A pygmy is a representative of one of the nationalities living in the equatorial forests of Africa. This word is of Greek origin and means “a man the size of a fist.” This name is quite justified, given the average height of representatives of these tribes. Find out who the pygmies of Africa are and how they differ from others on the hottest continent.
Who are the pygmies?
These tribes live in Africa, near Ogowe and Ituri. In total, there are about 80 thousand pygmies, half of whom live along the banks of the Ituri River. The height of representatives of these tribes varies from 140 to 150 cm. Their skin color is somewhat atypical for Africans, because they are a little lighter, golden brown. The pygmies even have their own national clothes. Thus, men wear a fur or leather belt with a small apron made of wood in front and a small bunch of leaves at the back. Women are less fortunate; they often only have aprons.
At home
The buildings in which representatives of this people live are made of twigs and leaves, holding everything together with clay. Oddly enough, building and repairing huts here is the job of women. A man, having decided to build a new house, must go to the elder for permission. If the elder agrees, he hands his visitor a nyombikari - a bamboo stick with a peg at the end. It is with the help of this device that the boundaries of the future home will be outlined. The man does this; all other construction concerns fall on the woman’s shoulders.
Life style
A typical pygmy is a forest nomad who does not stay in one place for a long time. Representatives of these tribes live in one place for no more than a year, as long as there is game around their village. When there are no more unafraid animals, the nomads leave in search of a new home. There is another reason why people often move to a new place. Any pygmy is an extremely superstitious person. Therefore, the entire tribe, if one of its members dies, migrates, believing that the forest does not want anyone to live in this place. The deceased is buried in his hut, a wake is held, and the next morning the entire settlement goes deep into the forest to build a new village.
Production
Pygmies feed on what the forest gives them. Therefore, early in the morning, the women of the tribe go there to replenish supplies. Along the way, they collect everything edible, from berries to caterpillars, so that every pygmy fellow tribesman is well-fed. This is an established tradition, according to which the woman is the main breadwinner in the family.
Bottom line
The pygmies are accustomed to the traditions of their life, which have been established for centuries. Despite the fact that the state government is trying to teach them a more civilized life, cultivation of the land and a settled existence, they continue to remain far from this. The pygmies, photographed by many researchers studying their customs, refuse any innovations in their everyday life and continue to do what their ancestors did for many centuries.
- (Pygmaei, Πυγμαι̃οι). Mythical people of dwarfs, the size of πηγμή, τ. i.e. height no more than the distance from elbow to fist. According to Homer, they lived on the shores of the Ocean; Subsequently, the sources of the Nile, as well as India, began to be considered their location. Current... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology
PYGMIES- a group of peoples belonging to the Negrill race, the indigenous population of tropical Africa. They speak the languages Bantu (Twa, 185 thousand people, 1992; Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire), Adamaua of the eastern group (Aka, Binga, etc., 35 thousand people; Congo, Central African Republic) and Shari... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Pygmies- (foreign language) people are morally insignificant. Wed. For the crowd he is great, for the crowd he is a prophet; For himself he is nothing, for himself he is a pygmy!... Nadson. “Look, there he is!” Cf. In the midst of his wanderings, he loved his poor Fatherland. She is surrounded by blizzards, She is surrounded by pygmies... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)
PYGMIES Modern encyclopedia
Pygmies- From ancient Greek: Pigmaios. Literally: The size of a fist. In ancient Greek mythology, pygmies were the name given to a fairy-tale people of dwarfs who were so small that they often became victims of cranes, like frogs. Therefore, the dwarfs had to... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions
PYGMIES- a people of dwarfs who, according to the legendary tales of the Greeks, lived on the shores of the ocean (Homer) and on the sources of the Nile (late writers), where they waged a constant struggle with cranes. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907. Pygmies ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Pygmies- (Pugmaioi), own. people the size of a fist in Greek mythology, a fabulous people of dwarfs living in Libya. The Iliad (III, 6) tells about their battles with the cranes (cf. L. v. Sybel, Mythologie der Ilias, 1877, and L. F. Voevodsky, Introduction to Mythology ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Pygmies- PYGMIES, a group of peoples: Twa, Binga, Bibaia, Gielli, Efe, Kango, Aka, Mbuti with a total number of 350 thousand people belonging to the Negrill race, the indigenous population of Tropical Africa. The name comes from the Greek pygmaios (literally the size of... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
pygmies- a group of peoples in Central Africa. Total number 390 thousand people (1995). They speak Bantu languages. Many pygmies retain a wandering lifestyle, archaic culture, and traditional beliefs. * * * PYGMIES PYGMIES, a group of peoples belonging to ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
PYGMIES- (from the Greek “fist” or “distance” from the fist to the elbow) in Greek mythology, a tribe of dwarfs, symbolizing the barbaric world. The name is associated with the small stature of the pygmies and symbolizes a distorted perception of the true ethnic group. The Greeks determined... ... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia
Books
- Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic achievements of the Leader, the current owners of the Kremlin look like mere dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy the political ones... Buy for 210 rubles
- Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, or Russia, which must be found, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic achievements of the Leader, the current owners of the Kremlin look like mere dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy political...
