Wadawida

Last updated

Wadawida (pronounced more like vadavida) are a subgroup of the Taita people of South Eastern Kenya in East Africa. These Bantu speaking people are in origin and language more related to the Taveta (Tuweta) people of Kenya, and the Pare who live at the Pare Mountains, Chagga who live on the slopes of Kilimanjaro and Sambaa people of Usambara Mountains in Tanzania.

These tribes together with the Waluguru form a group of some closely related in origin; Bantu speaking tribes who occupy the Ancient Eastern Arc Mountains. These are some ancient ranges of Mountains that have now become a very important part of safaris in Tanzania. Many travellers now include hiking tours to these mountains especially in the Tanzania part.

The Wadawida people or Taita as they are commonly referred, are believed to have moved into their present Taita Hills as early as the 18th century.

Related Research Articles

The Tutsi, or Abatutsi, are a social class or ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. Historically, they were often referred to as the Watutsi, Watusi, Wahuma, Wahima or the Wahinda. The Tutsi form a subgroup of the Banyarwanda and the Barundi people, who reside primarily in Rwanda and Burundi, but with significant populations also found in DR Congo, Tanzania and Uganda.

East Africa Eastern region of the African continent

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the eastern region of the African continent, variably defined by geography. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 20 territories make up Eastern Africa:

Luo peoples Several related groups in central Africa

The Luo are several ethnically and linguistically related Nilotic ethnic groups that inhabit an area ranging from South Sudan and Ethiopia, through Northern Uganda and eastern Congo (DRC), into western Kenya, and the Mara Region of Tanzania. Their Luo languages belong to the western branch of the Nilotic language family.

The Abagusii is an East African ethnic group that traditionally inhabit Kisii county and Nyamira county of Western Kenya. The Abagusii are also found in other regions of geographical Western Kenya. The Abagusii speak Ekegusii language which is classified together with the Great Lakes Bantu languages. Mogusii is culturally identified as their founder and patriarch. The Abagusii are however, unrelated to the Kisi people of Malawi and the Kissi people of West Africa, other than the three very distinct communities having similar sounding tribal names.

The Chaga are Bantu-speaking indigenous Africans and the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru and near Moshi. Their relative wealth comes from the favorable climate of the area and successful agricultural methods, which include extensive irrigation systems, terracing, and continuous organic fertilization methods practiced for thousands of years. They were one of the first tribes in the area to convert to Christianity. This may have given them an economic advantage over other ethnic groups, as they had better access to education and health care as Christians.

Kamba people ethnic group

The Kamba or Akamba people are a Bantu ethnic group - or tribe - who predominantly live in the area of Kenya stretching from Nairobi to Tsavo and north to Embu, in the southern part of the former Eastern Province. This land is called Ukambani and constitutes Makueni County, Kitui County and Machakos County. They are also found in the coastal Kwale County, Mombasa and Kilifi County as well as parts of Tana River County.

The Suba (Abasuba) are Bantu group of people in Kenya who speak the Suba language. Their population is estimated at about 157,787, with substantial fluent speakers. They migrated to Kenya from Uganda and settled on the two Lake Victoria islands of Rusinga and Mfangano, others also settled on the mainland areas including Gembe, Gwassi, Kaksingri of Suba South and Migori and are believed to be the last tribe to have settled in Kenya. Linguistically, the Suba are highly influenced by the neighbouring Luo, to the point of a language shift having taken place among large portions of the mainland Suba. As a result, their own language has been classified as endangered. Despite this language shift, the Suba have kept a distinct ethnic identity. The Rusinga Festival is held in December of every year as a cultural festival to celebrate and preserve Suba culture and language.

The Pare people are members of an ethnic group indigenous to the Pare Mountains of northern Tanzania, part of the Kilimanjaro Region. Pareland is also known as Vuasu. The location lies on one of the northern routes of the historic East-African long-distance trade, connecting the hinterland with the coast of the Indian Ocean. The residents of northern Pare recognise two sub-areas based on ethnolinguistic differences: Gweno-speaking Ugweno to the north and Chasu-speaking Usangi to the south.

Taveta people

Taveta is the name of a tribe of East Africa. It is also the name of the principal town in the land of the Taveta people, and the name of the surrounding subdistrict of Kenya.

Kuria people ethnic group

The Kuria people (also known as the AbaKurya, are an ethnic group in Tanzania and Kenya. Their homeland is bounded on the east by the Migori River and on the west by the Mara River estuary. Traditionally a pastoral and farming community, the Kuria grow maize, beans and cassava as food crops and coffee and maize as cash crops.

