Inanga: A Song of Survival in Daughter’s Rwanda

The documentary “Ghost in Rwanda” illustrates the devastation of the 1994 Genocide where approximately eight hundred thousand Rwandans were exterminated by their own government. The genocide was a result of ongoing conflicts between the Hutu, the ethnic majority in Rwanda, and the Tutsi the ethnic minority. The United Nation assisted in the establishment of a peace agreement between the two warring parties and sent General Romeo Dallaire, UN Force Commander, to Rwanda to ensure the terms of the agreement were honored. Dallaire had never seen action and welcomed opportunity to make a difference supporting peace in Africa. The peace mission was especially important to Dalliaire in light of recent U.N. failures to maintain peace in Somalia and Bosnia.

1. How do the principal musical manifestations found in the sub-Saharan Africa reflect the collective community and encourage group participations?

Rwanda is a country located in the middle of the African continent. The two ethnic groups present in the country lived in peace under their monarch until the arrival of Europeans. The Belgians arrival into Rwandan is what split the two ethnic groups of the Tutsi and Hutus, making them identify themselves with ID cards. This caused tension between the two groups as the Belgians favored the ethnic Tutsi, and made them the head of the government. Decade’s later Hutu extremists would take over the government and have revenge on the Tutsi. The new government would send out broadcasts calling on Hutus to kill their friends and neighbors. The Rwandan genocide would become the worst genocide to ever happen in Africa and one of the worst in the world. Today Rwanda’s recovery is surprisingly fast with the help of multiple nations and organizations. Rwanda’s recovery is nothing short of a miracle and is an amazing story of a war between two peoples.

Rwanda is located in East Africa. Rwanda has a population of 12 million people and only 23% of this population has access to the electric grid. Rwanda boarders with Burundi in the south, Democratic Republic of Congo in the west, Tanzania in the East and Uganda in the North. It is a small, densely populated country, with an area of 3/4 of the Netherlands. Rwanda belongs to the 20 poorest countries in the world. However, economic growth was high in recent years, and the prospects for further development are good (World Bank, 2015).

Although Peter Gourevitch talks thoroughly about the protection of the Tutsi’s from the Rwandan genocide in his novel “We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families” the hindrance of the eradication remains unclear from a reader’s discretion. The topics of discussion in Gourevitch’s book are solely focused on the idea of horror and casualties in consequence of the genocide. Although it is extremely important to reflect upon, in perspective, a reader is also curious about how the genocide could have been prevented. The logic of genocide is described as, “the product of order, authoritarianism, decades of modern’ political theorizing” (Gourevitch 1998: 95). In light of this notion, it is practical to wonder if every effort was made to prevent the possible reoccurrences made in the Rwandan blood-bath and what was necessary for prevention despite the reaching arms of help provided from United forces.

numb as if it want real. While all this was happening the lady who had hide us came and told us

Located in Central Africa, east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and north of Burundi, the Republic of Rwanda is predominantly rural, and its population relatively young; additionally, its population density is one of the highest in Africa. Humans began inhabiting the region between 8,000 BCE - 3,000 BCE, and had structured themselves into various clans (Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa) by the 15th century. The Tutsi Nyiginya clan grew to be the more dominant, and during the 19th century, under the reign of King Kigeli Rwabugiri, reached its greatest expansion. Hutus make make 84 percent of the population, Tutsi 15, and Twa 1 percent.

The Rwanda revolution of 1959 was significant because it marked the shift in power between two ethic groups within Rwanda. The country was originally led by the Tutsis and was later given to the Hutus by their colonizers Belgium. The change in power between the Tutsis and the Hutus caused tensions within the country as both groups battled for power. These tensions led to uprisings and as a result led to the death of many Tutsis. The revolution of 1959 not only emphasized the exsiting tensions between the two ethnic groups but it as well showed the impact of Belgium’s influcences even after Rwanda gained independce in 1962.

For my individual essay I chose the country of Rwanda. I have chosen this country due to the fact I have a friend from this country so I have always been extremely interested in it. One of several things that have peaked my interest is the amount of war that has taken place there over the past many years. Also, the fact that the weather in Rwanda is beautiful almost year around except for some rainy seasons. It is also such a beautiful country with mountains, volcanos, and lots of vegetation. Rwanda has many similarities to the United States like their government, religion and judicial system. Although these things do not mirror the ones in the United States the do share very similar aspects.

