The Haya people

Haya or Buhaya (or Waya) ethnic group is found in the upper northwestern part of Tanzania in the country's Kagera region. Seating on the Western border of lake Victoria, the Haya people share borders with Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda all in East Africa.

Illustrated in red, Tanzania as a whole in cream.

  They're a Bantu ethnic group of the Niger-Congo phyla of languages. With fishing, pastoralism and agriculture as the main ways of life.

Bantu languages in purple. Cot-cee Wikipedia

    With a population of over a million they make only 2% of Tanzania's population. Excavations made underneath a sacred shrine tree in one of the villages led to a discovery of an iron forge dated to the first millennium BC. This supports the theory that the Haya people settled in the Kagera region during the Bantu expansion (suggested mass movement of various tribes to Central and southern Africa.) The technique used in this forge predates that of western culture.

    Before and after settlement of Haya people, their cultural ways were influenced by other Bantu tribes also moving. This introduced pastoralism and a new specie of Banana. Banana is grown large scale and the region has the highest banana produce in the country.

    They've an intricate system of Kingship while non-royals to be selected into duty posts are subjected to various test stages. Their kings are called Mukama. Like every other indigenous tribe, the Haya have their traditional beliefs like that of Bacwezi which is interpreted by mediums. They have their traditional medicinal practices, culture like dance, agriculture...

Mushonge museum.

    Kagera region was invaded by Idi Amin Dada with the aim to annex it but his actions led to the overthrow of his dictatorship (good riddance 😒.)
    The first set of Europeans to pass through the region were looking for the source of the River Nile. Like most African tribes, colonists arrived and through manipulation of the traditional chiefs controlled the region and Tanzania as a whole before the song of Independence was heard.

    The Haya may be one of the minorities but every tribe has their civilizations before being colonised. More so the steel technique of this small group of people predates the so called innovators.