The Meru (''Wameru'' in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

), also known as the ''Va-Rwa'' (''Rwa'' being the root word), are a

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

ethnic group native to the slopes of Mount Meru in Arusha Region. The Meru people share the same name with the

Meru people The Meru or Amîîrú (including the Ngaa) are a Bantu ethnic group that inhabit the Meru region of Kenya on the fertile lands of north and eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, in the former Eastern Province of Kenya. The word Meru means Shining ...

of Kenya, but they are completely different ethnic groups each with their own unique history and identity. The Meru people are said to have arrived to the slopes of the great mountain around 800 years ago coming from the Usambara Mountains in Tanga Region. According to the inhabitants, migration occurred back and forth throughout the region, and the Meru people should be viewed as a part of the bigger population inhabiting the entire Kilimanjaro Corridor. Upon arriving at the southeastern slopes of Mount Meru they were met by the

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

group called the

Koningo The Koningo ( Swahili: Wakinongo) are an extinct Tanzanian ethnic and linguistic group that lived on the slopes of Mount Meru in present day Arusha City District, Meru District and Arusha District of Arusha Region. They were described as a hunter ...

whom they absorbed into Meru society. The waMeru are known for their intensive agricultural practises. Today many descendants of Meru people still live in their homeland and Mount Meru and

Arumeru District Arumeru District (Meru District and Arusha Rural District) is a former district in the Arusha Region of Tanzania. It was bordered to the north, west, and southwest by Monduli District, to the southeast by the city of Arusha, and to the east by ...

are named in their honor. Upepo wa kisulisuli is named after UMALEE in meru language.

References

Ethnic groups in Tanzania Indigenous peoples of East Africa Indigenous peoples of Arusha Region {{Tanzania-ethno-group-stub