Banyarwanda

Banyarwanda (singular Munyarwanda) is a word originating in the Bantu family of languages meaning “the people of Rwanda” and consisting of three caste groups: the Batutsi, cattle herders; the Bahutu, agricultural cultivators; and the Batwa, hunters and pottery-makers. From the 15th century until its colonization by Germany in the final years of the 20th century, Rwanda was a kingdom located in East Africa, to the south of Uganda, and bordered by Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, and Lake Kivu.

The Banyarwanda perceive Imana as the Supreme God that created the universe and everything within it. Imana is essentially good and the life-giving force that sustains all existence. The material world that humans experience is one of three planes of reality. Another world called ijuru exists above the ...