Within Rwanda, media facilitated the Hutu's massacre of the Tutsi population by providing a means of communication, and through the spreading of hate media. Jean-Pierre Chretien co-authored a book in which he investigates the evolution of the Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines, more commonly known as the RTLM, throughout the entirety of the Genocide. One example of this were expressions such as: " 'Inyenzi' accomplices of the Inyenzis' and 'Inkotanyi' (RPF) which reoccured repeatedly, as the speaker repeatedly exhorts his listeners to fight them because, 'the person whose neck you do not cut is the one who will cut yours' " (Chretien). Being subject to this sort of propaganda daily turned many citizens into murderers, enticing and coercing them into killing numerous Tutsi all for their own safety's sake. Another issue related to the local media during the Genocide was the constant degradation of Tutsi women. The RTLM went even so far as to enact a Hutu Ten Commandments in regards to the Tutsi population. Four of the ten commandments centered around the scandalousness of Tutsi women, whereas other commandments centered on having a Hutu exclusivity in institutions such as military, and educational ones (Gisenyi).

It is often discussed that Rwandans have a “culture of silence” or an aptitude to withhold their personal struggles or opinions. There are phrases in Kinyarwanda that demonstrate this cultural trait such as “keep it all inside” and “we cry on the inside” (Blair Fletcher 4). In Blair and Fletcher’s article We Cry on the Inside: Image Theater and Rwanda’s Culture of Silence, a member of one of the theater activities stated “It’s not easy to explain your problems to another. It’s considered unacceptable in our society and therefore people resist” (qtd in Blair and Fletcher 2). Clearly in Rwandan society there is an idea that personal problems are just that, personal. This specifically applies to the causes of the genocide. While people are apt to discuss their personal experiences of the genocide, they rarely mention the underlying feelings of friction between Hutu vs. Tutsi (Buckley-Zistel 1). This cultural silence surrounding the genocide also applies to Rwandan Patriotic Front war crimes, the history of Rwandan ethnic groups, the government’s promotion of unity while being mainly RPF aligned Tutsis, a presumption of all Hutu guilt, and the lack of research done on the reconciliation efforts and effects in Rwanda (Zorbas 14-20). These cultural silences have a profound effect on reconciliation in Rwanda and the types of reconciliation processes that have occurred and are continuing to occur.

When the world’s quickest genocide slaughtering occurred, 500,000-100,000,000 people died in 100 days.The Rwandan Genocide was the genocide of the Tutsi in Rwanda. During that time captain Mbaye Diagne, a man from Senegal was sent to Rwanda by United Nations peacekeeping force as a military observer. Captain Mbaye Diagne was just supposed to observe and never interact with the problem going on, but he ignored the U.N.'s orders that prohibit observers from going out to save civilians. He started missions that focus on saving many lives by using his military state's natural charisma and ability to diffuse a delicate situation by making jokes and bribing the checkpoint militaries and others that wanted the Tutsis dead. A number of people Captain

Music in the apartheid era of South Africa was a very important tool and weapon for the majority, whom were those people that were oppressed. Songs of freedom consolation and resistance were extremely popular among the civil population. They were incredibly significant because they gave the majority a new sense of hope and courage, these songs keep the faith among the majority alive and grants them a radiant hope especially in their most trying times. (Stewart, 2013) The majority used music as a way to express themselves and escape the discrimination that they were experiencing as well as to give themselves and others around them hope that they would overcome the struggle one day.

Rwanda, a high population African country with a great agricultural economy had over 75% of its population as Hutu’s and the rest were mainly Tutsi’s, a group that had been highly favored when the Belgians rules over the country during the colonial period. By 1959 the Tutsi’s were largely the minority group after the forced expulsion of 300, 000 Tutsi’s by the Hutu’s and by 1961 the Tutsi’s were almost extinct from the nation. Belgium granted Rwanda its freedom in 1962 and by 1973 power was granted to a Hutu named Major General Juvenal Habyarimana, who went on to form the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (NRMD). In 1990 Tutsi refugees called the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), invaded Rwanda by way of Uganda. Attempting to peacefully

In this course we have learned about all of the different cultures and their musical traditions. My favorite so far has had to be the west African music culture. They have a variety of different music, instruments, and dances to contribute to the reasons I liked this music culture so much. So, I have taken it upon myself to further my research on this particular musical group. I will compare and contrast a variety of different videos from the west African music culture and I will analyze how they connect to this culture.