The Chaga (also called Wachaga, Chagga, Jagga , Dschagga, Waschagga, or Wachagga ) are Bantu -speaking indigenous Africans and the third largest ethnic group in Tanzania. They traditionally live on the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Meru and near Moshi.
The Chaga descended from various Bantu groups who migrated from elsewhere in Africa to the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro, a migration that began around the start of the eleventh century. While the Chaga are Bantu-speakers, their language has a number of dialects related to Kamba, which is spoken in southeast Kenya, land to other languages spoken in the east, such as Dabida and Pokomo.
The Chaga area is traditionally divided into a number of chiefdoms. They are culturally related to the Pare , Taveta , and Taita peoples. They follow a patrilineal system of descent and inheritance. Their way of life is based primarily on agriculture, using irrigation on terraced fields and oxen manure. Although bananas are their staple food, they also cultivate various crops, including yams, beans , and maize in agricultural exports, they are best known for their Arabica coffee , which is exported to American and European markets, resulting in coffee being a primary cash crop .
Because fish are absent from most of the streams of the Kilimanjaro foothills, fish were not traditionally consumed and were seen as having the same nature as serpents, which were considered unfriendly in Chaga culture. The Chaga people bred fowl in large numbers, to sell to the passing caravans of traders from the east coast. The Chaga, like many east African communities, value oxen, goats, and sheep. Dogs are used to help guard compounds from intruders at night. The prized cattle is the humped Zebu breed prevalent throughout east Africa since the days of Ancient Egyptians. Goats are small and handsome with small horns. Milk is an essential part of Chaga diet. Among the Chaga, the plants grown for food are maize, sweet potatoes , yams, alliums , beans , peas, red millet and bananas.
They were one of the first tribes in the area to convert to Christianity. This may have given them an economic advantage over other ethnic groups, as they had better access to education and health care as Christians. Before the arrival of Christianity, the Chaga practiced a diverse range of faith with a thoroughgoing syncretism . The importance of ancestors is strongly maintained by them to this day. The name of the chief Chaga deity is Ruwa who resides on the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, which is sacred to them.
Chaga people have their traditional food according to food crops they grow in their region. Most of food among Chaga people are made by banana; an example is machalari, which is most favorite food among Chaga. Machalari is prepared with banana and meat, while other traditional food includes kiburu (Banana and Beans), Kitawa (Banana and sour milk porrdige like), mtori (Meat with banana like porridge mainl food for few days after birth), mlaso, ngararimo, kisusio (soup with Blood), kimamtine and others of the like, according to nature of crops and animals on the Chaga land.
Traditional Chaga musical instruments include wooden flutes, bells, and drums. Dancing and singing are part of almost every celebration. Classical Chagan music is still heard in festivities.
Traditionally, Chagga clothing was made of cowhide. With contact with the outside world, the Chagga started to wear imported bead ornaments and cloth wraparound garments. These colorful pieces of cloth are called kangas and kitenges . They may be worn over a dress, or may be used to carry babies on the back or hip.
Traditionally, the Chagga marriage ceremony is a long process, starting with betrothal proceedings and continuing long after the couple was married. Bridal payments were made over the wife's lifetime. In order for the boy to stand a chance with his potential suitor, he had to woo her. The Chaggas’ courtship process involves, as elsewhere in the world, a lot of gift-giving, though the gifts follows a strict set of rules: spontaneity played little part in this process.
The first gift, for example, from the man to the woman, is always a necklace. The Chagga male would be well rewarded for his generosity, for traditionally in return the girl would dance naked all day with bells attached to her legs by her mother. Over the following days other gifts will be exchanged until the time came when the girl, having visited all her relatives, would be shut away for three months. No work would be done by the girl during this time but instead she would be given fattening food and would be kept in a cage.
At the end of this period a dowry would be paid, the marriage ceremony performed and the bride would be carried on the back of the Mkara (the traditional Chagga equivalent of the best man) to her new husband’s house.
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