Datoga Tribe

Residing along the banks of the Lake Eyasi in Tanzania, these indigenous people are believed to have inhabited the area for over 3,000 years, although their history is difficult to accurately trace. Similar to other local tribes, particularly the Maasai, they value livestock highly and use it for their livelihood. Datoga people are traditionally nomadic, often moving throughout the extensive region, herding their cattle and putting their ancient agricultural skills to use wherever they happen to settle.

They use just about every part of an animal – milk, meat, blood, fat, hide, horns, tendons and even the dung for either practical purposes or to perform important rituals. Increasingly, recent generations of Datoga have turned more into farming rather than herding for their livelihood and have begun establishing permanent homes where they plant their crops. They also have developed simple metal working skills, melting scraps of discarded metals and shaping them into arrowheads and simple tools to trade with the Hadzabe.

The Datoga people still live a very primitive life, resisting formal education and outside development. They also suffer high infant mortality rates due to their low standard of hygiene and the unclean conditions in which they live. The Datoga men practice polygamy and rank their wives in order of marriage, which must be to someone outside the clan.

The Datoga speak a variety of dialects based on their location, but only about 5% speak Swahili, the national language of Tanzania. This further exacerbates their isolation from the rest of the country. Unlike the local Hadzabe tribe with whom they share the Lake Eyasi region, the Datoga have developed a reputation as fierce warriors and have traditionally been known to prove themselves amongst other tribesmen by fighting those outside the tribe. No fear though, we have great relations with the Datoga and they will welcome your visit.