Home of Kigezi museum.

 About Batwa People and their origin

The Batwa people speak  Rutwa, a dialect of the Kinyarwanda language, and mainly practice traditional religion. The traditional Batwa culture is rich in songs, dances, and music and the cultural integration of the Batwa people into social life gives them a distinct identity from neighboring communities. The Batwa, like all other forest-dwelling peoples, consider themselves to have a close and intimate relationship with the forest in which they once lived. The Batwa's current landlessness is the result of the loss of their historic habitat, the forests where they once lived as hunters and gatherers.

For centuries, the Batwa people depended on hunting and gathering in the forest. However, today most of them live on the outskirts of their ancestral forest land bordered by the  Echuya Bamboo Forest, Mgahinga National Park, and Semliki National Park. Batwa's expropriation and landlessness are due to environmental conservation measures implemented by the Ugandan government with the support of international agencies such as WWF and the World Bank through the publication of forests and habitats. Other landscapes are considered areas rich in biodiversity that should be preserved for posterity. For example, in the early 1990s, the Ugandan government declared  Semliki National Park a reserve and expelled everyone who entered and settled in the area, including Batwa.

  Visit the Home of Kigezi Museum, and know the history of the Batwa people and their heritage.