Isanzu

The Isanzu are an ethnic and linguistic group based in the Iramba District of Singida Region in central Tanzania. In 1987 the Isanzu population was estimated to number 32,400 [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=TZ] .

Material culture

The Isanzu were a hoe-farming people (while the neighboring Hadza kept on living as hunter-gatherers). [Kohl-Larsen 1956a: 13–14]

Cultural references

In the folklore of one of their neighboring peoples, the Isanzu play a special role: Isanzu people and land get a mythological relevance in Hadza folklore. For this hunter-gatherer people, the hoe-farming Isanzu are regarded as a peaceful people, unlike the Iraqw and the cattle-raiding Maasai (who used to lead raids towards Isanzu and Iramba through Hadza territories). Moreover, many goods and customs has come from Isanzu to Hadza, and the Hadza myths covertly mention and depict this benevolent influence of the Isanzu. This advantageous view about Isanzu makes the role of this people comparable to that of a culture hero in Hadza folklore. [Kohl-Larsen 1956a: 13–14]

Also in some of the Hadza mythical stories about giants, it is an Isanzu man who liberates the Hadza from the malevolent giant. [Kohl-Larsen 1956a: 14]

Notes

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References

* The book is a collection of Hadza myths about giants, also some tribe myths about culture heroes, and anecdotical tales.