AFRICAN CULTURE AND TOURISM
John Shabani’s Research
John Shabani
Christian Leadership University (Port St. Lucie Florida) ISOM -
(INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF MINISTRY) graduate, is a founder of the Single parent
family foundation, book writer, Gospel singer, song writer, and Vocal trainer
of Christian worship music. Besides, He’s a General
Secretary at Gihon Needy Comfort Organization, registered in Tanzania . As one of the Tanzania
volunteers, He has had a burden of visiting refugees in their camps whenever
resources allow together with the heart of helping orphans and other
disadvantaged groups. He received his degree in leadership at Christian
Leadership University Florida USA in 2015, also Certificate of paralegal at
Tanzania Women lawyers Association (TAWLA)
He is a community life and Behavioral
Ecologist volunteer who has worked with the Hadza, Datoga (barbaig/mang’ati) of
Tanzania and Tukana tribe in kenya since 2014.
Her research interests include life
history theory, allomaternal investment, the ontogeny of pro social behavior,
the evolution of childhood, and the evolution of the human diet and the sexual
division of labor.
Primary Site Researcher
African tribes, customs and traditions
which have survived foreign influences despite the intrusion, slavery,
colonialism and sometimes, outright genocide and still flourish today.
John Shabani with talking with some Adzabe young group
in vallery of Mang'ola village.
While traditionally considered an East African branch of the Khoisan peoples, primarily because their language has clicks, modern genetic research suggests that they may be more closely related to the Pygmies. The Hadza language appears to be an isolate, unrelated to any other.
There are four traditional areas of Hadza dry-season
habitation: West of the southern end of Lake Eyasi, between Lake Eyasi and the
Yaeda Valley swamp to the east, east of the Yaeda Valley in the Mbulu
Highlands, and north of the valley around the town of Mang'ola. During the wet
season the Hadza camp outside and between these areas, and readily travel
between them during the dry season as well. Access to and from the western area
is by crossing the southern end of the lake, which is the first part to dry up,
or by following the escarpment of the Serengeti Plateau around the northern
shore. The Yaeda Valley is easily crossed, and the areas on either side abut
the hills south of Mang'ola.
The Hadza have traditionally foraged
outside these areas, in the Yaeda Valley, on the slopes of Mount Oldeani north
of Mang'ola, and up onto the Serengeti Plains. Such foraging is done for
hunting, berry collecting, and for honey. Although hunting is illegal in the
Serengeti, the Tanzanian authorities recognise that the Hadza are a special
case and do not enforce the regulations with them, just as the Hadza are the
only people in Tanzania not taxed locally or by the national government.
Hadza men usually forage
individually, and during the course of day usually feed themselves while
foraging, and also bring home some honey, fruit, or wild game when available.
Women forage in larger parties, and usually bring home berries, baobab fruit,
and tubers, depending on availability. Men and women also forage co-operatively
for honey and fruit, and at least one adult male will usually accompany a group
of foraging women. During the wet season, the diet is composed mostly of honey,
some fruit,fdr tubers, and occasional meat.
The contribution of meat to the diet
increases in the dry season, when game become concentrated around sources of
water. During this time, men often hunt in pairs, and spend entire nights lying
in wait by waterholes, hoping to shoot animals that approach for a night-time
drink, with bows and arrows treated with poison. The poison is made of the
branches of the shrub Adenium coetaneum.
The Hadza are highly skilled,
selective, and opportunistic foragers, and adjust their diet according to
season and circumstance. Depending on local availability, some groups might
rely more heavily on tubers, others on berries, others on meat. This
variability is the result of their opportunism and adjustment to prevailing
conditions.
Traditionally, the Hadza do not make
use of hunting dogs, although this custom has been recently borrowed from
neighboring tribes to some degree. Most men (80%+) do not use dogs when
foraging.
Religion
The Hadza have been described as a population with little or no religion. Anthropologists agree, however, that they do have a cosmology – regardless of how we define religion. The Hadza cosmology includes the sun, moon, stars and their ancestors. They have a creation story that describes how the Hadza came to populate the earth. It involves descending to earth, either from a baobab tree or down the neck of a giraffe.The Hadza do not have anything equivalent to religious leaders, churches, or organized meetings of any kind. There are no shamans or medicine men or women and the Hadza do not practice witchcraft. They do, however, believe that other tribes have witchcraft and can successfully curse the Hadza. The strongest taboos and rituals surround epeme – which refers to a type of dance and certain cuts of animal meat. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to convert the Hadza to Christianity.
