The Hutus and Tutsis A History of Disputes and Claims

History About 600 years ago, a tall, warrior people called the Tutsis moved south from Ethiopia and invaded the homeland of the Hutus Even though the Hutus outnumbered the Tutsis, they were overpowered. In return for protection, the Hutus provided the agricultural element of the economy. Despite this, the two groups lived as one, speaking the same language, intermarrying, and obeying a nearly godlike Tutsi king for centuries

Changes 1926: Ethnic identity cards are issued in Rwanda by the Belgian colonial government. This cemented the identity of Rwandans as either Hutu or Tutsi. Tutsis were provided greater access to education, professions, and government, while Hutus were relegated to "second-class" status. What do you think is going to happen in the future?

Power Vacuums When Belgium gave up its colonies, a power vacuum, developed in the region, which both Tutsis and Hutus fought to fill. 1962: Rwanda, (dominated by the Hutus), and Burundi (dominated by the Tutsis) emerged, but ethnic fighting continued. In Burundi, the Tutsis gave up power after a Hutu won the country's first democratic election in : Tensions exploded with the Rwandan civil war

Trigger Effect  However, four months later, the Hutu president was killed in an attempted coup.  His successor was killed in a suspicious plane crash in 1994, along with the Hutu leader of Rwanda.  Tutsis see it as a conspiracy when presidents of both nations, who happened to be Hutu, are killed in the plane crash.  Hutu radicals blame Tutsis for plane crash.

Deaths  Hutu radicals want to cut down “the tall trees”, aka the Tutsis  The ethnic fighting in Rwanda led to the deaths of at least half a million Tutsis, and more than a million Hutus fled to Zaire (modern-day DR Congo), Tanzania, and Burundi.

Key Vocabulary Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF): a Tutsi-dominated organization from exiled Ugandans. Interahamwe: the Hutu trained and armed (by the Rwandan army civilian militias). It means “Those who stand together.” Impuzamugabi: (Impuza Mugabi), means “Those who have the same goal”; intent was rise of Hutu Power, an ideology that asserted that the Tutsi intended to enslave Hutu, and thus must be resisted at all costs Rwandan Armed Forces: These are the troops commanded by General Bizimungu after the plane carrying the presidents was shot down. They were permitting the various militia groups to gather, run amok, and commit atrocities on the Tutsi people.

Key Players Paul Rusesabagina: Manager of the Mille Collins hotel in Rwanda Juvenal Habyarimana: Hutu president of Rwanda who was killed in the plane crash Cyprien Ntaryamira: Hutu president of Burundi who was killed in the plane crash Lt. Colonel Roméo Dallaire: a Canadian United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) official, instructed to focus on evacuating foreign officials and not Rwandans Augustin Bizimungu: was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Rwandan Armed Forces, briefly served as chief of staff of the army during Rwandan genocide, training the soldiers and guerillas who carried out the genocide