For many years our organisation friends of Peoples close to Nature has been concerned with the survival of the Hadzabe in east Africa. The most respected Hadzabe elders have given their request to our organisation to submit a paper to express the severity of the situation facing the Hadzabe, (singular: Hadza). Along with the Sandawe they are the last remaining aboriginal tribes, of click lout speaking peoples in eastern Africa. While the Sandawe culture has already widely been destroyed by missionaries the 2000, or so, Hadzabe still enjoy widely their traditional independent life as hunting and gathering.
There is close contact of f P c N members with Hadzabe for almost two decades. Protests against forced settlements, land-grabbing and forced schooling of Hadzabe children were not taken notice of until f P c N was founded and was able to act as NGO in close friendship with the Hadzabe.

Today the greatest threats for the Hadzabe culture is the ongoing forced schooling of Hadzabe children, the loss of more than 90% of their ancestral land, the heavy impact of development organisations, and the hunting ban in favour for trophy hunters.

In 1995 f P c N managed to get all Hadzabe from prison, who were accused of poaching.
The Hadzabe hunt only with bows and arrows and only on ancestral lands. Unfortunately, at least one Hadza, a highly respected elder has been tortured to death while in prison. f P c N tries to get some "compensation" for the family of the killed Hadza, until now in vain.

There were reports of new imprisonment's despite a promise of the dominating white trophy hunter company. f P c N tried a complete stop of this conflict in 1996.

Land grabbing has been legalised through the efforts of CUSO, a Canadian Governmental development organisation. f P c N continues to protest against the destructive ongoing activities of CUSO, the Government of the Netherlands, Novib and Oxfam, all within the Hadzabe communities and land.

Threats of missionaries have been stopped for the time being due to joint efforts of Hadzabe elders and f P c N members.

f P c N asks for any support in fighting against the forced schooling of Hadzabe children.

At f P c N we feel that is incredible that the Hadzabe can be imprisoned for traditionally hunting on their stolen ancestral homeland.

The Hadzabe north-west of Balangida (Lake Eyasi)
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After having had a number of discussions with judges, the prison administration and police officers the Friends of Peoples Close to Nature (f P c N) was been able to get all the imprisoned Hadzabe (singular: Hadza) out of prison. These Hadzabe were imprisoned after being caught by white trophy hunters, while hunting with traditional means on their stolen homestead. Some of the released Hadzabe showed broken joints on arms and legs because of being beaten in prison.

The highly respected Hadza elder Daniel Tawashi died in prison after being tortured. His body was never returned to his family. Also, the claims by his family for financial compensation, to the government, have still not yet acknowledged. (Still the same in 1997)

f P c N believes that the Robin Hurd Hunting Company should also pay for compensation to Dandles family, as their employees caught Daniel and accused him and others of poaching, on their own stolen land.

Robin Hurd´s son Derrick and also his manager, Adam Hill, gave their promise to f P c N that they would release any Hadzabe immediately, if they are caught while hunting for meat with traditional weapons (bows and poisoned arrows) within their remaining hunting ground on ancestral land, which is controlled by the Robin Hurd Hunting Company. Derrick Hurd offered his assistance to get this last Hadzabe hunting ground declared as forest reserve, where only Hadzabe will be allowed to hunt, if it is done traditionally.

The Hadzabe north-west of Balangida are under heavy pressure through farming and the cattle raising Sukuma peoples. Sukuma destroy the natural vegetation and the abundant wildlife to leave the land well on the way to desert, with very little output from farming maize, cotton etc. and raising cattle. Sukuma have already robbed much more than 90% of the Hadzaland in that area.

The Hadzabe within the area of the Yaeda valley

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For years we have tried to get the Hadzaland demarcated anew and the titled registered for Hadzabe. The Canadian organisation CUSO was informed, did a demarcation and submitted an application for titling to the Tanzanian government. We have never been informed or consulted neither have the Hadzabe elders been involved.

This land demarcation work has become a threat on livelihoods of the Hadzabe. CUSO has demarcated some 10% of the total Hadzaland in the Yaeda valley. Former CUSO director John Munuve, admitted that the area CUSO has demarcated for the Hadzabe is too small for them to survive. CUSO had disregarded the still visible and still valid boundaries of the Hadzaland demarcated during the British colonial era which served the Hadzabe´s interests much better than the recent demarcation work. A great number of the Hadzabe within the Yaeda valley presently live outside the area demarcated by CUSO. Some of the most important water holes during the dry season are excluded as well. The result being land has been demarcated, not for the Hadzabe, but for village communities with local councils making the Hadzabe minorities everywhere.

According to the Hadzabe in their settlement Endamaga, CUSO has collected soil samples there. For good reasons the Hadzabe are afraid that they may face a similar fate as what happened to the Barabaig further south and to the Maasai around Handeni and Engassmet. The Barabaig and Maasai were driven out of their homesteads a few years ago to make way for a Canadian development project, that grows cash crops such as wheat and beans on huge fields, for the export market.

The exodus of the Barabaig caused, by the Canadian wheat farming project, has caused a massive immigration of Barabaig with their cattle into the Hadzaland.(800 000 cattle against 2000 game).The game has widely disappeared, water holes and camp sites of the Hadzabe are now occupied.

For some years the Hadzabe have been driven out of their main settlement at Yaeda Chini, the only place in the Yaeda valley with sufficient water supply all the year round. Most of the Hadzabe from Yaeda Chini had been forcibly resettled in Gàratu (Mongo wa Mono), two walking hours away from the nearest water supply. There the Hadzabe were to be encouraged into maize farming by the development organisations; Oxfam, Novib and CUSO. From the beginning this could have been seen as a complete failure, which it became. Nevertheless, CUSO wants to continue.

The newest and greatest threat to the Hadzabe is the recently started development project by the Netherlands Government. Without any respect to the needs and demands of the Hadzabe elders the Netherlands Government tries to integrate the Hadzabe peoples into the mainstream and to make them dependent on labour work, which is ethnocide and slavery.

On behalf of the most respected Hadzabe elders we ask everyone to protest against further involvement of CUSO (fax: Dar es Salaam 46607) and the Netherlands Government for their imposed development in the Hadzaland.

PROTEST !

WE DEMAND COMPENSATION FROM THE TANZANIAN GOVERNMENT AND ROBIN HURD HUNTING COMPANY, FOR THE DEATH OF DANIEL TAWASHI KILLED IN PRISON. THE COMPENSATION TO GO TO THE FAMILY OF DANIEL TAWASHI.
Note: Written by Hartmut Heller - Geneva, 28th July 1995