Resource 4: Cattle in traditional Rwandese society

 Background information / subject knowledge for teacher

Cattle played a major role in Rwandese traditional life. Together with hoes, cattle were used in exchange for expensive tools.

Cow products

Rwandans who did not own cattle would work in exchange for milk and other milk products, such as butter. Milk was also exchanged for products such as honey or bracelets.

Cow hides were worn by old people while small pieces of horns were used to clean hides used to make clothes. The horns were also used by traditional medicinemen and in the making of pipes or ornaments. Some hair from the cattle tail was used in the making of jewelry to wear on arms and legs.

Cow dung was used not only as manure but also to cover some utensils, for example baskets.

How did one get a cow?

A person in Rwandese society had a number of ways of getting cows:

Impahano were cows bought for oneself. People got them from agricultural products or hoes made by ancient Rwandans exchanged for cattle. Many people got cows this way. Another way of getting a cow was to keep it for a friend. After this cow had produced a calf, the keeper benefited from its milk by sharing it with its original owner. The cow owner had the right to have the milk four times per week and the keeper two times. A good keeper had the chance to be given one cow.

When a cow owner had problems such as lack of food, or needing to arrange a child’s wedding ceremonies, and did not want to sell his cow, he could pawn it to a friend. The latter gave him goats or other small animals. Then, the cow owner had to pay after this cow produced a calf. This helped many people to have their own cows. Another means of obtaining a cow was to be a client of a cow owner. This was called ubuhake and this institution was mainly found in the centre, south and eastern parts of Rwanda. The people without cows had to perform some duties to the cow owner. The latter had to protect his clients against injustice. There were no fixed days to work in exchange for a cow in this manner. It could be after one month, two months or one year. If someone was not satisfied with his patron, he had the right to leave the patron and look for another one. Only the king of Rwanda was a client to nobody.

When a boy wanted to marry, he had to give dowry. This was a sign of love between two families. In most cases, people paid cows or hoes. Thus Rwandans got cows during the marriage ceremony. The boy’s family could later get another cow from the family-in-law. This was called indongoranyo.

Children could have cows from their parents as inheritance. When a parent took his children to their grandparents, the children could be given cows by their grandfather. These animals then belonged to the children. People also gave cows to their friends or used to get them from the battlefield as spoils. If someone lost his cows due to disease, he was given others by his friends or clients (inshumbushanyo). In the same way, when someone was dispossessed by his patron, he got cattle from his friends.

Cattle owners had a particular way of shaving their children in a style called igisage after weaning. At this time, the child got a cow. A child who buried his parent was to receive one cow called inkuracyobo. Lastly, a member of any family who accompanied a bride would get an animal like a goat or a cow.

What were the cattle owners’ lives like?

Ancient cattle owners in Rwanda engaged in some supplementary farming, along with animal breeding. Beans, sorghum and other grains were their main crops. Milk, drunk fresh and as buttermilk, was their staple food, and meat was not regularly consumed. The cattle were in general herded by the men, although the women helped with milking the cows. The women also made butter and cheese and some of them traded at the markets. Among ancient Rwandans, wealth was measured by the size of a family's herds.

Before the Belgian reform in the 1920s, every village had a chief of pastures. This person was obliged to collect all taxes related to cows, such as milk and hides, and send them to the royal palace. The king advisers’ – abiru – performed ceremonies in order to protect cattle against diseases.

Ankole

Also known as: Ankole Longhorn Varieties: Bahema, Bashi, Kigezi, Watusi The Ankole cattle are distributed from Lake Mobutu to Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa. The original animals were thought to have been brought to northern Uganda by Hamitic tribes sometime between the 13th and 15th centuries. The Ankole's susceptiblity to the tsetse fly forced the tribes and their cattle further south. The Hima or Bahima tribe settled on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzani. The Watusi or Tutsi tribe continued to Rwanda and Burundi with their cattle, some of which have spread to the lake districts of Zaire. Selection in all the tribes is based on horn size.

The purer Ankole cattle have a medium-long head, a short neck with a deep dewlap and a narrow chest. The hump is cervico-thoracic, small and barely visible on the cow. Although the small-uddered Ankole cows yield meagre amounts of milk, milking is an important ritual in some tribes. Bloodletting is a common practice. A few tribes use the cattle for work; none use them for meat. In general, the animals are highly prized as status symbols, for ceremonial functions and not for their productivity.

There are three main strains of this breed:

	1. Bahema strain: found in Northern Kivu, near Edward and AminLakes. 2. Bashi strain: found in Southern Kivu, around Lake Kivu. 3. Tutsi strain: found in Burundi, near the northern part of TanganikaLake. The Kigezi strain reported by Mason (1995) is less common.

The size of horns are smaller in the Bahema and the largest horns are found in the Tutsi strain. The color of the Ankole varies but the Tutsi strain is predominately red.

References

Dr Alberto Zorloni, Ethiopia

Genus Bos: Cattle Breeds of the World, 1985, MSO-AGVET (Merck & Co., Inc.), Rahway, N.J.

Mason, I.L. 1996. A World Dictionary of Livestock Breeds, Types and Varieties. Fourth Edition. C.A.B International. 273 pp.

Photographs

R. E. McDowell, Professor Emeritus of International Animal Science, Cornell University, and provided by Paul O. Brackelsberg, Professor of Animal Science, IowaStateUniversity

Dr Alberto Zorloni, Ethiopia

Text taken from: S.Ndekezi, P.C.Nyetera, A.Nyagahene, Ubuhashyi bw’Abanyarwanda bo hambere, Kigali, Reji y’Icapiro ry’Amashuri, 1987.

Images taken from: www.ansi.okstate.edu