Political and Social Organization
Like almost all other hunter-gatherer groups, the Hadza have an egalitarian social structure. They do not typically recognize land rights in the traditional sense, although they recognize an affinity with other Hadza groups that occupy the region. There is no political structure, formal or informal, at the tribal level. Society is typically organized in camps, which have fluid composition of extended family and friends. Labor and food are shared between related and unrelated camp members. Hadza women have a great amount of autonomy and participate equally in decision making with men.Economic Activities
The Hadza have very little accumulated wealth and most do not participate in a market economy. Some Hadza, however, live near villages and participate in ecotourism, which is steadily on the rise. In addition, village Hadza may be hired as wage laborers – either as hunting guides for safari companies or as guards to scare off wild animals from the farms of the neighboring tribes.The Hadza that reside in the bush, approximately 300 people, collect roughly 95% of their diet. Their diet, which is extremely well balanced, includes a wide variety of plant foods (e.g. tubers, berries, fruits, legumes, nuts, and seeds), small to large sized game, a great number of bird species, and the larvae and honey of both stingless and stinging bees. Women typically forage in groups and target plant foods, while men tend to hunt solo or in a pair and focus on hunting and honey collection. When unsuccessful on a hunt (for game or honey), men will collect baobab fruit. Children also forage and are able to collect almost half of their daily caloric intake by the time they reach middle childhood. Children tend to focus on resources that are relatively easy to collect (e.g. berries, fruit, nuts) and are located close to camp.
The Hadza, like most foraging populations, are central-place provisioners (a term used by Anthropologist Frank Marlowe in lieu of the term “central place foragers”). This means that they collect food on a daily basis and return to camp to distribute the food to weanlings, dependent children, elderly, or injured camp members. Food is widely shared within the family and with unrelated friends and neighbors. The Hadza have no food storage capabilities.
Formal and Informal Education
Based on interview data (collected by Anthropologist Frank
Marlowe), approximately 20% of Hadza under the age of 50 years old have
attended school for at least a short period of time – typically a year or less.
For Hadza under the age of 30 years old, this percentage jumps to 60%. There
are two schools in areas bordering on Hadza land, neither of which offers a
special curriculum for the Hadza nor serves only Hadza students. A primary
school in Endamagha, which was built by missionaries for the Hadza, is now
mostly populated with students from other tribes; only one third of the student
population at Endamagha is Hadza. Increasingly, Hadza children are attending
school and staying for longer periods of time; historically, most Hadza
children would run away back to the bush. While some Hadza value formal
education for their children, others argue that learning to read and write
English and Swahili holds little or no value for Hadza children who continue to
live in the bush. Most students (including those of other tribes) who graduate
from rural primary and secondary schools do not go on to get jobs in the city.
Therefore, according to some Hadza, sending their children to school will only
be detrimental to their “Hadza education” where they learn their own language,
culture and foraging skills.
Health
The Hadza live in a highly seasonal environment; during the dry season, they live outside and during the rainy season, they construct huts made out of tree branches and dried grass. In addition to living outside, they also live at low population densities and are nomadic – all characteristics that may be linked to a lower rate of disease transmission when compared to their pastoral and agricultural neighbors. The Hadza do not suffer from malnutrition and are, in fact, healthier than neighboring tribes. They do suffer from malaria, yellow fever, and tuberculosis as well as being exposed to trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) from the tsetse fly. Common injuries and illnesses include broken bones, diarrhea, and eye and respiratory infections.There are a few hospitals bordering Hadza land and are within one or two days’ walking distance from most Hadza camps located in the bush. One hospital is located in Haydom, in the southwest corner of the Mbulu district in the Northern highlands, and the other is located in Barazani in the Karatu district near the Ngorongoro Crater. A small team of health care specialists make sporadic and infrequent visits to Hadza camps located close to the villages of Mangola and Barazani.
Daily Life
The Hadza day starts early, around 6:30 or 7:00 am, with people waking slowly and chatting around morning fires. By 8:00 or 8:30am, most adults have left camp to forage. Women forage in groups whereas men typically forage alone or in pairs. Women’s foraging parties include adult women of all ages, nursing infants, and often one teenage boy who acts as a “guard” – to protect the women from possible violence of neighboring tribes. Married couples may also go on daily forays together. Once weaned, children stay in camp with the older children. Children play, forage, and work throughout the day. Work may be seen as an extension of play because children’s games and social activities often involve food collection and processing. Children collect and consume a large percentage of their diet by the age of five years and are also fed by family and friends. Food is shared widely among the Hadza and they practice central place provisioning as well as cooperative child-care. Children are raised in a very communal setting, where most aspects of daily life take place in full view of all camp residents.During mid-day most Hadza rest or take a leisurely nap. Whether in camp or out foraging, they stop work to rest for around two hours after lunch and until the mid-day heat subsides. Most camp members are back in camp around 5 or 6 pm, when evening preparations begin. Women and children collect water and firewood close to camp. An evening meal is typically prepared and consumed just before nightfall. On nights without ritual dancing, men and women typically stay up until 10:00pm talking or telling stores. When there is a “new moon”, the lunar phase that occurs when the moon lies between the earth and sun and the unilluminated portion faces the earth, the Hadza perform their ritual epeme dance, which only occurs under the cover of darkness. The epeme dance involves men taking turns dressing up and dancing as the embodiment of their ancestors for the women and children of the camp. Other evening dances may include members of both sexes dancing together as a large group while chanting and singing songs.
