Twa Marginality and Indigenousness in Rwanda

Debating the identity and indigeneity of the Batwa in post-genocide Rwanda: a review of the challenges and prospects from a human rights perspective

“…The overall characteristics of groups identifying themselves as Indigenous communities are that their cultures and ways of life differ considerably from that of the dominant society, and that their cultures are under threat, in some cases to the point of extinction. (ACHPR, 2006, p. 11) With regard to the Batwa's culture and ways of life, Kagame (1972), Ndahinda (2011) andd'Hertefelt (1965) divide them under three categories: (a) hunter-gatherers, (b) ceramists and (c) entertainers at the king's court. The hunting and gathering occupation ran into extinction as a result of the European conservation paradigm which evicted them from their ancestral forests (Kidd, 2009).…”

“…Even though recent studies by Collins et al (2021) and Ndahinda (2011) indicate that the ordinary Batwa seem to align with the governmental discourse of all people united under one nation, the Batwa elite are still bent on pressurizing government to identify them as an Indigenous people even if this status continues to be rejected by GoR (Ministry of Justice, 2004;Ministry of Local Government, 2004). It should be argued that the Batwa fulfil the criteria of being classified as one of Rwanda's Indigenous communities.…”