The Jita are an ethnic and linguistic group based in Mara Region in northern Tanzania, on the southeastern shore of Lake Victoria. In 2005 the Jita population was estimated to number 205,000 Jita people are humble,brave,stronger and are good warriors like their neighbors the kurya. The Jita have many clans such as the Rusori Clan, Batimba Clan, and Bagamba Clan. Jita people are originated from Ethiopia in one area called kushi. They were part of omotic together with Hamer tribe as a part of sidamo. They were originally cushites mixed with Nilotes and hunters. They moved from ethiopia to sudan and mixed up with many tribes such as Nuer, Nubian, dinka and Hausas. They were also in Egypt and many of them in Kenya.They entered Uganda after frequent quarrel with kabaka others went t and Toro as well tribes in Uganda.

Gweno is a Bantu language spoken in the North Pare Mountains in the Kilimanjaro Region of Tanzania. The people known as the Gweno are a Chaga ethnic and linguistic group. Since the Chaga people are Bantu speakers, the adopted language contains dialects similar to that of the Kenyan language Kamba. Gweno shares about 54% to 56% of its vocabulary with other Chaga dialects and 46% with Taita dialects. However, a large percentage of its vocabulary is not seen in the other dialects. Also at the start of the 11th century, the Chaga people descended and migrated from the Bantu group in which they migrated to the foothills of mount Kilimanjaro. The Gweno language is today spoken mostly by older adults, with younger generations having shifted to Asu and Swahili. Ethnologue considers Gweno to be moribund; the language is not being passed down because children have not been exposed to Gweno since the 1970s. The generational shift from Gweno to either Asu or Swahili has certainly created shifts in dialect, however Gweno speakers do not see this as a threat.

The Uluguru Mountains are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania, named after the Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru Mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to 2,630 metres (8,600 ft) altitude at its highest point. On the main Uluguru range, 50 villages touch the forest boundary and over 151,000 people are found within the mountain area, often at increasing densities at higher altitudes up to the forest boundary.

Eastern Arc Mountains Tentative World Heritage Site in Tanzania

The Eastern Arc Mountains is a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania. The chain runs from northeast to southwest, with the Taita Hills being in Kenya and the other ranges being in Tanzania. They are delimited on the southwest by the fault complex represented by the Makambako Gap that separates them from the Kipengere Range. To the northeast, they are delimited by more recent volcanism represented by Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Taita people are a Kenyan ethnic group located in the Taita-Taveta County. They speak Kidawida which belongs to the Bantu languages. The West-Bantu moved to the area of the Taita-Taveta County first approximately in 1000-1300.

Lake Jipe lake in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania

Lake Jipe is an inter-territorial lake straddling the borders of Kenya and Tanzania. On the Kenyan side, it is located south of the village of Nghonji while on the Tanzanian side, it is situated within Mwanga District, in Kilimanjaro Region. The lake is fed mainly by the Lumi River, which descends from Mount Kilimanjaro, as well as streams from the North Pare Mountains, being on the leeward side. The lake's outlet forms the Ruvu River. Kenya's unfenced Tsavo West National Park protects part of the lake's northern shore, while on the Tanzania side Mkomazi Game Reserve is nearby. The lake is known for its endemic fish, as well as water birds, mammals, wetland plants and lake-edge swamps, which can extend 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from Jipe's shore.

Taita is a Bantu language spoken in the Taita Hills of Kenya. It is closely related to the Chaga languages of Kenya and Tanzania. The Saghala variety is distinct enough to be considered a language separate from the Daw'ida and Kasigau dialects.

Ugweno

Ugweno is located within the Mwanga District, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania, Africa. It is situated at 3° 39' 0" South and 37° 39' 0" East in the Pare Mountains. The people who live in Ugweno are known as Wagweno and their common language is Kigweno.

Taita Cushitic is an extinct pair of South Cushitic languages, spoken by Cushitic peoples inhabiting the Taita Hills of Kenya, before they were assimilated into the Bantu population after the Bantu Migration into East Africa. Evidence for the languages is primarily South Cushitic loanwords in the Bantu languages Dawida and Saghala, as well as oral traditions of the Dawida and Saghala.

The Lumbwa were a pastoral community which inhabited southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. The term Lumbwa has variously referred to a Kalenjin-speaking community that lived on Mount Kenya, portions of the Maa-speaking Loikop communities since the mid-19th century, and to the Kalenjin-speaking Kipsgis community for much of the late 19th to mid-20th centuries.