| Kilimanjaro is the fourth highest mountain in Africa | | | | who freed them from capture. They began to |
| and the highest of all the freestanding mountains in | | | | disregard Ruwa and began worshipping their |
| the world with an elevation of 15,100 feet (4,600 | | | | ancestors who had more authority over events. |
| meters). The people who make their home in the | | | | Medicine men were able to remove curses. The most |
| shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro are the Chagga, the | | | | difficult curse to remove was the deathbed curse |
| largest ethnic group in Tanzania. | | | | that was made just before a person died. The only |
| The Chagga traditions were studied and reported | | | | way to remove this curse was for the cursed to |
| extensively by Charles Dundas, a European, in 1924. | | | | bring the medicine man a piece of the corpse. |
| His book, The Kilimanjaro and its People depicts a | | | | The rich volcanic soil along with tropical temperatures |
| culture that has disappeared little by little every | | | | and plentiful rains make Kilimanjaro ideal for growing |
| passing year. | | | | crops. The Chagga economy remains an agricultural |
| Tourists can catch an occasional peek at this people's | | | | society. Banana, once their major crop, has given |
| strange traditions when they visit the smaller villages. | | | | way to large coffee plantations since the early 20th |
| These glimpses into the past culture of the Chagga | | | | century. Both crops are still produced today. The |
| make a tour of these villages more popular than ever | | | | agriculturalists also raise cattle and goals. |
| before. It is interesting to contrast the superstitious | | | | Trees also became an important crop to the Chagga. |
| beliefs, rituals, and practice of witchcraft of the past | | | | Commercial woods grew abundantly in the area. |
| to the modern-day culture that has become a | | | | However, because trees were not replanted to |
| majority of Christians brought about by the influx of | | | | replace those that were cut down the Kilimanjaro |
| missionaries. | | | | area suffered devastating deforestation that caused |
| The Chagga are believed to have immigrated from | | | | erosion with loss of topsoil, decreased wildlife, and |
| the north approximately 300 to 400 years ago and | | | | less water flow from rivers and streams. The |
| settled on the east side of Kilimanjaro. They | | | | introduction of pesticides to the area depleted the |
| proceeded to eliminate other tribes already living | | | | soil of rich nutrients and affected the water supplies |
| there by evicting them or absorbing them into their | | | | with pollutants. |
| own culture. They eventually evolved into a people | | | | The people of Kilimanjaro are slowly recovering from |
| of one language and one culture. | | | | their greed and the greed of Europeans who has |
| Witchcraft (or wusari in Chagga) was the major | | | | stripped the land of their natural resources. Their |
| practice in Chagga society. Rainmakers, | | | | schools concentrate on teaching their young people |
| rain-preventers, and dreamers were an important | | | | conservation of the country's natural resources so |
| part of their traditions. The name of their god was | | | | that the culture remains strong for centuries to |
| Ruwa who was not a creator nor a man, but a god | | | | come. |