By Hamis Dambaya and Kassim Nyaki, Ngorongoro
The Hadzabe community is one of Tanzania’s most fascinating indigenous groups, rich in history, culture and traditions that continue to attract tourists and researchers from around the world. Visitors eager to learn compelling, educative and captivating stories about the Hadzabe way of life—including their customs, traditions and history—often travel to their settlements along the fringes of Lake Eyasi.
Likewise, tourists and other visitors to the modern Ngorongoro Lengai UNESCO Global Geopark Museum, managed by the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) in Karatu District, are offered detailed narratives and insights into the life and heritage of the Hadzabe people.
In recent weeks, this publication ran features highlighting unique Hadzabe cultural practices, including the symbolic value of a baboon’s head in courtship and marriage, as well as traditional sanctions related to marital infidelity. This week, we focus on another deeply rooted aspect of Hadzabe culture: their burial rites.
There has long been a misconception among some people that the Hadzabe do not die, but rather simply disappear—an assumption linked to their forest-dwelling lifestyle and subsistence on wild meat, roots and fruits. Others believe the community has no burial traditions like those of other societies. This, however, is far from the truth.
The Hadzabe, like all human beings, do die. They believe that when a person dies, he or she has been called by their God, known as Hepeme (also referred to as Ishoko), whom they believe resides between the sun and the moon. According to their beliefs, this God blesses them in their daily lives.
Speaking to Daily News, Mr Shagembe Gambai, a respected elder and leader of the Hadzabe community from Eyasi village in Ngorongoro, explained that Hepeme is believed to be merciful and generous. For this reason, when a Hadzabe person dies, the community believes the deceased has gone to live with their God.
Mr Gambai further noted that the Hadzabe attach great spiritual significance to the sun and the moon, which they believe demonstrate the power of the Creator in providing them with daily sustenance. Their prayers to Hepeme largely focus on asking for successful hunting, protection from calamities and, ultimately, acceptance of death as an inevitable part of life.
He explained that Hadzabe burial practices differ markedly from those of many other communities, where bodies are typically buried underground or cremated. In Hadzabe tradition, when a person dies, the body is placed beside the house where the deceased lived during his or her lifetime.
After this, family members and mourners go into the forest to hunt a large animal—such as a buffalo, zebra, kudu or antelope. If they succeed, the hunted animal is brought and laid next to the deceased’s body.
Following this ritual, the entire camp or family that lived in the area relocates to another distant location for a period exceeding one month. This temporary migration is meant to allow the body of the deceased to “return” to God, Hepeme
After the mourning period, the family or camp returns to the original settlement and resumes daily life, believing that by then the body of the deceased will have been taken to live with God.
Throughout the mourning period, the Hadzabe observe strong communal solidarity. Community members support one another, offering comfort and honoring the bereaved family, firmly believing that death is God’s plan and that everyone will one day die and live another life before Hepeme.
Today, the Hadzabe community is widely respected for preserving its cultural identity and continuing to live according to traditions inherited from their ancestors. Despite the pressures of globalization and rapid social change, the Hadzabe remain steadfast in safeguarding their customs, values and way of life.
Jasiri haachi asili — the brave never abandon their roots.
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