1.2 Hunting in the Pre-Colonial Era

Most society members who were predominantly hunters during the pre-colonial era in Tanzania maintained cultures, traditions and taboos that contained hidden features which to some extent ensured a close relationship between humankind and wildlife. There were established mechanisms to punish those who violated the revered rules.

The earliest known hunting people, considered as the last living remnants of the late Stone Age Man, are still found in Tanzania today. These include the Sandawe who hail from near the main rock paintings in central Tanzania and the Hadza (also referred to as the Tindinga), who live as hunter-gatherers around Lake Eyasi in the northern part of the country. The latter still live in underground shelters and speak in 'click' tongue.

The historical and anthropological accounts of most of the hunting community members' practices during this epoch ensured conservation of wildlife resources through cultural and social bonds. Some critics have argued that the accounts often romanticize the human-wildlife resources. Most of these critics, however, have failed to provide concrete evidence to support their claims. The historical records indicate that in some communities, sacred beliefs and fictions centered on certain species of wild animals. This ensured that conservation principles became enshrined in the culture. It has been noted that these beliefs have proved to be well-tested axioms for transmitting conservation ethics and knowledge from one generation to another².

Hunting was considered as an important social function by most of the pre-colonial societies of Tanzania. Subsistence hunting in some of these communities was a skill and profession in which gradations were locally organized. Selection and avoidance of certain species of wild animals was also common among such community members. In some communities it was the lineage elders who managed and controlled the number of hunts in each generation. The business of conducting tribal hunts and ceremonies was usually confined to local leaders and chiefs.

In most communities, every member was in one way or another involved in the hunting processes. Due to the prevailing social economic condition and relations of production being at a rather embryonic stage, the "hunting industry" in the pre-colonial era in Tanzania could be located, albeit remotely, within the framework of a communal-based activity. The activity was founded on traditional rituals, rites and norms and structured in a way that ensured a tranquil co-existence between wild animals and community members.

The pre-colonial format of state and law of most communities that practiced hunting was structured in a way that gave enormous powers to the enforcement machinery of the chief and local clan leaders. The "industry" was regulated by prescribed hunting norms that sought to control the number of species of wild animals killed in hunts. Most of the norms provided for both community needs as well as conservation. The rules were well known, fair, properly enforced and relatively effective in the prevention of over-exploitation of wild animals in the pre-colonial period³.

Most historical accounts that have attempted to locate the history of hunting in Tanzania have often linked the genesis of the industry with abundant game species and classical hunting safaris/expeditions conducted by ivory hunters of European and Arabic origins. People such as Selous, Theodore Roosevelt, Jim Sanderland and Arthur Newman, to mention just a few, who made hunting expeditions in the pre-colonial era, have since become household names in the history of the country's hunting.

The genesis of the hunting industry in Tanzania has also usually been traced to the early hunting initiatives commenced as a result of expeditions by Arabs from Zanzibar into the interior of East Africa in search of slaves and ivory. The early part of the second half of the 19th century witnessed the emergence of British safari expeditions and hunting was part of the expedition. These are also often made reference to while locating the history of country's hunting industry.

One very peculiar feature of most existing historical accounts on hunting in Tanzania is their failure or omission to acknowledge the fact that different historical and social epochs relating to hunting played a significant role in shaping the country's hunting industry. The history also fails to point out that the changes in the industry that have been influenced by diverse cultural, social and economic conditions. These have often been sidelined. Maybe for being considered insignificant, maybe for other reasons. Maybe because it is "his-story, " and not "our-story."

All in all, there are plenty of vacuums, and in some case misconceptions, in recorded historical accounts portraying the state of affairs of the hunting industry in this era. This work cannot purport to address all these. Pointing to some of the important areas that have been left out in recounting the history of hunting in Tanzania will at least shade some light on the topic of and hopefully rekindle some thinking with a view to rectifying this anomaly.

The contribution of pre-colonial hunting community members in shaping and molding Tanzania's hunting industry has not been given coverage. In view of their immense contribution to the development of the hunting industry, these folks should not be left at the periphery in discussing the history of the industry in a country that boasts of a particular scenic splendor comprising of a true wilderness of unique wild animal species.

Were it not for some of these communities, the expeditions that have been given much publicity in the history of hunting in this part of the world would not have been in historical records. The input and effort of local community members, in varying degrees, facilitated and enabled the missions of the expeditions. They served as guides and porters, directing safari-hunting expeditions to wild animal sites and saved the foreigners from deadly beasts of the wild in the long and winding terrain. The knowledge that the local people employed while leading the hunting expeditions through the gruesome terrain was an art that they treasured and guarded zealously.

Also, most local community members' cultures and traditions reflected various tenets that regulated and governed hunting. Clans and tribes in different parts of Tanzania, for example, had well known and revered rules relating to hunts. Some community members observed certain rites, rituals and taboos that ensured that wild animal species were not depleted during hunts. Accordingly, in some of these communities, it was only chiefs and heads of clans who were allowed to hunt or authorize hunting. These authorities were required to abide to certain rituals and procedures pertaining to hunts. In some cases, they had to perform traditional pre-hunting sacrifices and rituals to seek the blessings of ancestors and wild animal gods before embarking on hunts or allowing parties to proceed with hunts.

Hunting seasons were common in most societies in this era and some species of animals, usually considered sacred or of totemic significance, were not to be hunted. Where they had to be hunted, very strict procedures, rules and rituals were to be adhered to. Most communities believed that some bad omen would befall hunters if the norms were not properly followed. Furthermore, most community members maintained hunting practices and rules that ensured their continued existence with wild animals. The rules were aimed at regulating and governing social behavior in hunting and were enforced by recognized traditional institutional structures. These structures formed the foundation upon which the country's hunting industry is based. This foundation, however, crumbled with the arrival of foreign influence and culture.

Prior to the arrival of the British colonial regime, Arab traders had ventured into the interior of Tanzania and exercised direct and indirect authority over some local hunting tribes. These traders sized large amounts of ivory and other wild animal products and transported them to the coast via Tabora⁴. The expansion of this trade fundamentally altered the main tenets of the pre-colonial "hunting industry" as some local hunting community members, who had hitherto abided to traditional rituals that prohibited killing game, started hunting wild animals with the specific objective of supplying the market. The hunting industry was slowly transformed from one that sustained the cultural and social fabric of local hunting community members' to one that echoed embryonic features of a capitalist market-oriented economy. These features became more and more pronounced during colonial rule and eventually fully blown towards the end of the colonial era.

2. See the government Task Force Report on the assessment of the wildlife sector of Tanzania, Vol. 1 of the Review of the Wildlife Sector, p. 12
3. See Agnes Kiss, Living With Wildlife: Wildlife Resource Management With Local Participation. P. 93
4. Assa Okoth, A History of Africa, (1885-1914). Pp. 17-21