Country: Botswana

Group: Wayeyi

Date: 4/24/20

Team: Erika Walker (lead), Vianney Mancilla, Colleen Clauss

The Wayeyi are a Bantu ethnic group in Botswana. The national government only provides official recognition for eight Tswana ethnic groups in the country, leaving out many others including the Wayeyi (Nyati-Ramahobo, 2008). Cultural and linguistic rights are only extended to those recognized groups, resulting in policies of assimilation to the dominant Setswana language and culture for the other ethnic groups in Botswana (Survival International, n.d.). A report from Minority Rights Group explains that these rights include “access to the institution of chieftaincy, permanent membership to the House of Chiefs as of right, group rights to land, territorial and ethnic identity, a celebration of one’s culture in the public domain and the use of one’s language in education and the media” (Nyati-Ramahobo, 2008, p. 2). Because the Wayeyi are not recognized they do not have these cultural and linguistic rights, which is a clear case of ethnocide.

Currently, the Shiyeyi language is considered endangered, but the Shiyeyi Language Project run by the Wayeyi exists to document and teach the language and advocate for the end of discriminatory laws in Botswana (Nyati-Saleshando, 2011). In 2008 the President of Botswana appointed a Wayeyi representative to the House of Chiefs for the first time, which could suggest a potential for changes in ethnic recognition (Minority Rights Group, 2008). The data quality for ethnocide and the Wayeyi is rated a 3, because information was available from non-profit organizations as well as peer-reviewed research.

Sources

  1. Minority Rights Group. (2008, April). Wayeyi. Minority Rights Group. https://minorityrights.org/minorities/wayeyi/
  2. Nyati-Ramahobo, L. (2008). Minority Tribes in Botswana: The Politics of Recognition. Minority Rights Group.
  3. Nyati-Saleshando, L. (2011). An advocacy project for multicultural education: The case of the Shiyeyi language in Botswana. International Review of Education, 57(5), 567–582. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-011-9254-4
  4. Survival International. (n.d.). The Wayeyi, a minority tribe of Botswana. Survival International. Retrieved April 11, 2020, from https://www.survivalinternational.org/material/95