THE DATOOGA OR BARABAIG TRIBE IN TANZANIA
The Datooga, known as
the Mang'ati in Swahili, are a pastoralist Nilotic people
of Manyara
Region, Arusha Region, Mara
Region, and Singida Region of Tanzania. In
2000 the Datooga population was estimated to number 87,978. There
are at least seven Datooga tribes:
- Bajuta
- Gisamjanga (Kisamajeng, Gisamjang)
- Barabayiiga (Barabaig, Barabayga, Barabaik, Barbaig)
- Asmjeeg (Tsimajeega, Isimijeega)
- Rootigaanga (Rotigenga, Rotigeenga)
- Buraadiiga (Buradiga, Bureadiga)
- Bianjiida (Biyanjiida, Utatu)
Mr John Shabani in raising talents for Datooga (Barbaig) people
The
Datooga of Tanzania
Religion: Animism
Population: 100,000
Status of Christianity: 1% Christian
| Registry of Peoples codes Datooga: 109878 |
Registry of Languages code (Ethnologue) Datooga: tcc |
The Datooga people live in Tanzania. The most general name for this widely-dispersed ethnic group is Datooga, though it is sometimes spelled Tatooga. In the outside world they are often known by the Sukuma name for them, Taturu. Very few sources have information about the Datooga people.
The best-known and most numerous sub-tribe of the Datooga peoples are the pastoral Barabaig, who reside chiefly in that part of the northern volcanic highlands dominated by Mount Hanang (3,418 metres). The sacred nature of this mountain makes it an important theme in Barabaig myth and song. In some people lists, the Barabaig are listed as a separate people, but as speaking the Datooga language.
History:
There is little concrete history of the Datooga people. Their migration history has been reconstructed through comparative linguistics and study of oral traditions of the Datooga and their neighbors. The Datooga are linguistically and culturally classified as Highland (Southern) Nilotes.
Their origins are thought to be in the Southern Sudan or western Ethiopia highlands, probably 3000 years ago. A gradual southward migration of their ancestral people resulted in a settlement of the highland areas of Kenya and Tanzania by speakers of Nilotic languages, herding and ultimately farming in those rich highlands by about AD 1500.
These Highland Nilotes now fall into two groups, the Kalenjin cluster of peoples in Kenya, speaking several closely-related languages, and Datooga, whose language is more distantly related.
Identity:
The Datooga themselves blend in with their environment, their dress being the color of the reddish brown soil. Only on closer inspection will they appear colorful with their reddish, patched leather dresses, bead work, and brass bracelets and necklaces. A prominent decoration is tatooing of circular patterns around the eyes.
This people are part of the broad Nilotic migration from the Sudan along the Nile River centuries ago. They were cut off from other Highland Nilotes by later migrations of Bantu and Plains Nilotic peoples like the Maasai. The Highland Nilotes are distantly related to the Plains Nilotes like the Samburu, Maasai and Karamajong-Turkana and the River Nilotes like the Luo.
They were herders, but have diversified to include agriculture in recent times. The Datooga are proud people, with a reputation as fierce warriors. Traditionally, young men had to prove themselves by killing an "enemy of the people," defined as any human being not a Datooga, or one of the dangerous wild animals, such as elephant, lion or buffalo.
Other Tanzanians and outsiders consider the Datooga primitive, because they resist education and development. They live in low standards of hygiene, and have high infant mortality.
The Datooga language, with its dialects, is a Southern Nilote language, related distantly to the Kalenjin languages of Kenya. About 20% also speak the language of their Southern Cushitic neighbors, Iraqw. A language closely related to Datooga is Omotik, the speech of another small northern Tanzania people.
The Omotik are close in cluture and language, related genetically and linguistically to the Datooga. More distantly related to the Kalenjin cluster of Nilotic peoples, the Omotik show clear signs of being linguistically influenced by Kalenjin languages in recent history. (The Omotik are one of the groups commonly called Dorobo.)
