Rwanda: How Did Banyarwanda Become Banyamulenge, Banyabwisha and Bafumbira?
The identities of the Banyamulenge, Banyabwisha and Bafumbira are considered recent constructs. Before colonial borders divided the region on October 30, 1911, these groups were recognized under one identity called the Banyarwanda. These communities eventually stopped using the collective term. They instead adopted identities based on specific places. These places include Mulenge, Bwisha and Bufumbira.
[New Times] The modern, distinct identities of the Banyamulenge, Banyabwisha and Bafumbira are relatively recent constructs. Before colonial borders partitioned the region on October 30, 1911, these communities shared a single, universally recognised identity: the Banyarwanda. Rather than continue identifying as Banyarwanda, they consciously discarded this collective term in favour of place-based identities drawn from Mulenge, Bwisha and Bufumbira.