Spending time with the Hadzabe tribe in Tanzania leaves you wondering why evolution can’t accommodate everyone. How did human evolution forget 1,300 Hadzabe people or did they just choose to remain hunters and gatherers? This is the first question that comes to mind whenever you step foot in Northern Tanzania where they live.
Bare-chested and covering their nether regions in skimpy wild animal skins, this tribe stretches from the Serengeti Plateau to the Eyasi Valley. They are a tourist fascination in the north with a unique way of life which they have held onto for over a century.
Table of Contents
What is the Hadzabe Tribe Known for?
Tanzania’s Hadzabe Tribe is famous for its hunting and gathering lifestyle in the 21st century. They survive by religiously following the norms of the tribe — hunting and eating bush meat. Nothing is out of bounds for their next meal. They hunt large wild animals including primates such as baboons and eat them.
Civilisation isn’t something they are aware of or care about either. Hadza people live a day at a time only worrying about their next meal which is never far away from them. Their lives are void of external worries normal in human life such as career development, and personal development among others.
Hadza Tribe. They handmake their bows and arrows for hunting [Photo: The Nature Conservancy]
They live in camps of 10-20 people. These camps are semi-permanent huts in nature. Remember, they move all over the north in search of wild animals and wild berries, all of which appear seasonally in different places.
Do Hadza Speak Swahili?
The Hadza don’t speak Swahili despite living in Swahili’s most fluent country. They have a distinct click language closely resembling what the Khoi Khoi from South Africa speak. However, some of the community members have basic knowledge of the official Tanzanian language. They use it during their interactions with tourists fascinated by their cultural way of life.
A tour guide who understands the Hadza language accompanies tourists and translates bits of the tribe’s life that they don’t understand.
Do Hadzabe Tribes Marry?
What does a marriage in this tribe look like? It’s simple. Most men and women marry at 18 years old. There is no traditional ceremony or dowry linked to these marriages. A man who likes a particular woman frequently brings honey and wild meat to her hut. This is enough for marriage between the two. Polygamy is also uncommon in the Hadzabe tribe. Their hunting and gathering lifestyle wouldn’t favour a polygamous setting for men. In case a couple is fed up, they stop living together and life goes on.
Why are the Hadza so Healthy?
A group of Hadza men from a hunting spree. Their diet consists of honey, meat, fruits and vegetables. Photo/YouTube
Contrary to the belief that they lead a poor lifestyle, the Hadza score big on the health board. Research by Duke Global Health Institute indicates their general lifestyle starting from sourcing of food makes them healthy. They are physically active in hunting and gathering natural foods. A Hadza mainly feeds on honey, meat, berries, fruits and vegetables. Honey supplies 20% of their body energy which they need to keep up with their lifestyle.
Hadzabe tribe’s diet helps them maintain a constant body mass, weight, and walking speed. Most of them live in their 70s, and some 80s without any reported cases of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart-related diseases. The research stated that most Hadza adults have constant walking until the day they die. Much of it is attributed to their diet and general lifestyle.
Do the Hadza Drink Alcohol?
Let’s call them ceremonial partakers of alcohol in this sense. They are big consumers of wild honey which they trade, at times, with neighbouring communities rearing cattle and doing farming. They use the honey to prepare traditional brew which they share with the Hadza to enjoy.
In conclusion, Tanzania’s Hadzabe tribe still lives in ancient times of hunting and gathering. They have resisted various efforts by the government and other entities to abandon their traditional way of life. Their diet mainly consists of honey, milk, fruits and vegetables which they share amongst themselves. Marriage is simple and there is no polygamy here.
