Country: Zambia
Group: Tumbuka
Date Finalized: 3/12/2023
Team 2: Madison Schultz (lead), Esha Kubavat, Jacob Kebe, Austyn Evans, Julia Curtiss, Likith Munigala
Content Warning: ethnocide
Approximate Time Period: 1964- present
Tumbuka, often also referred to as Kamenga or Henga people, live in the Luangwa River Valley of eastern Zambia (Britannica,2022). They are a Bantu ethnic group found also in Tanzania and Malawi. The Ngoni took over control of the Tumbuka in the late 1800s, and combined much of their culture, and language with the Ngoni (Britannica, 2022). The Tumbuka was one of the first groups to speak out against the British colonial movement within Zambia and remain as agriculturalists living off of migrant work (Britannica, 2022). Due to the colonization of Zambia by the British, in 1968, British colonizers disregarded the Tumbuka language as an official language. Under the rule of President Hastings Kamuzu Banda and his one-language rule, the Tumbuka language has been in steady decline due to language erasure (Wikipedia Foundation, 2022). President Hastings Kamazu Banda also removed from the education curriculum. Currently, however, the Tumbukas language, culture, and cultural practices are being reinstated into mainstream society and are undergoing active revitalization (Britannica, 2022).
Data Quality: Data quality is 2/3 because there was information, but no concrete academic resources.
Sources
- Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Tumbuka. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Tumbuka
- Tumbuka. Zambia’s Traditional History. (2019, November 15). Retrieved February 22, 2023,