Primary Modes of Subsistence - Coursework Example

Running Head: PRIMARY MODES OF SUBSISTENCE Primary Modes of Subsistence Name Institution Date Modes of subsistence Introduction Modes of subsistence are the various survival means that people of a certain cultures adopt as their source of living. From these modes, the people obtain food, housing, money and any other basic need. It is therefore the mode of living that enable people to acquire their cultural needs. However, culture and the primary modes of subsistence have an influence on each other. Some aspects of people’s culture may have an influence on the modes of subsistence that they take up. On the other hand, the mode of subsistence that people settle on may influence how people behave and also why they behave in that manner. This paper looks the culture of the Mbuti people of the Congo region in Africa. The Mbuti people of Congo survive with foraging as their mode of subsistence. It also looks at how foraging has influenced their way of life and hence their culture. Thesis statement The mode of subsistence may have an influence on the culture of people. It may determine how people acts and why they act the way they do. The Mbuti people The Mbuti are among the oldest indigenous people in Congo. They are pygmies made up of bands which are small in size ranging from between 15 and sixty people. The Mbuti are composed of four different cultures each of them speaking languages of their neighbouring Bantu tribes. The term Mbuti has also been used to refer to all the pygmy people in the Ituri region of the Ituri forest in Congo. The Ituri is a rain forest that receives high amounts of rainfall every year ranging between 50 to 70 inches. The Mbuti people live in villages that are categorized in those bands. They live in huts and each hut holds one family. The Mbuti people do not concentrate more on farming and when the dry season sets in, they move from the village into the forests where they set up camps. They are therefore able to make maximum use of their land for foraging. One of the sub-groups of the Mbuti is known as the Efe and they inhabit the area that is least developed in the Ituri forest. The Efe women, unlike other women in the Mbuti sub tribes do not participate in hunting. They only gather occasionally and this involves edible plants, fish and insects. Much of their time is spent while bargaining for trade exchange with the Balese community that lives in the village. Foraging among the Mbuti people Foraging, also known as hunting and gathering is the mode of subsistence that had been adopted by most populations in Africa since they emerged in Africa until they transited to horticulture, animal keeping and intensive farming. This transition led to several changes in human existence including issues such as diet and lifestyle. Foragers are therefore communities whose mode of existence is characterized by hunting and gathering. Hunting is done on wild animals, while gathering is on edible plants. These communities also involve fishing. A society that is described as hunter and gatherer society has primary subsistence methods involving direct acquisition of edible plants and animals from the bushes, and hunting and foraging without likely choice of domesticating either the plants or the animals (Lee & Daly, 1999). The Mbuti people are one soul with the Ituri forest. All along their history, these natives of Congo have totally relied on the gift of home from the Ituri rain forest where they take everything they need for their survival. Their social organization is similar to that of other hunters and gatherers except that they involve in communal net hunting where women play the role of driving the animals into the nets. Women are also involved in hunting and gathering same as men and this often results in public dispute. 49 percent of the Mbuti’s diet comes from meat. Most of the Mbutis practice net hunting and those who do not use nets practice archery (Curran & Wilkie, 2001). Net hunting was introduced to the Mbuti people around 400 years ago by horticulturalists who were Bantu speaking. Both men and women participate in net hunting and it is hundred percent successful compared to archery which is only 64 percent successful. Net hunting is however more costly in making and maintaining the nets. But most people prefer net hunting because of its returns. Women and children are only involved in net hunting. They do not participate in hunting that involves use of bow and arrow. In some cases, women do net hunting more than men. During net hunting, there is a leader who after the exercise is given all what has been killed so that he can share among the entire group (Turnbull, 1993). The Mbutis gather several types of foods but their most preferred is honey. When honey is in good season, it accounts for almost 80 percent of their energy intake. The community highly values honey but it is only available during some times of the year. The Mbutis have local knowledge when it comes to gathering. They prefer some foods over others due to aspects such as their taste and the poisonous nature. On top of gathering honey, they also collect mushrooms, some plant roots and other forms of vegetation. The Mbuti community trades with most of the items that they obtain through hunting and gathering. They exchange the meats, hides and skins from the animals and also some of the forest foods to get wooden goods, pots and iron goods. Bush meat is usually on high demand and it is also exchanged to get agricultural products from the farmers. Every person participates in foraging and on top of that, women take care of the children, they cook, do the cleaning and repairs in the hut and also obtains water. Women mostly climb the trees since it is easier for men to lift them up to the trees. They however believe in cooperation for the success of hunting especially the net hunting. Men cooperate in putting their nets together while women cooperate in forming a big circle that offers enough noise in driving the animals towards the net. The families of those men whose nets catch the animals share them with others who did not get (Walker & Barry, 2000). Impact of foraging on the culture of the Mbuti people a). Gender relations Foraging as a way of life influence gender relations since they lack an elaborate social system that may see women excluded from some public affairs. Most forage communities lack some principles that overt gender differences. Most foragers consider men and women as different in some ways and similar in others and do not attach gender value to any of them. Women in the Mbuti community participate in hunting while men also participate in gathering of mushrooms in the forest together with the women. Women also participate in discussions involving men but at times tension exists between men and women. One of the strategies that they use to ease the tension is by having a tug of war where men and boys go to one side and women and girls on the other side. If the