tutsi

The Tutsi are one of the native peoples of Rwanda, along with the Hutu and Twa. Historically, the Tutsi and Hutu were known mainly by their role; the Tutsi were mainly pastoral and usually of the nobility and the ruling class while the Hutu were more often peasant farmers, although there were Hutu rulers and Hutu and Tutsi could easily exchange roles. Hutu and Tusi share the same language and culture and intermarriage between Hutu and Tutsi is common (although a Tutsi man marrying a Hutu woman is very rare and a Hutu man marrying a Tutsi woman is quite common). The Belgians, upon colonizing Rwanda, were taken by the (seemingly) more "European" facial features of the Tutsi (stereotypically, the Tutsi are taller and thinner, with longer, more pointed noses, straighter hair, and more angular features) and favored them over the stockier, medium-sized Hutu. Never mind that there are Hutu who look Tutsi, Tutsi who look Hutu, that many Rwandans fit neither discription and that intermarriage is common, this played a huge role in creating tension between Hutu and Tutsi... thus leading to the 1994 genocide.