Only about 5% speak Swahili, the national language of Tanzania. This further accentuates their isolation. The Barabaig dialect is spoken by over half the Datooga. Their literacy rate is only about 1% and there is very little available in their language. Schools available are conducted in Swahili.
Political Situation:
The Datooga have basically been bypassed in modern political developments. They were not active in the colonial period and have lived in the small circle of their contacts with neighboring peoples, mostly in a belligerent relationship.
Customs:
The Datooga keep goats, sheep, donkeys and a few chickens, but cattle are by far the most important domestic animal. They resemble the Maasai in culture. The meat, fat, blood, milk, hide, horns, tendons and cow dung of every animal have either practical or ritual purposes.
They were formerly nomadic, depending largely on milk products for their diet, and moving whenever the needs of their cattle dictated. Now, however, many farm a plot of maize and sometimes beans and millet. They live a very difficult life, in semi-arid areas, where water is hard to obtain and often unclean.
The ideal family situation is polygamous, with wives ranked in order of marriage. Marriage must be outside the clan. Funerals are extensive ceremonies, lasting up to a year. Power centers in a neighborhood council of elders. Group pressure is the primary social control, but elders can impose fines and curses. Men drink honey beer as a sacred drink on ritual occasions.
Religion:
They are resistant to cultural change, including belief in Christianity, maintaining a strong adherence to traditional animist beliefs and practices. The Datooga are animists who respect and fear their ancestors. They practice divination, rain-making, witchcraft and sorcery. They believe in one creator God, whom they call Aseeta. But they think of him as distant and impersonal. Spiritual help is found through communication with ancestors. Women play a big role in religious life, especially in singing and prayer.
Christianity:
Since most Datooga do not speak Swahili, the national language of Tanzania, and very few are literate, communication of the gospel must be in their own language, using traditional media of story-telling and songs. Like animists the world over, the good news of Jesus Christ is very relevant to their needs, once communication can be established. A translation team is working on a Datooga Bible.
The primary Christian influences have been mission schools and contacts with Christians of other Tanzanian peoples. The first Christian witness was a school and clinic near Katesh, started by the Lutheran Church in 1965. Christian Datooga are fewer than 1% of the people.
Since 2001 Mount Meru University (formerly Arusha Baptist Theological Seminary) has sent periodic pastor teams among the Barabaig for short visits to meet Datooga people and introduce more Datooga to the message of Jesus.
It has been reported that the Datooga are resistant to Christina faith, because the gospel is a foreign religion with foreign forms, communicated in a language, Swahili, foreign to the vast majority of the Datooga people. They might be more open if work could be done in their own language on the basis of a serious worldview investigation.
THE
TURKANA TRIBE
(INHABIT
THE TURKANA DISTRICT IN KENYA'S RIFT VALLEY PROVINCE)
John Shabani with Turkana Ladies
at Turkana district in Kenya's
Rift Valley Province
The Turkana tribe is a nomadic pastoralist people that inhabit the Turkana district in Kenya's Rift Valley Province. This Kenyan Nilotic tribe constitutes the second largest pastoralist community in Kenya next to the Maasai. They speak the Turkana language, which is Nilotic and similar to the Maasai language. The Turkana, like the Samburu and Maasai, still maintain their undiluted traditional way of life. They are distinguished as being great survivors, living in harsh and inhospitable terrain. History The Turkana tribe originally came from the Karamojong region of northeastern Uganda. Turkana oral traditions purport that they arrived in Kenya while pursuing an unruly bull. The land they occupy is harsh and very dry. The Turkana were, therefore, less affected by colonialism than other tribes because the British saw little value in their land. Culture and Lifestyle As with all other pastoralist tribes in Kenya, livestock, especially cattle, are at the core of Turkana culture. The Turkana people live a nomadic life, always moving from one place to another depending on the availability of pasture and water for their animals.
HAMAR
TRIBE OF SOUTH WESTERN ETHIOPIA
Culture
The Hamar are known for their unique custom of "bull jumping," which initiates a boy into manhood. First, female relatives dance and invite whipping from men who have recently been initiated; this shows their support of the initiate, and their scars give them a right to demand his help in time of need. The boy must run back and forth twice across the backs of a row of bulls or castrated steers, and is ridiculed if he fails.
MASAAI
OF SOUTHERN KENYA
AND NORTHERN TANZANIA
The Maasai (Kenyan
English: [maˈsaːɪ]) are aNilotic ethnic group of semi-nomadic warrior tribe
inhabiting southern Kenya and northernTanzania. They are among the best known
local populations due to their residence near the many game parks of the
African Great Lakes, and their distinctive customs and dress. The Maasai
speak Maa (ɔl Maa), a member of the Nilo-Saharan language family that is related to Dinka and Nuer. They are also
educated in the official languages of Kenya and Tanzania, Swahili and English.