Baka pygmies inhabit rainforests in southeastern Cameroon, northern Republic of Congo, northern Gabon and southwestern Central African Republic. In February 2016, photographer and journalist Susan Shulman spent several days among the Baka pygmies, reporting on their lives.
Tropical rain forests are their natural habitat. Their main occupations are hunting and gathering; in this harmonious unity with nature they live for centuries, and their world is determined by the presence of forests. Pygmy tribes are scattered across Africa over an area of 178 million hectares.
Pygmies are distinguished from representatives of other African tribes by their miniature size - their height rarely exceeds 140 cm. In the photo above, members of the tribe are conducting a traditional hunting ceremony.
Susan Shulman became interested in the life of the Baka pygmies after hearing about Louis Sarno, an American scientist who has been living among the Baka pygmies in Central Africa, in the rain forest between Cameroon and the Republic of Congo, for 30 years.
Louis Sarno is married to a woman from the tribe, and all these years he has been studying, helping and treating the Baka pygmies. According to him, half of the children do not live to be five years old, and if he left the tribe for at least a year, he would be afraid to return, because he would not find many of his friends alive. Louis Sarno is now in his early sixties, and the average life expectancy of Baka pygmies is forty years.
Louis Sarno not only provides medical supplies, but also does other things: he acts as a teacher for children, a lawyer, a translator, an archivist, a writer and a chronicler for a community of 600 Baka pygmies in the village of Yandoubi.
Louis Sarno came to live with the Pygmies in the mid-80s after he heard their music on the radio one day and decided to go and record as much of their music as possible. And he doesn’t regret it one bit. He has the opportunity to regularly visit America and Europe, but always returns to Africa. You could say that a song led him to the heart of Africa.
Baka Pygmy music is yodeling-like multi-sound chanting set to the natural sounds of the rainforest. Imagine the polyphony of 40 female voices and a drum beat tapped by four men on plastic barrels.
Louis Sarno claims he's never heard anything like it before, and it's divine.
Their hypnotic music usually acts as a prelude to a hunt, as the tribe sings to summon the forest spirit called Bobi and ask him for permission to hunt in his forest.
Dressed in a suit of leaves, the "spirit of the forest" grants permission to the tribe and blesses those who will take part in tomorrow's hunt. In the photo above, a pygmy is about to go hunting with a net.
The tribe's diet is based on the meat of monkeys and blue duiker, a small forest antelope, but recently these animals are becoming less and less numerous in the forest. This is due to poaching and logging.
“Poachers hunt at night, they scare the animals with torches and calmly shoot them while they stand paralyzed with fear. The nets and arrows of the Baka pygmies cannot compete with the firearms of the poachers.
Deforestation and poachers seriously devastate the forest and greatly harm the way of life of the Baka pygmies. Many of these poachers are members of the neighboring Bantu ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the population in the region,” says Susan Shulman.
As the rainforests in which the Baka live are gradually depleted, the future of their forest home is in doubt as it is unclear where this will all lead.
Historically, the Bantu tribe considered the Baka pygmies to be “subhuman” and discriminated against them. Currently, relations between them have improved, but some echoes of the past still make themselves felt.
As the traditional life of the Baka pygmies becomes more difficult and problematic day by day, the younger generation has to look for work in the Bantu-dominated cities.
“Young people are now at the forefront of change. There are very few opportunities for them to earn money. As the forest's resources for hunting are depleted, we have to look for other opportunities - and this is usually only temporary work for the Bantu, who offer, say, $1 for five days of hunting - and even then they often forget to pay,” says Susan.
The first mentions of pygmies were made in ancient Egyptian records dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. Later, ancient Greek historians wrote about pygmies Herodotus, Strabo, Homer. The real existence of these African tribes was confirmed only in the 19th century by a German traveler Georg Schweinfurt, Russian explorer Vasily Junker and others.
