The Nyiha are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group based in

Mbeya Region Mbeya Region (''Mkoa wa Mbeya'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions. The region covers an area of . The region is comparable in size to the combined land area of the nation state of Guinea Bissau. Mbeya Region is borde ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

and northeastern

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. In 1993 the Nyiha population was estimated to number 626,000, of which 306,000 were in Tanzania and 320,000 were in Zambia. The Nyiha are scattered widely through East Africa but are found mostly in clusters near the corridor of land between lakes Nyasa,

Rukwa Rukwa Region (''Mkoa wa Rukwa'' in Swahili) is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative regions with a postcode number 55000. The regional capital is the municipality of Sumbawanga. According to the 2012 national census, the region had a population ...

and Tanganyika, around Mbozi, and in the general area of the Lyagalile district of Ufipa.

Culture

In 1915, the Nyiha consisted of fewer than 10,000 people, but by 1957 their population had risen to over 55,000 people. They were divided into eleven or twelve unrelated

chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

s, with the chiefs being referred to as ''Mwene''. Nyiha speaks a language that sounds similar to the Bungu of present day Songwe district (areas of Mkwajuni, formerly known as part of Chunya district), Lambya people of Ileje district who shares similar clan names such as Mwazembe, Mwampashe, Mwasenga, etc., and Nyika people of Rukwa region (Laela area, with a notable figure the late Honorable Chrisant Majiyatanga Mzindakaya). It is not quite clear how Nyika found themselves settling in Laela living Nyamwanga between them and their Nyiha Counterparts who seem to be more related at least by language. However, this might be explained by the fact that the two tribes are said to have migrated from some parts of Zambia and crossed the border into the present-day areas of Tanzania (Rukwa and Songwe regions). The Nyiha had reputations not only as warriors but also as elephant hunters.

Blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

s, who had considerable status in the society, created hoes, axes, and knives, and also wire for jewelry and traps. Over the course of time, however, the smiths lost their considerable prestige as iron from Germany became cheaper. Cotton weaving was common, as was

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

-making by women. Mat- and basket-making, iron-working by the men, and collecting salt from the

Lake Rukwa Lake Rukwa is an endorheic lake located the Rukwa Valley of Rukwa Region, Songwe Region and Katavi Region in southwestern Tanzania. The lake is the third largest inland body of water in the country. Geography The alkaline Lake Rukwa lies midw ...

area for

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists disti ...

were all means of their livelihood, although they thought of themselves as being primarily communal hunters. Despite all of these activities, however, their main means of livelihood was the agricultural cultivation of

finger millet ''Eleusine coracana'', or finger millet, also known as ragi in India, kodo in Nepal, is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating specie ...

, facilitated by the

slash and burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

method.

Notes

References

* Arnold, Bernd; ''Steuer und Lohnarbeit im Südwesten von Deutsch Ostafrika'' * Bauer, Andreus; ''Emperial Rugaruga'' ("Raise the Flag of War") * Becker, Perbandt, Richelmann & Schmidt, Steuber. ''Hermann von Wissmann, Deutschlands Grösster Africaner'' * Brock, Beverly; ''The Nyiha of Mbozi'' * Willis, Roy G.; ''The Fipa and Related Peoples'' * Weule, Karl; ''Deutsches Kolonial Lexicon'', Band IIIs. 673 {{authority control Ethnic groups in Tanzania Ethnic groups in Zambia Indigenous peoples of East Africa