Thread by @Yvonne_Maphosa

THE OSTRICH PEOPLE OF THE DOMA TRIBE, ZIMBABWE 🇿🇼

They only have two toes on each foot.

So their feet are V-shaped, like those of an ostrich

AKA

The "Ostrich" people are members of the Doma tribe also known as the:

Dema Tribe
Bantwana Tribe (children/descendants)
Two-toed Tribe
Ostrich people
vaDoma

LANGUAGES: Chikunda (Portuguese) and KoreKore.

LOCATION

They live in the Kanyemba region, north of Zimbabwe

They are commonly found in the Urungwe and Sipolilo districts close to Mwazamutanda River, on the Zambezi River Valley

QUICK FACTS ✨

They can’t wear shoes because of the shape of their feet.

They don’t have middle toes and the two outer ones are turned in.

It’s hard for them to walk and damn near impossible for them to run.

LIFESTYLE

They are hunters and gatherers. So they rely on hunting, fishing, honey and gathering wild fruits and roots🍒🥔🍒

They make beer from wild fruits🍻

RECIPE: They boil the fruits continuously for seven days.
[I know you’re getting ideas so I won't say which fruits! 🙃]

SADLY...

... because of civilisation, it’s hard for the whole tribe to do that now 😔

Hunting is now called poaching if one doesn't have a hunting license. Picking fruits beyond the fence is called trespassing ⛓️

Plus they have little access to fertile land 🏜

One article said: “They live on rich land so if they learnt to use the right skills and equipment they could farm. But due to their dislike for change, their future is bleak”

Boo 👎

I’m sure a govt official wrote that! On a “Let’s call them lazy instead of helping them" tip 😏

ORIGINS

“The elders of the people say their ancestors were bird-like beings who came from the stars & mixed their DNA with women to produce offspring. The say their ancestors came from the star, Sirius, and settled on a planet within our solar system that they call Liitolafisi”

Another tale says their ancestors came out of a Baobab tree fully grown and as soon as they got out they immediately moved on to their routine of hunting and gathering

It's rumoured that the vaDoma people are capable of disappearing in the forest and can perform
magic

They hate fabric clothes and prefer 'bushmen' type dressing

Children under 10 don’t wear any clothes at all

Because of the high temperatures in the Zambezi basin, the Doma don’t roof their house, only thatching them when the rain comes and this is how they sleep on an open roof

BIOLOGY

The two-toe condition is known as ectrodactyly. It’s caused by a mutation of chromosome 7. It’s an inherited dominant genetic mutation

[IMO: Their lifestyle required to climb trees so their feet changed to suit the purpose according to Darwin’s Theory of Adaptation 🙈]

MARRIAGE

Marriage was/is between relatives. It's against tribal law to marry outside the group

They live in isolation so they marry one another and that’s how the shape of their feet has remained like that over the years.

Lobola was paid in the form of beads 📿

NOTA BENE (NB)

The two-toed people within vaDoma community are not looked down on or regarded as handicapped.

They are accepted and remain well-integrated into the tribe.

Not everyone in the tribe has two toes. Others have web-like toes and others have ‘normal’ feet 🦶

PRESENT DAY

After independence, the vaDoma had to be included in the government development plans.

But the vaDoma didn’t trust outsiders. So the government left food and clothes handouts at the bottom of the mountains. The vaDoma would take these without being seen.

So that’s how it went for a while; officials leaving handouts and the vaDoma taking them. Until some trust was established and the vaDoma resettled to lower grounds

The idea (by the government) was to integrate them into society and help them to gain access to schools etc

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT DOING?

Nothing

The majority of the people are very poor.

So the government lured them from the mountains, made them settle on lower ground, sold them promises and forgot about them? 🤔
I see.

Most children don’t go to school because they don’t have decent clothes, can’t afford fees/levies and have to cross the Mwazamutanda River which gets flooded.

So ya they just don’t go to school 🚸

Because of the high temperatures in the Zambezi basin, the Doma don’t roof their house.

They only thatch them when the rain comes

[The mosquitoes ke? Tsetse flies? Summer rains? 😲]

Not much is written about them unfortunately.

Only a few people have encountered pure-bred members of the vaDoma.

There are a few documentaries on YouTube, that’s where I got most of the information 📺

THE END ✌️

PS: Someone told me that the Government doesn't want to improve their lifestyle or encourage them to travel so that they can stay there where they are to avoid having them date/marry other people and 'spreading' the two-toed condition.

I don't know how far true that is 🤷‍♀️