Faith and Religion
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Sukuma Prayers |
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Many Sukuma people are Christian or Muslim. However, many still have faith in a single sun god, who is believed to have created the world. He is called Lyuba (lih-YOO-bah) and has several other names as well. Families pray to him for good fortune or an end to drought. Families also make offerings to the spirits of their ancestors. Failure to carry out this ritual is believed to anger the spirits and cause illness. A traditional healer, or nfumu (ehn-FOO-moo), may have to be consulted. He will prepare medicines or lucky charms to protect his patients.
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Christianity in Tanzania arrived with the missionaries of the nineteenth century, and about 30 percent of Tanzanians are Christian. Another 35 percent, including the Swahili and some Asians, are Muslim. Others of the Asian community are Hindu.
Most other Tanzanians follow African beliefs. These include a powerful belief in spirits of nature, in respect for one’s ancestors, and in witchcraft. Some peoples believe in a single god, such as Ngai, the Masai god of the sky.
Artists, Musicians, and Athletes
Tanzanian crafts include fine basketry, pottery, and decorated calabashes, the large gourds used as containers. Makonde carvers work in wood, producing statues of animals and people. Wooden Makonde masks are used in religious rituals to represent ancestors and show that their spirits still live. Zanzibar produces skilled metalworkers and woodworkers, too, the builders of dhows and carvers of ornate door posts and chests.
Drumming, music, and dance have always been important to the peoples of Tanzania, accompanying coming-of-age rituals, harvest festivals, war, cattle raiding, and hunting expeditions. The popular dance music of modern Tanzania has evolved from these older styles. This music is performed in the sprawling suburbs of Dar es Salaam and featured on Radio Tanzania. It has fused with jazz and other modern styles and is played on electric guitars, keyboards, and brass instruments.
Older Swahili musical styles stretch back to the poets and musicians of the 1300s and 1400s, while a more recent style of popular music goes back to the 1920s. Swahili weddings and some Islamic festivals such as Eid al-Fitr (IE-dahl-FEET-uhr) are marked by much singing and dancing. Taarab (tah-RAHB) is poetic verse, often sung by a woman, to the accompaniment of small drums, Arabian instruments, violins, modern keyboards, and guitars.
A passion for sports unites all the peoples of Tanzania. Many, like other east Africans, are great athletes and long-distance runners. Soccer is played on every spare patch of ground.
