When Hypothesis Becomes Myth: The Iraqi Origin of the Iraqw

Abstract

The now-rejected Hamitic hypothesis, depicting Caucasoid peoples from the north as responsible for a number of precolonial cultural and technological achievements in Mrica, served to legitimize European intervention and colonization on the continent. This article discusses how the Hamitic hypothesis was modified and as the origin of the Iraqw of Tanzania. Written sources and the oralization of written sources have significantly promoted current widespread recognition among the Iraqw that they originated Iraq or Mesopotamia. (lraqw, Mbulu, Hamitic hypothesis, oral tradition, invented tradition)

Imagineering Otherness: Anthropological Legacies in Contemporary Tourism

“…In this case, a story imagineered for foreign others (during the colonial era) has become accepted by local people as a narrative about themselves. The legend is based on a well-refuted ethnocentric scientific theory, the Hamitic hypothesis, that argued Caucasoid peoples from the north (Iraq or Mesopotamia) were responsible for a number of pre-colonial cultural and technological achievements in Africa, serving to legitimize European intervention and colonization on the continent (Rekdal 1998). While Eduardo does not know the historical origins of the story, his retelling it helps to ensure its ever-widening distribution.…”