The Mbuti Tribe Is One of the Oldest Tribes in the Region - Research Paper Example

?Introduction Mbuti, an indigenous pygmy tribe lives in the Ituri forest, at the heart of Congo. The region is located at the northeastern part of the Republic of Zaire. The Mbuti tribe is one of the oldest tribe in the region. The lives of the tribesmen have been closely associated with the forest and acknowledgement to the forest can be found in their culture and celebrations. The primary mode of subsistence of the tribe is foraging. However the method of foraging differs among Archers and Net hunters based on their method of hunting. The archers are located mainly in the northeastern areas of the Ituri forest. The net hunters on the other hand are predominantly based in the south western part of the Ituri forest. The Mbuti tribe is dependent on the forest for all the aspects of their life including getting their food, clothes, materials for hunting, item of play, musical instrument etc. In the recent times the tribesmen have come in contact with the agricultural people living the peripheries of the forest. However hunting remains their primary source of subsistence. Even in their trade with the agricultural people they exchange the meat they get from the forest in exchange for farm products (Tanno, n.d. pp. 1-51). The forest and hunting activities influenced the culture, social structures, gender relations and the beliefs and values of the Mbuti tribe associated with the Molimo ritual of the tribe. Social Organization The difference in the strategy for procuring the subsistence has attracted the interest of the anthropologist and ethnographers. Along with the difference in the hunting technique some difference in the social structure has also been observed with reference to the number of members in the community. The inhabitants of the southwestern region, the net hunters live in a comparatively large camp consisting to seven to thirty families together. There method of hunting and distribution of the hunt are also of communal type. The women beat the under bush to drive the animals to the net which are looked after by the men. According to famous pygmy researcher Turnbull, this method of hunting requires a number of families to cooperate with each other in order to procure their subsistence. On the contrast the archers live in small groups of three to five. Individual members hunt with the help of arches and bows. The different operations of arching are tracking and ambushing which requires less number of men than net hunting. Several reasons have been cited for this difference in hunting pattern and consequent social structure based on region. According to Turnbull, this has occurred due to the historical distribution of the forest. The southwestern parts of the countries have been subjected to encroachment for agriculture, mining, plantations, tourist centers etc. As a result the inhabitable land and the land for hunting and gathering have been reduced. On the other hand the population of the tribe has increased over the years. As a result the tribe was forced to increase their utilization of the reduced amount of available land. Moreover due to the Law of Diminishing Return the tribesmen had to undertake more work individually in order to maintain similar level of consumption. Another interesting feature that has been pointed out by the scholars is that the pygmy tribe has a low exposure to the technological advancement. Therefore they are unable to increase the utilization of the plot of land with the help of technology. To compensate for that, the tribesmen are required to increase the coordination and cooperation among themselves to maintain similar level of consumption. (Abruzzi, 1979) Renowned anthropologist, Harako suggests another alternative theory. According to him the original mode of hunting of the Mbuti tribe was archery. But some time in history a part of the tribe came in touch with the Bantu speaking tribes. In course of their interaction and exchange the Mbuti tribe learnt to use the net as a tool for hunting. This theory gives an explanation for the division of hunting methods between the two regions. The highly efficient method of hunting became popular among the tribe and it can be considered a kind of advanced technology that the people adopted to achieve better utilization of the land. The adoption of the net for hunting also led to a better cooperation among the people both in terms of different families cooperating with each other for the sake of subsistence as well as the participation of the women and children in the different activities of food production. A study into how the more complex communities have evolved has shown similar patterns. Even in other cultures it has been seen that social cooperation has increased between the members or families of the community in order to guarantee a minimum level of production which is insured against the various interior and exterior adverse circumstances. The pressure on the tribe has pushed them to adopt a technology that gives them more efficiency in food production and form a society through mutual coordination and inclusion of all types of labor (Abruzzi, 1979, pp. 183-186). Gender Relations The primary source of food procurement for the Mbuti tribe is hunting – net hunting or arching. In the two types of hunting there is also a difference in the participation of the women. The arching practices involve less number of labors not only in terms of the lower number of families participating but also the lack of women in hunting. On the other hand the net hunters include not only the men but also the women and the children. According to Murdock, the division of labor in terms of sex is the earliest form of specialization of labor. (Murdock, & Provost, 1973, p.164) Therefore, net hunting which is a more tiring process of hunting needs the help of women to ensure the additional amount of labor. Apart from that it can also be inferred that due to the problems in coordinating and conducting large scale net hunting, regular net hunting missions must be conducted. As a result participation from all the members of the society is required. Therefore we can conclude that the low level of technology has eliminated the problem of disguised unemployment in the society, facilitating the participation of the women among the net hunters. Due to active role in the primary subsistence the women have an equal position in the society. Turnbull has stressed on this equality between the men and women in his book. According to him the