Hadzabe: The tribe replacing Maasai in attracting tourists

Immaculate hunters, the young Hadzabe boys have exceptional hunting skills with eyesight that rivals the normal human’s eye ability. Coordinated and quick when moving after their target, the Hadzabe’s precious meal is monkey’s meat.

The monkey’s meat is their daily staple meal; they hold the meat in high regard, and it’s even used as dowry in marriage ceremonies.

The Hadzabe seldom reproduced many children; a man would marry just one woman and mostly bear one child.

Their monogamous lifestyle is a contradiction to the Maasai, who are traditionally polygamous. This explains their shrinking population and why the community has not increased exponentially over the decades of their livelihood in the woodlands.

Several tour companies have taken note of this tribe’s uniqueness and cautiously introduced them to tourists fascinated by seeing authentic hunters and gatherers in the modern age. Though they walk around armed with arrows and spears, the Hadzabe people are some of the friendliest people you would ever meet; their outward portrayal of toughness and warrior physic is shadowed by their warm smiles and embrace.

That has contributed to the growing number of tourists flocking to see them. The cultural clash between the tourists and the Hadzabe is the very experience that thrills and puzzles the visitors, who are awestruck by the simplicity of the tribe’s way of life, truly exposing the absurdity of modern life and its technology that has had people glued to their phones and forgetting to live a little.

Tourists going to see them get to see first-hand all the exhilarating action. You get to live their life. Meeting the Hadzabe people is not for laying back and sightseeing; be prepared to go hunting.

Hunting is a social activity that bonds young men in the community, since Hadzabe people do not go to school, hunting is their main daily activity. The young boys meet up at the dusk of dawn and set about the bushes to track the monkeys, monkeys being fast and agile creatures. Patience, corporation, and communication are key to each successful hunt.

The Hadzabe language features click sounds, similar to the San people in Botswana; though their languages are different, the Hadzabe language is isolated, and it is not related to any known language. It is through oral education and communication that they have been able to preserve their ancient way of life, culture, and language.

Unlike the Maasai people, who have similarly preserved their traditional way of life, many have integrated into other communities and semi-assimilated into different cultures and modernity. The Hadzabe have hardly changed their way of life; just recently, their lives have been spotlighted, with increasing numbers of tourists requesting to see one of the last authentic indigenous cultures.

Do not be alarmed if you walk up to the Hadzabe boys and see dead monkeys strapped across his shoulders while he is setting fire by friction like they did in the stone age, they have maintained the ancient skills for survival in the woodlands. The tourists who have spent a day with the hunters speak of their astonishing speed while on a hunt and their impeccable precision when they shoot their prey. “I could hardly see the bird they were aiming at, but they shot and just ran towards the tree, and he came back holding the bird; it was impossible to see what they were aiming at,” said Lyn Back, a tourist who spent a day with the hunters.

The hunt sometimes involves quick sprints towards a target with their dogs running beside them; other times it takes patiently hiding, waiting for the perfect time to attack the prey. Hunting with the Hadzabe is never a dull moment. When ambushing a wild game, some hunters will charge with chanting loudly to confuse the animal, while one will throw the spear and strike the animal that will be their evening meal.

The Hadzabe almost eat every animal except the hyenas, because the Hadzabe never bury their dead, and hyenas are notorious scavengers, so eating hyenas feels like eating their dead relatives.

After a long day’s hunt, the Hadzabe retreat to their caves. The semi-nomadic community does not build permanent houses; some would live in caves or makeshift grass huts and prefer to move according to the availability of water, game, and wild plants that supplement their diet. Despite the modernisation of the neighbouring areas, the Hadzabe have retained their traditional way of life but have welcomed people from outside wholeheartedly, and that has boosted a new form of cultural tourism and breathed fresh life into northern circuit tourism.

The Hadzabe do not fancy clothes; the wrapping worn around the waist like a loincloth made of animal hide is sufficient for the men, and when tourists give them clothes, they often tear them into pieces that can fit as loincloths. The animal skins they wear also serve as camouflage when they go hunting. Women wear short skirts made of similar materials.

The necklaces and bracelets worn by the Hadzabe are mainly made of beads, seeds, and bones, while their head gears are made of beads and trimmed animal hides. Their accessories are cultural symbols, and some carry significant importance.

The Hadzabe still practice barter trade with their neighbours, primarily with Datoga, who are pastoralists; they sell them honey and wild games in exchange for their harvest or livestock. Close by is the Ganodi tribe, this tribe being excellent blacksmiths; they do sell arrowheads to Hadzabe in exchange for the wooden shaft that the Hadzabe make.

Contentiously, the Hadzabe are known to be avid smokers of marijuana that has been outlawed in Tanzania. Before their hunt, it’s a form of ritual for the boys to roll a few marijuana cigarettes and smoke as they are about to chase down the wild games; they claim it makes them stronger and gives them the energy to same the animals they hunt down, and the consumption of weed extends to all other members in the community.

As the world unravels this indigenous secluded community, social media influencers and filmmakers have eagerly travelled long distances to film this captivating community, documenting their lives and many unique aspects of their lives. It is advisable to be ethical and respectful of their customs and traditions. Some local tour companies have young men who can communicate with the tribe to make sure the visit is not intrusive and invasive to this modest community.

Hopefully, the tourism activities around them will benefit their community and not be used to exploit them for financial gain, but help them connect with other humans in a spirit of humanity and love.