The Maasai population has been reported as numbering 841,622 in Kenya in the
2009 census, compared to 377,089 in the 1989 census.
The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but the people have continued their age-old customs. Recently, Oxfam has claimed that the lifestyle of the Maasai should be embraced as a response to climate change because of their ability to farm in deserts and scrublands. Many Maasai tribes throughout Tanzania and Kenya welcome visits to their village to experience their culture, traditions, and lifestyle.
The Tanzanian and Kenyan governments have instituted programs to encourage the Maasai to abandon their traditional semi-nomadic lifestyle, but the people have continued their age-old customs. Recently, Oxfam has claimed that the lifestyle of the Maasai should be embraced as a response to climate change because of their ability to farm in deserts and scrublands. Many Maasai tribes throughout Tanzania and Kenya welcome visits to their village to experience their culture, traditions, and lifestyle.
HIMBA
OF NORTHERN NAMIBIA
The Himba (singular:
OmuHimba, plural:OvaHimba) are indigenous peoples with an estimated population
of about 50,000 people[1] living in northern Namibia, in theKunene region
(formerly Kaokoland) and on the other side of the Kunene River in
Angola. There are also a few groups left of theOvatwa, who are also OvaHimba,
but arehunters and gatherers. The OvaHimba are a semi-nomadic, pastoral people,
culturally distinguishable from the Herero people in northern Namibia and
southern Angola, and speak OtjiHimba (a Herero language dialect), which belongs
to the language family of theBantu.The OvaHimba are considered the last
(semi-) nomadic people of Namibia.
The
San people of SOUTHERN AFRICA
The San people (or
Saan), also known asBushmen or Basarwa, are members of various indigenous
hunter-gatherer people of Southern Africa, whose territories spanBotswana,
Namibia, Angola, Zambia,Zimbabwe, Lesotho and South Africa. There is a
significant linguistic difference between the northern people living between
theOkavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in northwestern Namibia,
extending up into
southern Angola; the central people of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending
into Zambia and Zimbabwe; and the southern people in the central Kalaharitowards
the Molopo River, who are the last remnant of the previously extensive
indigenous San of South Africa.
The San people (or
Saan), also known asBushmen or Basarwa, are members of various indigenous
hunter-gatherer people of Southern Africa, whose territories spanBotswana,
Namibia, Angola, Zambia,Zimbabwe, Lesotho[1] and South Africa. There is a
significant linguistic difference between the northern people living between
theOkavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in northwestern Namibia,
extending up into
southern Angola; the central people of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending
into Zambia and Zimbabwe; and the southern people in the central Kalaharitowards
the Molopo River, who are the last remnant of the previously extensive
indigenous San of South Africa.
From the 1950s through the 1990s, the San switched
to farming because of government-mandated modernisation programs. Despite the
lifestyle changes, they have provided a wealth of information in anthropology
andgenetics. One broad study of African genetic diversity completed in 2009
found that the San were among the five populations with the highest measured
levels of genetic diversity among the 121 distinct African populations
sampled.The San are one of 14 known extant "ancestral population
clusters". That is, "groups of populations with common genetic ancestry,
who share ethnicity and similarities in both their culture and the properties
of their languages".
Despite some positive aspects of government development programs reported by members of the San and Bakgalagadi communities in Botswana, many have spoken of a consistent sense of exclusion from government decision-making processes, and many San and Bakgalagadi have alleged experiencing ethnic discrimination on the part of the government. The United States Department of State described ongoing discrimination against Basarwa (San) people in Botswana in 2013 as a "principal human rights concern".
Despite some positive aspects of government development programs reported by members of the San and Bakgalagadi communities in Botswana, many have spoken of a consistent sense of exclusion from government decision-making processes, and many San and Bakgalagadi have alleged experiencing ethnic discrimination on the part of the government. The United States Department of State described ongoing discrimination against Basarwa (San) people in Botswana in 2013 as a "principal human rights concern".
AFAR PEOPLE'S OF NORTHEAST AFRICA
The Afar (Afar: Qafár), also known as theDanakil and
Adal are an ethnic group in theHorn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar
Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, although some also inhabit the
southern point of Eritrea. Afars speak the Afar language, which is part of the
Cushitic branch of theAfro-Asiatic family.
far society has traditionally been organized into independent kingdoms, each ruled by its own Sultan. Among these were the Sultanate of Aussa, Sultanate of Girrifo, Sultanate of Dawe, Sultanate of Tadjourah, Sultanate of Rahaito and Sultanate of Goobad.
