The Shambaa, also referred to as the Shambala, are a Bantu people found mainly on the West Usambara mountain range in Tanzania. Their language is Shambala. The homeland of the Shambaa is called Shambaai.

Kings and queens rule the Shambaa people. The Shambaa kingdom is made up of several descant groups with a common origin, but a single descent group governs the kingdom. The survival of the whole descent and its steady increase in size is crucial, because the Shambaa people take great pride in the culture and they don't wont their clan to die out. The king rules over several chiefdoms. The chiefs were appointed by he king and received tribute from their chiefdoms as representatives of the king. All the wealth of the land is regarded as the king's. This gives him control of his subjects and the right to demand tribute from them. The king, in return, is expected to bring rain and food to his terr

Peasants and slaves are the king's subjects. Peasants live in village groups under a patriarchal system. Badu described the life of a peasant as being very difficult with work days lasting from sun up until sunset, laboring in the scorching heat with only a few breaks (Mufika Buda). The peasants are free to go about their daily work on the farm and the homestead. They pay their tribute to the king in the form of food, life stock and labor.

itory. Maulid is a popular holiday celebrated by the Shambaa people in which the people gather with family members and give thanks to the king in hope that he will bring good fortune to their family in the upcoming year ("Life In The Shambaa Nation").

The gender role of the Shambaa is very different then than that of the United States in that children start to play an active role in the work place at an early age. If a child is not of capable of working in the field he must stay home and tend to the younger children (Garson,W. 1997 Cross Culture Heritage). Polygamy is widely practiced by the Shambaa. A man marries as many women as he can support, and he also fathers as many children as he can support, because children are a blessing from the gods. It is the father's duty to defend the family from all harm, including illness and hunger.

Traditionally, women do not wear short clothes in public. Short skirts with shorts may be worn for sporting events and

Some common words found in the essay are:
Heritage Polygamy, Shambaai Kings, Traditionally Shambaa, Nation Peasants, Mufika Buda, Shambaa United, Mufika Badu, West Usambara, shambaa people, Shambala Bantu, , people shambaa, shambaa tribe, tribute king,
Approximate Word count = 953
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)