males start winning the war, one man leaves his side and joins the women to mockingly encourage them with a false female voice. On the other hand, when women begin to win, one woman leaves their side to join the men encouraging them with a mocking male voice. The struggle continues with much fun and ridicule until the whole group drops in laughter. This is done to ridicule the aggression that was building, to reduce competitiveness and to end the conflict (Bonta, 1996). Gender relations are also dominated by egalitarianism among the forage communities. Equality between men and women is influenced by many factors such as the amount of time that is spent by men when they are away from their women for example when on long hunts. There are also social structures that offer a chance for the males to dominate for example the responsibility of the older men in deciding on marriages for the young ones. On the other hand, women have the control over accessibility of food since they have control over the amount of food to be taken, the type of food to be eaten and the time when it is eaten. Women are also free to exchange ideas with the men. Egalitarian is evident in the Mbuti society since there is division of labour where unlike in other communities, women also participate in hunting. Most of the fights between me and women are as a result of men complaining that women are not efficient in driving animals to the net while women also complain that men are over depending on them while they have other duties to do. Women also speak in public gathering and they own huts. The Mbutis therefore lack a social structure that may define gender roles. b). Beliefs and Values The Mbuti people have several beliefs and values all directed to the Ituri forest since it are the source of their life. The Mbuti community considers their forest as sacred and a place filled with peace of living. Most of the times they refer to the forest with reverence and adoration. They sing songs of praise to the forest as a sign of appreciation for the care and the good things they receive from the forest. In case bad things happen in their camps for example if they get invaded by the army ants, they believe that it is happening because their forest is sleeping. They therefore sing songs of awakening the sleeping forest. In trying to please the forest, they sing songs of praise, rejoicing and devotion. Unlike their neighbours who believe in evil spirits and practices such as sorcery and witchcraft, the Mbuti community does not believe in them. They believe that the world where they live is very kind to be associated with such evils (Turnbull, 2002). Much of the beliefs and values of the Mbuti people are influenced by their foraging way of life and they therefore focus on the forest which is their source of life. They perform a ritual referred to as “Molimo” which is motivated by their belief that the forest is their source of life and the source of all the good things they receive in life. It is a celebration that they hold for thanksgiving to the forest or after bad happenings for example death so that they can restore lives in the forest. It is characterized by blowing of trumpets, feasting, singing, and dancing. It is therefore due to their way of life they hold these beliefs and values that give high regard to the forest which is their basis for hunting and gathering. c). Social organization The Mbuti people have asocial organization that is similar to that of most hunters and gatherers. They believe in respecting each other and they teach their children this during the early lives. The children that belong to the same age group grow together and at the same level. The games that they play train them on being social and mutually supporting in problem solving. The adults hold evening campfires where they discuss and resolve conflicts. Each band has its rules that must be maintained and harmony must also be ensured. Their families and individual members are encouraged to visit other foragers so that they can socialize and find marriage partners. The Mbuti people also ensure that they maintain good relationships with the villagers. The Mbuti people experience various social problems. The main social problem that they face is disputes between the clans concerning women and children. The foragers in the tropical forests loose almost 14 percent of their women as they get married to other villagers. Since they are supposed to reciprocate this, disputes arise in families where there are uneven numbers of ladies. Men fight with each other over exchange of sisters. To reduce cases of conflicts, as they move their camps to new places, they ensure that they establish diplomatic settlement patterns so that there can be minimal cases of disputes. Serious conflicts may end up in divisions in the camp where each band hunts on its own. Other disputes are resolved during the honey hunting season since the bands are supposed to dissolve completely so that they can forage far apart from each other (Mosko, 2000). Conclusion The behavior of the Mbuti people and also their culture has changed as most of their activities are geared towards foraging. They therefore practice things that are related to foraging. Nevertheless, the Mbuti’s way of life is facing a threat due to deforestation that is seeing the Ituri forest destroyed and its resources getting depleted. When the forest is destroyed, most of the foods that are of great nutritional value and are preferred for their exchange system are no longer available for exploitation by the Mbutis. The Mbuti women therefore lose the bargaining power that they have while trading with other women in the village and limit their ability to pursue other option for subsistence. Depletion of the forests changes the system of balanced reciprocity that gives considerable influence to the Mbuti women. This might change their situation and both men and women may turn to be sources of cheap labour since they will loose access to the land that supports their way of life. References Turnbull, C. (1993). The Mbuti Pygmies: Change and Adaptation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. Mosko, M. (2000). The Symbols of "Forest": A Structural Analysis of Mbuti Culture and Social Organization. American Anthropologist 91(4): 896-913. Walker, P. & Barry S. (2000). Dental Health diet and Social Status among Central African Foragers and Farmers. American Anthropologist New Series. 95 (2): 383-398 Bonta, B. (1996). "Conflict Resolution among Peaceful Societies: The Culture of Peacefulness." Journal of Peace Research 33 (November): 403-420 Lee, R. & Daly, R. (1999). The Cambridge encyclopedia of hunters and gatherers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Turnbull, M. (2002). The Forest People. New York: Simon and Schuster. Curran, B. & Wilkie, D. (2001). Why Do Mbuti Hunters Use Nets? Ungulate Hunting Efficiency of Archers and Net-Hunters in the Ituri Rain Forest. American Anthropologist, New Series 96(3): 680-689. Read More