The earliest surviving written mention of the Afar
is from the 13th-century Arab writer Ibn Sa'id, who reported that they lived in
the area around the port of Suakin, as far south asMandeb, near Zeila.[5] They
are mentioned intermittently in Ethiopian records, first as helping Emperor
Amda Seyon in a campaign beyond the Awash River, then over a century later when
they assisted Emperor Baeda Maryam when he campaigned against their neighbors
the Dobe'a.
Along with the closely related Somali and other adjacent Afro-Asiatic-speaking Muslimpeoples, the Afar are also associated with the medieval Adal Sultanate that controlled large parts of the northern Horn of Africa. During its existence, Adal had relations and engaged in trade with other polities in Northeast Africa, the Near East, Europe and South Asia. Many of the historic cities in the Horn region, such as Maduna, Abasa, Berbera, Zeila and Harar, flourished with courtyard houses, mosques,shrines, walled enclosures and cisterns during the kingdom's Golden Age.
far society has traditionally been organized into independent kingdoms, each ruled by its own Sultan. Among these were the Sultanate of Aussa, Sultanate of Girrifo, Sultanate of Dawe, Sultanate of Tadjourah, Sultanate of Rahaito and Sultanate of Goobad.
Along with the closely related Somali and other adjacent Afro-Asiatic-speaking Muslimpeoples, the Afar are also associated with the medieval Adal Sultanate that controlled large parts of the northern Horn of Africa. During its existence, Adal had relations and engaged in trade with other polities in Northeast Africa, the Near East, Europe and South Asia. Many of the historic cities in the Horn region, such as Maduna, Abasa, Berbera, Zeila and Harar, flourished with courtyard houses, mosques,shrines, walled enclosures and cisterns during the kingdom's Golden Age.
THE
‘PYGMY’ PEOPLES
OF CENTRAL AFRICA
The ‘Pygmy’ peoples of central
Africa are traditionally hunter-gatherers living in the rainforests throughout
central Africa. The term ‘Pygmy’ has gained negative
connotations, but has been reclaimed by some indigenous groups as a term of
identity.
Elders report that they cannot teach
their children the traditional skills - because they cannot go into the forest.
© Salomé/Survival
Primarily though, these communities
identify themselves as ‘forest peoples’ due to the fundamental importance of
the forest to their culture, livelihood and history.
Each is a distinct people, such as
the Twa, Aka, Baka and Mbuti living in countries across central Africa,
including the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), Rwanda, Uganda and Cameroon.
Different groups have different languages
and hunting traditions. Although each community faces different threats and
challenges, racism, logging and conservation are major problems for many, all
contributing to serious health problems and violent abuse.
Current estimates put the population
of the ‘Pygmy’ peoples at about half a million.
Massana – Moments in Play and RitualShort documentary studying the use of roleplay
by the Yaka ‘Pygmies’ in their social rituals. © Jerome Lewis
Forest lives
Central to the identity of these
peoples is their intimate connection to the forest lands they have lived in,
worshiped and protected for generations.
Jengi, the spirit of the forest, is one of the few words common
to many of the diverse languages spoken by forest peoples.
A ‘Pygmy’ loves the forest as she
loves her own body
Mbendjele saying
The importance of the forest as
their spiritual and physical home, and as the source of their religion, livelihood,
medicine and cultural identity cannot be overstated.
Traditionally, small communities
moved frequently through distinct forest territories, gathering a vast range of
forest products, collecting wild honey and exchanging goods with neighbouring settled
societies.
Hunting techniques vary among the
forest peoples, and include bows and arrows, nets and spears.
Amongst the Baka, childcare is
shared with fathers spending approximately half the day near their babies.
But many communities have been
displaced by conservation projects and their remaining forests have been
degraded by extensive logging, expansion by farmers, and commercial activities
such as intensive bush-meat trading.
Few have received any compensation
for the loss of their self-sufficient livelihoods in the forest and face
extreme levels of poverty and ill-health in ‘squatter’ settlements on the
fringes of the land that was once theirs.
In Rwanda for example, many Twa
people who have been displaced from their lands earn a living by making and
selling pottery.
Now this livelihood is threatened by
the loss of access to clay through the privatisation of land and by the
increasing availability of plastic products.
Begging and selling their labour
cheaply have become the only options left to many displaced and marginalized
forest peoples.
A recording of ‘The Honey Harvest’ by Congolese Mbuti Pygmies. From the CD SWP 009 ‘On The Edge of the Ituri Forest’.
Rights and recognition
A fundamental problem for ‘Pygmy’
peoples is the lack of recognition of land rights for hunter-gatherers coupled
with the denial of their ‘indigenous’ status in many African states.
The 'Pygmy' peoples' intimate
connection to the forests was once valued and respected by other societies, but
is now derided.