idea of gender is considered only after the child reaches the reproductive age and it ceases to exist when an adult passes out of the reproductive age. Culturally there is little distinction between the two sexes which is exhibited by the fact that the parents are referred as ‘elders’. There is no direct gender connotation in the reference. Therefore we can conclude that the idea of gender in the community is strongly associated with the reproduction and at an asexual age there is no distinction. Apart from that motherhood and womanhood are revered in the society. The forest is considered an image of mother, a kind provider of their sustenance. This shows the respect and the acknowledgement among the tribe for the forest. Even the men of the society are considered as mothers who provide the community with food. The women share an equal participation in the economic activities at all times of their life including child birth. There are frequent examples of women giving birth during a hunting mission. On an ethnological context we find the position of the women in the Mbuti tribe similar with the Agta tribe of the Philippines where the women hunt alongside the men. There are also similarities in the perception of child birth where the Agta females carry the infants on hunting expeditions. Both these examples are contrary to the anthropological beliefs were the men are primarily considered as the hunters while the women carry out their role of child birth. The men are considered more suitable for hunting due to their speed, strength and agility. On the other hand the women are considered unsuitable for hunting due to their problems like pregnancy other biological shortcomings. But in both the Mbuti and the Agta society this was not found. (Bailey, & Peoples, 2010, p. 164) Beliefs and Values One of the most famous rituals of the Mbuti tribe is the Molimo. There are different versions and explanations for explaining the rituals. Different rituals are observed for the men and the women. The men ritual can happen any time of the year particularly after the community has been affected by a death or a misfortune or even good fortune. As a part of the ritual the men sit around a fire located at the centre of the camp and play flute. According to the legend, a mishap occurs when the forest, a mother figure for the tribe has fallen asleep. Therefore the flutes are played to wake her up and to communicate with the forest. During this time the women and the children are left behind in the dwelling while the men dance and sing around the fire. According to the account of the women ritual given by Moore, the ritual centered on childless women. The ritual was conducted by a very old woman of the community. In this ritual also the women danced and sang through the night around the fire. The symbols of the rituals are flute, fire and the hearth. The flute symbolizes the effort of the people to communicate with the forest and protect them for adverse situations. The fire signifies the spirit of the forest. The ritual demonstrates the association of the tribe to the forest and fire, two important things of their life. According to Moore the rituals are done protect the community and foster community ties. The song and dance of the men for a month is and the fire is meant scare away the animals of the forest from the camps of the Mbuti. The ritual also helps in bringing the community closer and promotes happiness and good feelings among the members. The song and dance will also help to keep the man happy before the next day’s hunts and promote cooperation among the hunters. The female ritual on the other hand was a ritual for fertility. The forest is revered by the tribe and even the fertility ritual involves asking from the forest demonstrated by the Molimo song sung at the ritual (Moore, 1998, pp. 141-143). Conclusion The hunter gatherer community of the Mbuti has a reverence for the forest as demonstrated in their rituals and reference to the forest as mother. This exhibits there acknowledgement and ecological concern for the forest, a source of their primary subsistence. Moreover their social structure exhibits a giving without any expectation culture. According to anthropologist this culture has developed as a consequence of their insecurity in obtaining their food on a daily basis. As a culture this would let them obtain food more easily from other communities in the absence of sufficient hunt. Therefore this helps them to reduce the risk of going without food when there is a lack of availability of animals. We have also seen how the primary mode of subsistence has developed the social cooperation. Net hunting has more operations. As a result the inclusion of various members of the society is high and they also form bigger camps. This has also had a direct bearing on the position of the women. There is no distinction between the two sexes based on their functional activity. The only distinction is made based on the reproductive function of the sexes. Therefore only in the reproductive ages the concept of gender comes into play in the community. The rituals show a deep belief of the Mbuti tribe on the forest. The role of forest as a source of their primary subsistence has spread into other spheres of their activity including child birth. In this way see that in a foraging society how the source of primary subsistence has developed the rituals and beliefs and helped in developing a cooperated and inclusive participation of labor. References 1. Abruzzi, W.S. (1979). Population Pressure and Subsistence Strategies Among the Mbuti Pygmies, Human Ecology, 7( 2), 183-189, available at: http://www.drabruzzi.com/ABRUZZI_Population%20Pressure%20and%20Subsistence%20Strategies%20among%20the%20Mbuti%20Pygmies.pdf (accessed on June 15, 2011) 2. Bailey G. & J. Peoples (2010), Essentials of Cultural Anthropology, US: Cengage Learning. 3. Moore, A. (1998), Cultural Anthropology: The Field Study of Human Beings, US: Rowman & Littlefield. 4. Murdock, G. P. & C. Provost (1973), Factors in the Division of Labor by Sex: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Ethnology, 12(2), 203, Retrieved on June 14, 2011, from: http://www.jstor.org/pss/3773347 5. TANNO, T. (n.d.), Plant Utilization of the MBUTI Pygmies – With Special Reference to their Material Culture and Use of Wild Vegetable Foods, African Study Monographs 1, pp. 1–53, Retrieved on June 14, 2011, from: https://jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kiroku/asm_normal/abstracts/pdf/ASM%20%20Vol.1%201981/Tadashi%20TANNO.pdf Read More