The Khoisan group or Bushmanoid is a small ethnic group of people believed to have descended from the earliest inhabitants of the continent of Africa. Though they are the earliest people to live in Africa, it is not known where they came from but it is assumed that they evolved from the earliest stone-age people. The Sandawe who live close to the main rock-paintings of central Tanzania and the Hadzabe of Lake Eyasi are remnants of this type of people and are related both racially and linguistically to the Bushmen and Hottentots of South Africa. They live by hunting, gathering and fishing and speak archaic languages denoted with click sounds. Nevertheless, the Sandawe today practice some farming.

Recent studies by Oxfarm say the Hadzabe are virtually under threat of extinction as their habitats have been converted into farms and conservation areas. Researchers blame the situation to government policies that favoured conservation of huge chunks of land for wildlife hunting at the expense of indigenous people. They estimate a population of about 3000 people scattered in woodland, semi-arid areas of Meatu, Iramba, Mbulu and Karatu Districts of north central Tanzania. Efforts by the government and church organizations to resettle the Hadzabe in permanent villages and take their children to school failed since 1960s.