Before the Rwandan Genocide, how were children classified as Tutsis or Hutus?
I’m going to go with the guy who posted first. Before Belgium rule there was very little distinction. It was believed that the Hutus during the prehistory actually inhabited Rwanda and the Tutsis at some point ventured down fron the north. During the period of imperialism a man (I believe, a doctor) named Speke ventured into Rwanda. He basically opened the can of worms that would excalate into the genocide. Prior to the Belgian’s exploration into Rwanda it was one of Africa’s most thriving and advanced areas. The idea of separate groups, “Tutsi” and “Hutu” existed, but neither was exclusively the ruling class and they intermarried. You could become a heriditary Tutsi or Hutu by marrying one or having children with one. Once the Belgians hit all that changed.Historically the Hutu’s were cultivators and and Tutsi’s were herdesman. With colonists usually come missionaries, and many of the early white penetrator of Rwanda were Christian. They fed off the Hamitic myth from the Bible. Histor
