The Sukuma Ethnic Group is the largest one in Tanzania, with a population of an estimated 8,130,000 members or 16 percent of the country’s total population according to the 2016 Ethnologue: Languages of the World.  In this website we are presenting the impressive culture of the people: Proverbs, Sayings, Riddles, Stories and Songs.

    According to the Wikipedia which is the free encyclopedia, the Sukuma are a Bantu ethnic group from the southeastern African Great Lakes region.  Sukuma means “north” and refers to “people of the north.” The Sukuma refer to themselves as Basukuma (plural) and Nsukuma (singular). They speak Sukuma language, which belongs to the Bantu branch of the Niger-Congo family.

     The Sukuma live in northwestern Tanzania on or near the southern shores of Lake Victoria, and various areas of the administrative districts of the Mwanza, southwestern tip of Mara Region, Simiyu Region and Shinyanga Region. The northern area of their residence is in the Serengeti Plain. Sukuma families have migrated southward, into the Rukwa Region and Katavi Region, encroaching on the territory of the Pimbwe. These Sukuma have settled outside Pimbwe villages. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukuma_people). They can also be found in other regions of Tanzania.

   This website is dedicated to the late Father Don Sybertz, MM (1928 – 2020),  who stayed among the Sukuma people for over 50 years in Shinyanga Diocese. While staying in Ndoleleji Parish he researched the rich folklore and culture of the Sukuma people. See a short video about Sybertz HERE. 

      In order to be successful he created a research committee  at Ndoleleji Parish known as Kamati ya Utafiti which is still working today. This research committee increases knowledge to people on their legacies.

     Little knowledge on the traditional legacies delays people in discovering wisdom which is found in: Stories, Proverbs, Sayings, Riddles and Songs, which can assist them on their way to God. That is where an inculturation takes place, in which people discover values from their traditions which can strengthen their faith in Christ within His Church on the way to the heavenly Reign.

       However, making research on their traditional ways of life helps them enough to discover their legacies and use them for loving God with all their hearts. They can also manage to love their neighbors in God and Him in them, on the way to the Heaven kingdom. You are most welcome to enjoy it.

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