Without nationally recognised rights
to the forest lands on which they depend, outsiders or the state can take over
their lands with no legal barriers and no compensation.
Those communities who have lost
their traditional livelihoods and lands find themselves at the bottom of
‘mainstream’ society – the victims of pervasive discrimination affecting every
aspect of their lives.
Health and violence
Forest peoples who live on the land
they have nurtured for centuries have better health and nutrition than their
neighbours who have been evicted from their forest land.
The consequences of losing their
land are all too predictable: a slide into poverty, ill-health and a profound
destruction of their identity, culture and their connection to their land that creates a new underclass requiring central
government support.
Hunting techniques vary among the
‘Pymgy’ peoples, and include bows and arrows, nets and spears.
The conflict in the DRC (Congo) has
been especially brutal for the country’s ‘Pygmy’ peoples, who have suffered
killings and rape, and allegedly been the victims of cannibalism from the
heavily armed fighters.
In 2003, Mbuti representatives
petitioned the UN to protect their people from horrific abuse by armed militia
in Congo, including extremely high incidences of rape of women by the armed
men. One of the outcomes has been a soaring rate of HIV/Aids.
‘In living memory, we have seen
cruelty, massacres, genocide, but we have never seen human beings hunted and
eaten literally as though they were game animals, as has recently happened,’
Sinafasi Makelo, Mbuti spokesman
Local communities are often tricked into signing away their rights to the land, the results are devastating to the people, the forest and the climate.
When displaced from the forests –
usually without compensation or alternative means of making a living – their
health dramatically declines. One study reports that 80% of sedentary Baka in
Cameroon have yaws (a painful skin condition).
Further studies have shown that
forest-dwelling ‘Pygmy’ communities have lower levels of many illnesses
compared with neighbouring settled Bantu populations, including malaria,
rheumatism, respiratory infections and hepatitis C.
In addition, communities can no
longer access the forest medicines on which they relied and are in danger of
losing their rich traditional knowledge of herbal medicine.
Most communities cannot access
healthcare due to lack of availability, lack of funds and humiliating
ill-treatment. Vaccination programmes can be slow to reach forest peoples and
there are reports of ‘Pygmy’ people being discriminated against by medical
staff.
Racism
A central factor behind many of the
problems faced by forest peoples is racism.
Their egalitarian social structures
are often not respected by neighbouring communities or international companies
and organisations which value strong (male) leaders.
'Pygmy' communities who have lost
their traditional livelihoods and lands find themselves at the bottom of
‘mainstream’ society.
The forest peoples’ intimate
connection to the forests was once valued and respected by other societies, but
is now derided.
To many farming and herding
communities across the region, the forest peoples – who have neither land nor
cattle – are seen as ‘backward’, impoverished or ‘inferior’ and are often
treated as ‘untouchable’.
Political recognition and
representation
In an attempt to decrease ethnic
conflicts, several African governments, such as Rwanda and DRC, have advocated
the notion of the nation as ‘one people’ – emphatically denying ‘indigenous’
status to ‘Pygmy’ peoples and refusing to recognise their distinct needs.
‘Pygmy’ peoples are very poorly
represented in government – at any level – in the countries where they live.
Their low status and lack of
representation makes it hard for them to defend their lands – and the desirable
resources within – from outsiders.
Slavery
In August 2008 nearly 100 Pygmies
were released from slavery in DRC, of whom almost half came from families who
had been enslaved for generations.
Where ‘Pygmy’ communities continue
to have access to the rich forest resources, their levels of nutrition are
good.
In Congo, multinational logging
companies rushed in at the first signs of peace to extract valuable timber.
Local communities are often tricked
into signing away their rights to the land, losing their cultural heritage, the
source of their livelihoods and their food security in exchange for a handful
of salt, sugar or a machete.
The results are devastating to the
people, the forest, the climate and the future of this desperately unstable
country.
In the wake of the loggers come
thousands of settlers, eager to farm on the newly accessible land, hostile to
the forest peoples whose lands have been destroyed.
Since we were expelled from our
lands, death is following us. We bury people nearly every day. The village is
becoming empty. We are heading towards extinction. Now all the old people have
died. Our culture is dying too.
Mutwa man from Kalehe, DRC
There has been a vicious cycle of
forest peoples, deprived of their forests and therefore their means of survival,
being further impoverished by outsiders taking advantage of their situation.
With increasing poverty has come
decreasing ability to defend their rights. Vast plantations, owned by
multinationals are spreading into forested areas.
In Cameroon, Bagyeli communities on
one edge of Campo Ma’an National Park have been squeezed between the
conservation area and land which has been handed over to multinational
companies for exploitation.
