Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Makonde Plateau & Around
This cool and scenic plateau, much of which lies between 700m and 900m above sea
level, is home to the Makonde people, famed throughout East Africa for their exotic wood-
carvings. With its comparative isolation, scattered settlements and seeming obliviousness
to developments elsewhere in the country, it in many ways epitomises inland areas of
southeastern Tanzania, and is worth a detour if you're in the area.
THE MAKONDE
The Makonde, known throughout East Africa for their woodcarvings, are one of
Tanzania's largest ethnic groups. They originated in northern Mozambique,
where many still live, and began to make their way northwards during the 18th
and 19th centuries. The Mozambican war sparked another large influx into Tan-
zania, with up to 15,000 Makonde crossing the border during the 1970s and
1980s in search of a safe haven and employment. Today, although the Makonde
on both sides of the Ruvuma River are considered to be a single ethnic entity,
there are numerous cultural and linguistic differences between the two groups.
Like many tribes in this part of Tanzania, the Makonde are matrilineal. Chil-
dren and inheritances normally belong to the woman, and it's common for hus-
bands to move to the village of their wives after marriage. Settlements are
widely scattered - possibly a remnant of the days when the Makonde sought to
evade slave raids - and there is no tradition of a unified political system. Each
village is governed by a hereditary chief and a council of elders.
Due to their isolated location, the Makonde have remained insulated from co-
lonial and post-colonial influences, and are considered to be one of Tanzania's
most traditional groups. Even today, most Makonde still adhere to traditional re-
ligions, with the complex spirit world given its fullest expression in their
carvings.
Traditionally, the Makonde practised body scarring and while it's seldom
done today, you may see older people with markings on their face and bodies.
It's also fairly common to see elderly Makonde women wearing a wooden plug
in their upper lip, or to see this depicted in Makonde artwork.
Most Makonde are subsistence farmers, and there is speculation as to why
they chose to establish themselves on a waterless plateau. Possible factors in-
clude the relative safety that the area offered from outside intervention (espe-
cially during slave trading days), and the absence of the tsetse fly.
