Iraq Cultural Center

Today was a non-program day and we had many choices of activities.  We could go into Karatu to the monthly local market during the afternoon, or go in Karatu in the morning, go into Mtu wa Mbu from late morning to early afternoon, go to a pizza place, or go to a cultural center in Karatu.  I decided to go to the cultural center in Karatu then go to Mtu wa Mbu.  Nothing really exciting happened in Mtu wa Mbu, I practiced my Swahili more, learned all the animals in Swahili and probably got ripped off for the two things that I bought.  But the merchants just didn’t want to haggle today!  I even told them “Sitaki bei ya mzungu” (I don’t want the “mzungu” [white person/foreigner] price) but they didn’t want to barter.  I did trade a shirt for a gift for my dad though.  What I wanted to talk about was the cultural center.

A week or two ago, a man named Daniel, came to our camp and gave a lecture about natural resource use by the Iraqw tribe.  It was a great lecture and really made me more aware of how locals respect their environment, but also need to use it in order to survive.  Unfortunately, there are more people than the environment can sustainably hold, which is where a lot of the environmental degradation is found.  This man, Daniel, is an Iraqw tribal elder and operates a cultural center in Karatu dedicated to educating people about the Iraqw traditional way of life.  After he gave his lecture at camp, he invited us all to come to his cultural center to learn more about the history and life of the Iraqw tribe; so today about ten of us students went to the center.

We arrived and Daniel went around the group, shacking our hands and asking our names and which states we came from; it always surprises me how much some Tanzanians know about the United States.  They can name all these facts about certain states.  Though, I have taken to saying I’m from Minnesota when any local asks which state I am from because no one has ever heard of South Dakota…poor South Dakota.  After introductions, we sat in a circle and Daniel told where the Iraqw tribe came from and when they came to Tanzania.  The Iraqw people are believed to come from around modern day Iraq-Iran area, hence the name.  They believe that they lived in Ethiopia before coming to Tanzania, but 2000 years ago they moved into Tanzania. 

After a history lesson on the Iraqw tribe, Daniel launched into a history lesson of how African nations got their independence.  He told us, “You should be proud to be American, your country helped the nations and tribes get freedom from the European colonization”.  Daniel basically gave an American history lesson about the slave trade, Monroe Doctrine, Emancipation Proclamation, all the way up to the mid 1900s, naming each president and the dates he was president along with what he did to help Africa.  Daniel is a very intelligent man; I think he knew more American history than we did.  He also began naming all the first presidents of African nations when they became free. 

After our history lesson, he talked about the way of life and gender roles.  He talked about how so many Westerners come to Africa and cry out about gender inequality.  However, he said, women in Iraqw culture may not accomplish the same tasks or have the same roles as men, however they have always been treated with respect and thought to have great value.  I have noticed this idea of the gender inequality in Africa.  Perhaps it’s true, I haven’t talked to enough people to make a conclusion about it though.  However, among our American group, hearing about how men can go out and hunt and do things outside of the home, whereas the women stay at home and do domestic tasks, automatically garners scoffing and seems like gender inequality.  I don’t know if that’s the case though.  I don’t think different roles necessarily mean gender inequality.  I think the most important thing is that women are treated fairly and with value.  I don’t know, it’s an interesting topic to think about. 

Anyways, during Daniel’s talk about daily life, he brought out these beautiful skirts that were handmade from goatskins.  The daily skirts were plain and took about two months to make, but he showed us wedding skirts, which are beaded and dyed and take four months to make. He asked for volunteers to try them on and I automatically stood up.  My bandamate Manasi and I were able to wear the skirts and then he began talking about the dances the Iraqw do and all of the sudden we were dancing!  Daniel and his wife, plus two of our drivers who are Iraqw, Manasi and I all performed a wedding dance, I believe.  It was so much fun! I had my camera in my pocket so I didn’t get any pictures, but several others did so I’ll have to get the pictures from them!

I want to talk about the skirts though.  Hopefully it works to upload a picture.  The skirts are beaded with different symbols to represent various aspects of life.  There are trees on the bottom which represent how a family should “bloom like vegetation”.  There are also mountains, which represent that married life is a hard climb, but that family should stay rooted and firm.  There are these lines that look like squares which represent how married life has its ups and its downs, then two suns, which the Iraqw traditionally thought of as god.  Next there are four bowls which represent, vegetables, milk, blood, and water; with these four things you are able to make a marriage oath.  On the very top there are lines of red, white, and black beads to represent unity.  The three colors, red, white, and black, actually represent the different people in the world.  Daniel called himself and Yohana, a Maasai, red.  Whereas David, another driver, was “not so much red, but a little more white, kind of in between”.  Now David looks pretty dark to me, but I guess he isn’t as dark as Daniel or Yohana. Black people are people from the equator who according to Daniel are “all black, everything in their body is black, their palms, their gums.  They are black”, he said people from Sudan and other areas like that would fall into this category. All of us students were white of course.  The funniest thing he said about the different colors of people was, “Why does America talk about so much racism with Barack Obama? He is much more white then red.  He has very little red in him.  His wife, Michelle, she is red.” 

Finally, we toured a traditional Iraqw boma. The Iraqw bomas are built underground and would probably be best compared to a sod house.  There is not much to them other than two or three places to sleep, which are goatskin stretched over wood raised up from the ground, a little corral to keep the livestock in at night, and a small kitchen area.  Daniel explained the corral was to keep the Maasai from stealing the Iraqw cattle at night.  He also showed us how to throw spears and defend a boma.  

It was a very enlightening experience.  I really enjoy learning about different cultures.  It’s always so great to see how other people live and realize that my way of living is not the only way.  This experience was also good because this coming Saturday, we will be spending an entire day with an Iraqw tribe as a homestay visit.  I’m really excited for that experience, and now I have a little more background information to help me!