an attempted annexation by former Ugandan President called Amin Dada whose invasion of the Kagera region eventually led to the topping of his government by the Army of Tanzania.  

According to Emmanuel Mgina a native Haya the earliest Swahili culture development in the Tana valley and the Lamu Islands, from Indigenous Bantu speaking population around the 6th Century, by the 10th Century Islam was beginning to take its roots in Kambalu, the trading opportunities saw the arrival of Arabs Persian and Indian Merchants by 916 Al- Muhidin visited the Swahili coast or land of Zanji between 1050- 1200, a wave of Immigration from Persian seems to have occurred, caused a Southern migration from Shungwaya and Lamu to Zanzibar, Pemba Mafia and Kilwa.  Faty Swahili towns existed between Mogadishu, Pate, Mombasa, Malindi, Zanzibar and Kilwa each town had a mosque, very few stone structure existed. The population consisted of muslim, one of the earliest examples of menumental Swahili Architecture is the trade emporium of Husuni Kubwa, lying west of Kilwa built about 1245 as with many swahili buildings, coral was the main constructed material and the roof was constructed by attaching coral to timbers, It contained fluted conical vaults and domes, one hundred rooms with courtyards, terraces and a sunken swimming pool, the place at Kilwa was a two story tower in a walled enclosure other notable structure includes the pillar tombs at Malindi and Mnarani in Present day Kenya, originally built form coral but later from sgrav examples Sindude Zanzibars stone towns with its famous carved doors, the Great Mosque of Kilwa carved doors were considered as a unique elements found in Zanzibar and other homes along the East African coast.  

The Haya lived in densest village populated village and are cultivator of plantain coffee, beans, maize, miners, tin, wolfram, animal husbandry that is cattle and goats, Haya grew and traded coffee long before the arrival of Europeans and they established tea and have coffee processing plants. In Haya Culture the traditional healer is known as Omufumu he or she uses herbal medicine to cure illness such as cancer, malaria, stroke, typhoid, malaria and other illness, they perform cultural dances during marriage, succession and other ceremonies, dances such as Omutolo, Omulekule, Amakondele and Akasimbo are performed but Omukama is performed during marriage, funerals, praise, installation while Omutoro is a celebratory war dance and Ebeyebugo is a dance which is performed traditionally during healing services such as cleansing and hunting down of bad forces. It is believed Haya are descendants of the original Bantus, traditionally they traced to patrilineal clans, each clan have its own symbol and totems , they were formerly divided among eight small states , each under a ruler known as Mukama, rulers appointed subordinate Chiefs and Officials from both royal and commoner clans.

Haya People of Tanzania Traditions:

A traditional house of the Haya is known as Muhonge , an Integrated house that is the wall and roof are undifferentiated, all constructed out of reeds, poles and grass, the word “ Moshonge” originated from the word ‘’Mushongole” which means somebody who is wealthy, powerful and have authority in fact, Mushonge is considered as the only head of a household once it is for the purpose then it is called ‘’ Nyaluju meaning the big. According to Kamazi and Adalber accounts, Kibanja was famous for growing bananas, which sustain the energy of the body , the Introduction of bananas in the Interlacustrine area where Haya are found might occurred between 800 and 1300 AD, with the Intensive farming pattern developing after Hinda brought the long- horned cattle known as ‘’Ankole’’ to Buhaya by the 15th Century the use of cattle manure is critical for the maintenance of soil fertility for the stable banana production, Among the Haya People Birth Celebrations plays a significant role If you have more children It is believed to be one of God’s blessings, Birth Celebrations are performed to signify the start of a new generation to welcome a child into the community. They believed that women are supposed to be fertile and that she has to conceive for as long as possible sometimes. It is in such circumstances that some special practices are performed having a child is considered as a process that begins from conception, to them it means that the child is born into the world, there is another celebration of life, a baby girl is known as Oburo for a baby girl sorghum for making bread is taken as a gift and a baby boy is known as Omugusha millet for brewing and beans is taken as a gift as well. Death Celebrations It is considered as a passage to the ancestors, the death of a young person is believed to be witchhunting is never accepted and It is strongly that was the cause the death of a young man , however the death of an elderly person is considered natural and it is accepted and celebrated because they believed the parents prefer to die before their children do, while there is mourning when a younger person dies, when elders die there is a traditional feasting, the mourning period is characterised by people showing assistance by bringing cooked food, this activity is supposed to be done, by all the in laws of both maternal and paternal side what characterises death as a feast is when an elderly person dies who has grand children  there is Kusilibya meaning a joke shared which the grand children participate in as a memory of their late grandparents then the grandchildren shared the joke their late grandparents told about so they laugh together then after the burial immediately, the grandchildren must build a temporary house near the grave, which becomes their base for activities, they performed a dance and take their meals there as they sit on the grave they collect money to support them, their food items are considered as a unique which is the Senene and Kum. 

They produce many crops but their largest harvest is Bananas, many families lives on banana farms for income they take their harvest to Sokonni for selling and their weaving of basketry cover for calabash dates back to the 19th and 20th Century.