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The Pygmies Of Africa
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The word pygmy is generic term for
anything small. In anthropology, it refers to a member of any
human group whose adult males grow to less than 59 inches or
five feet in height. When the word “pygmy” is spelled with a
capital “p”, it usually refers to the African Pygmies.
Features
Most pygmies are four to four feet eight inches tall. They have
short limbs. The skin is reddish brown in color and it serves
as a camouflage in the forest. The head is usually round and
broad, with curly hair. They have flat noses.
Lifestyle
Most Pygmies are traditional hunters and gatherers. They hunt
antelopes, birds, elephants and monkeys. They use small bows and
poisoned arrows for hunting. The women gather berries,
mushrooms, nuts and roots. |
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Pygmies live in small bands. Each band has
less than fifty members. There is a territory for each band, where
the members put up huts. They shift territories when the food supply
threatens to run low. Inter-band marriages are a regular practice.
Also, a member of a band is free to leave one and join another
whenever he desires. There are no formal leaders heading a band.
Problems are solved through open discussions.
For the Pygmies, the forest is the equivalent of God. It is the
giver of life. They work towards preserving the forests. They
perform ceremonies to maintain friendly relations with the natural
and supernatural world.
Business is a simple affair for the Pygmies. They trade meat for
knives, metal tools, rice, corn and bananas. Pygmies speak the Bantu
language. |
African Pygmies |
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The different pygmy tribes
The Pygmies of tropical Africa are the best-known pygmy tribes and
they live in thick tropical rainforests. Some scholars have
maintained that they used to be distributed throughout Central
Africa. Today they are centered in the regions of Congo, Gabon,
Rwanda, Zaire, Burundi and Cameroon. Elsewhere in Africa, some of
the San (Bushmen) of the Kalahari are of pygmy size.
The Mbutis are the Pygmy groups of the Ituri Forest in Zaire. Many
researchers believe that they were probably the earliest inhabitants
of the region. A notable feature of this group is that although
pygmy tradition is declining, these people have remained relatively
unchanged in spite of having adapted the language and culture of
other tribes.
Another acculturated group of pygmoids (taller versions of Pygmies),
found North of the Congo, is the Babinga. Like the Pygmies of the
Ituri Forest, they have retained more of the traits of the pure
Pygmies. They are mainly hunters and gatherers. There are other
scattered groups of pygmies living in Cameroon and Gabon, who are
even closer, physically, to the true Pygmy.
The Twa or Batwa is a well-known Pygmy group found in equatorial
Africa. They may be found in the high mountains and plains around
Lake Kivu, in Zaire, Rwanda, and Burundi. They live in symbiosis
with the pastoral tribes. They are skilled in pottery. Many of them
are hunters. Some of them are musicians.
The Tswa or the Batswa is a large group found living near the
marshes south of the Congo River. Like the Twas, they live in
symbiosis with neighboring tribes, having adopted their language
and culture. Most of them are anglers or hunters. |
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