Oil palm and rubber tree plantations
are no-go areas for the Bagyeli, and there has been no compensation for the
loss of their land, no jobs, healthcare or other benefits.
Their health is deteriorating as
mosquitoes are rife among the plantations, increasing malaria in the area, and
the nutrition of the Bagyeli has decreased radically without access to forest
foods.
Their conditions of living are not
our responsibility. Questions of poverty are not our responsibility.
John Makombo, Uganda Wildlife
Authority
Outsiders who have come to work in
the plantations discriminate against the Bagyeli and hunt the local animals,
depriving the Bagyeli of their major source of protein.
Conservation
In 1991 Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
in Uganda was declared a National Park. The Batwa were evicted and banned from
hunting and gathering; few were compensated.
They were not consulted. Most now
live as ‘squatters’ on other peoples’ land, always fearful of being moved on,
without access to the forest and without land of their own.
When displaced from the forests –
usually without compensation or alternative means of making a living – their
health dramatically declines. One study reports that 80% of sedentary Baka in
Cameroon have yaws (a painful skin condition).
Further studies have shown that
forest-dwelling ‘Pygmy’ communities have lower levels of many illnesses
compared with neighbouring settled Bantu populations, including malaria,
rheumatism, respiratory infections and hepatitis C.
In addition, communities can no
longer access the forest medicines on which they relied and are in danger of
losing their rich traditional knowledge of herbal medicine.
Most communities cannot access
healthcare due to lack of availability, lack of funds and humiliating
ill-treatment. Vaccination programmes can be slow to reach forest peoples and
there are reports of ‘Pygmy’ people being discriminated against by medical
staff.
Racism
A central factor behind many of the
problems faced by forest peoples is racism.
Their egalitarian social structures
are often not respected by neighbouring communities or international companies
and organisations which value strong (male) leaders.
Racism, logging and conservation are
major problems for many ‘Pygmy’ peoples, all contributing to serious health
problems and violent abuse.
Such treatment stems from the notion
of ‘Pygmies’ as of lower status, who can be ‘owned’ by their ‘masters’.
Forced labour on farmland is an all
too common reality for many displaced ‘Pygmy’ people, who are extremely
vulnerable with no land or representation and little sympathy or support.
Rates of pay are commonly lower for
‘Pygmies’ across the region.
Logging and parks
Much of the land traditionally lived
in by ‘Pygmy’ communities is rich in timber and minerals.
There is a race between the loggers
and the conservationists to lay claim to the remaining forests.
The rights and needs of the forest
peoples have been overlooked in the scramble for the central African forests.
Where ‘Pygmy’ communities have
access to the rich forest resources on which they have traditionally depended,
their levels of nutrition are good.
Elders report that they cannot teach
their children the traditional skills – collecting honey, hunting, herbal
medicine – because they cannot go into the forest.
The Batwa have been excluded from
the parks, but are mistreated and exploited by the farmers on the outside.
Farmers who had encroached the
forest with their farms received compensation when the conservation areas were
designated. Displaced Batwa did not.
One day, we were in the forest when
we saw people coming with machine guns and they told us to get out of the
forest. We were very scared so we started to run not knowing where to go and some
of us disappeared. They either died or went somewhere we didn’t know. As a
result of the eviction, everybody is now scattered.
Sembagare Francis
The tourism revenues from some of
the major National Parks in this area are substantial. Foreign visitors pay
hundreds of dollars for a day’s trek to see the gorillas in Bwindi.
This money goes to the Ugandan
government. It is the local forest peoples who have born the highest costs.
Evictions
Twa communities have been evicted
from parks across the region, including Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda),
Mgahinga (Uganda) and Kahuzi-Biega in DRC.
As forest-dwelling peoples, they
have suffered exceptionally from their lands being converted into conservation
areas from which they have been evicted.
Living in poverty ‘squatting’ on the
edges of the land that was once theirs, they have become dependent on begging
and labouring for others for meager wages.
In 1999 the Campo Ma’an National
Park was demarcated in ‘compensation’ for the environmental damage caused by
the Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline.
Not only did the Bagyeli
hunter-gatherers lose their land but they have also been barred from accessing
the area and forced to settle and take up farming – without consultation.
Regarding Cameroon’s Lake Lobeke and
Boumba-Bek Parks, the Global Environment Facility – a funder of the parks –
recently found that several Baka communities were displaced and 8000 people
suffered loss of income as they had previously gathered resources in the area.
Act now to help the 'Pygmies'
Write to the director of GINGO (Gihon Needy Comfort Organization) and ask for the
organization to stop funding the abuses committed by anti-poaching squads
against Baka men and women. Also join us to help them
