The Forest People - Essay Example

The Forest People: Ethnography by Dr. Turnbull The Forest People Characterization the BaMbuti people, their society, their worldview,and their perception of the forest in which they live. BaMbuti people can be characterized as a group of people who dependent on hunting strategies for survival. This can be endorsed to the fact that they lived in a thick forest that was highly infested by animals (nyama). The can also be described as people who had knowledge of the environment, this was very important to the people as they anticipated the accessibility of food sources as well as avoid danger as they lived in the forest. The society of BaMbuti moves in groups inside the forest without fear, this society does not also believe in evil, “For them there is little hardship, so they have no need for belief in evil spirits.” (p15). This society viewed their world as a place with no evil as they got everything the forest without necessary clearing any forested area to cultivate and plant food. Everything was in the forest that they required. Anybody who didn’t understand the forest views it as hostile and dangerous, contrary to this BaMbuti had a different perception of the forest. Those who lived outside the village perceived the forest as fearful and evil. BaMbuti never viewed the forest as evil either did they possess any fear of living in the forest. The forest was their home, “for them it is a good world” (pg15). Forest was their cosmos and in return it supplied them with all their needs. They mastered the art of living in the forest that no outsider could comprehend how they did it while the outsiders viewed the forest as an impossible place to live in. The division of labor in BaMbuti society (the roles that society assigned to men and women). Men and women had different roles to play in the society, and this phenomenon can be described as a division of labor. A normal day in the “pygmy village was alive with women bundling up their household possessions in the baskets they would carry on their backs. The men were busy checking their hunting nets, examining their arrow shafts and testing their bows, or sharpening the blades of their spear”. (pg53). Hunting was affair of men and for this reason they were obliged to train the young boys to hunt. Moneys and birds were hunted by men using bows and arrows. The women could travel collecting mushrooms and roots for the evening meals, this illustration indicates that the women were solely responsible for evening meals. The women were also obliged to cook for their husbands, “… watching his third and youngest wife, Kamaika, cooking his breakfast.” (pg54). Thatching of huts was a role that was conferred to women “Ageronga’s wife prepares a bundle of mongongo leaves for thatching her hut.” It was also the obligation of women to pound rice, despite the fact that the task is a little physic. It was also the responsibility of men to gather every night and sing the songs of the molimo. Water collection was a role of women that was undertaken every day when the camp was light. Men didn’t do any little chores; it was left for their young daughters. Preparation of nets was done by men, they made sure that the nets were uncoiled and stretched long. Different ethnographic field methods Dr. Turnbull used in studying the Bambuti. There are various ethnographic field methods that Dr. Turnbull used to study the people of BaMbuti people. Use of these methods require one to put himself in a strange position such as learning the culture, language and fit in a foreign land. It is very prudent to make sure that you don’t become judgmental while living among the community that you are contemplating to study. The three ethnographic field methods that Dr. Turnbull used are interviews, participant observation and surveys. He used interviews to learn the forest people regarding how they think, what they believe in and the issues that affect their life. He effected the use of interview while he lived in the forest with the BaMbuti people by asking various questions regarding the reason as to why it had happened. As in illustrated in the book where he interviewed regarding molimo. Survey was also used as his ethnographic field method to get the opinions of the people, like the time he got the opinion that death of a child is not a big crisis. Participant observation was the main ethnographic field method that he used to study the community of BaMbuti or as he referred to them as the forest people. He participated in all aspects of their day to day livelihood. Ha acted as one of them, ate with them and sometimes went hunting with them. He maintained a relationship with the community that enabled them to trust him. The experience he had while he was in the forest was what enabled him to elaborate the social, economic, religious and cultural dimensions of the BaMbuti people. The different roles that the molimo plays for the BaMbuti. Molimo was “the name given by the BaMbuti to the ritual performed at times of great crisis, and consisting primarily of songs sung nightly by the men. It is also the name given to the musical instrument, a long trumpet, usually of wood, which plays an important part in the ritual” (pp286). It was played especially in times of bad hunt and death. If the crisis was not severe the molimo didn’t have any zeal, “…this molimo was empty, meaningless, a farce.” (pg47). One of the occasion when the molimo was played is during death, though it was still played when a child died it wasn’t enthusiastic as when an elder died. When Balekimito, one of the female elders of the tribe, died the BaMbuti said it was a crisis and they had held a special molimo feast. The molimo was also played when it was thought that the God of the forest had been invoked. The BaMbuti love the forest so much, it is after all there provider and protector. For this reason, the molimo was played to appease the forest. Molimo was a imperative aspect in the lives of the BaMbuti as it connected these people with the forest, they believed that it made the forest happy. They believed the forest also sang back to them when sound was heard as a result of swaying of trees. Molimo was considered very sacred and it could be played during major ritual rites. A fire lit in the middle of the camp when the molimo was been played was considered as the “fire of life.” The interaction between the BaMbuti and the village people and the perception and the reality of their interaction. The BaMbuti referred to themselves as the forest people while they described those that did not live in the forest as ‘village people’ or farmers. The perception that outsiders had regarding the BaMbuti was very negative, which as a result of the BaMbuti loving the forest. Neighbors of the children of the forest or the forest people viewed this group as persons who had negative relationship with the forest. They also considered the village people as outsiders and they did not want them to learn their ways. As illustrated in the book they could not play molimo while they were not in the forest. The villagers were viewed as inferior since they were not “of the forest.” They called the villagers names such as “animals” while referring to the villagers. “A pygmy thinks nothing of stealing from Negroes; they are, after all, only animals…” (pg121). They only interacted with the villagers if they wished to accomplish certain needs such as trading game or ritual related needs. The pygmies also found the Negroes to be authoritative, this is because the Negroes wanted them to follow their ways. It was also contrasting that the pygmy didn’t believe in evil while the villagers believed in evil. Though the BaMbuti people interacted with the villagers or the Negroes, they had a sore relationship as they viewed them as outsiders. The reality of the interaction of the BaMbuti was because they had to some trading game with the villagers. Ways in which the BaMbuti maintain law and order. Law and order were maintained in a simple and effective manner, it did not matter the intensity of the crime. This can be illustrated by referring to the case of Cephu who had committed a crime that they considered by heinous. The case was settled without any evidence nor any legal system being brought into force. It can’t be said that he went unpunished since nobody was talking to him for very long hours. As a way of punishment he was denied a chair by a mere youth who was not even a good hunter, he was laughed at by women and children, men ignored him. All this form of embarrassment would make sure that Cephu wouldn’t repeat that crime again. There were no chiefs, no formal councils, but two or more prominent women for practical reasons were present in each group. Law and order was maintained as a co-operative affair since no one would like to take the sole responsibility of punishing or passing judgment. “Other offenses were considered so terrible that they would of themselves bring some form of supernatural retribution.” (pg 111). Others crimes became the affair of the molimo that, which in its morning rages showed public condemnation by confronting the hut of the perpetrator. Thrashing the offenders were a form of punishments that were administered to a crime like theft. Banishing one from the village was an option for the persons who committed crimes like incest, this was the case with Kalemoke who was “…has been driven to the forest” (pg. 113). References Turnbull, Collin M. (1962). The forest people. New York:Simon &Schuster. 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