The height of adult male pygmies is from 144-150 cm in height. Women - about 120 cm. They have short limbs and light brown skin, which serves as excellent camouflage in the forest. The hair is dark, curly, the lips are thin.
Occupation
Pygmies live in forests. For them, the forest is the highest deity - the source of everything necessary for survival. The traditional occupation for most pygmies is hunting and gathering. They hunt birds, elephants, antelopes and monkeys. For hunting they use short bows and poisoned arrows. In addition to various meats, pygmies are very fond of honey from wild bees. In order to get to their favorite treat, they have to climb 45-meter trees, after which they use ash and smoke to disperse the bees. Women collect nuts, berries, mushrooms and roots.
Pygmies live in small groups of at least 50 members. Each group has a special area for building huts. Marriages between members of different tribes are quite common here. Also, absolutely any member of the tribe, whenever he wishes, can freely leave and join another tribe. There are no formal leaders in the tribe. Issues and problems that arise are resolved through open negotiations.
Weapon
Weapons are a spear, a small bow, and arrows (often poisoned). Pygmies trade iron for arrowheads from neighboring tribes. Various traps and snares are widely used.
Pygmies are the most famous dwarf tribes living in the forests of tropical Africa. The main areas of concentration of pygmies today: Zaire (165 thousand people), Rwanda (65 thousand people), Burundi (50 thousand people), Congo (30 thousand people), Cameroon (20 thousand people) and Gabon (5 thousand people).
Mbutis- a tribe of pygmies living in the Ituri forest in Zaire. Most scientists believe that they were most likely the first inhabitants of this region.
Twa (Batwa)- a tribe of pygmies in equatorial Africa. They live both in the mountains and on the plains near Lake Kivu in Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda. They maintain close ties with neighboring pastoral tribes and know how to make pottery.
Tswa (batswa)- This large tribe lives near a swamp south of the Congo River. They, like the Twa tribe, live in cooperation with neighboring tribes, adopting their culture and language. Most Tswa are engaged in hunting or fishing.
According to dictionaries, pygmies are a very small group of peoples in Central Africa, whose total number is about 390 thousand people. They speak Bantu languages. Most tribes maintain a nomadic lifestyle and adhere to traditional beliefs. Their culture is very archaic.
Pygmies photo (clickable)
The name of this people comes from the Greek word pygmaios - “the size of a fist.” So, Homer in his immortal “Iliad” called the dwarfs who fought with the cranes. The little dancers who entertained the pharaohs of Egypt were also called the same name. The European colonialists who came to Africa, encountering this short tribe of Africans, whose average height is about 150 cm, considered them descendants of the ancient ones and borrowed the name.
Where do pygmies live? Pygmies live in difficult to navigate places and are extremely reluctant to come into contact with strangers. At the end of the “harvest” in one area and the end of the hunting season, they move to a new place.
The main male occupation of this people is hunting, and in all its varieties. Pygmies of Africa have perfectly comprehended all the secrets of the forest and the habits of the animals that are in the area where they currently live. Hunters set snares and traps, use arrows and bows; if large game is hunted down, the “weak” half of the tribe also takes part.
Children, upon reaching the age of ten, build themselves a separate home and begin to live independently from their parents. The tribe is led by elders. They do not commit theft, they treat liars and unfaithful spouses with contempt, and all problematic issues are resolved in a general council.
Pygmies: photos of women (clickable)
Misdemeanors that entail punishments including the prohibition of joint hunting and even expulsion are considered unfair division or concealment of food, spoiling water, damaging trees and hunting animals unnecessarily.
Women always carry a specially made bag with them. It contains everything that can serve as food: plants, roots and stems of edible herbs, seeds, fruits and berries, insects, nuts, caterpillars - everything goes into use.
Some members of the Pygmy tribe are engaged in fishing. They use flexible tree branches with a hook-shaped wire attached to the end as fishing rods.
African pygmies exchange their prey and “gifts of nature” for agricultural products and other things. They are mainly attracted to metal products - knives, arrow and spear tips, axes and wire, which they use to make primitive tools or decorate weapons with.
Attempts to consolidate this people in certain areas of the land have failed - modern pygmies, like their ancestors, continue to lead a nomadic lifestyle, although in the Democratic Republic of the Congo they are trying to provide them with primary education and provide medical care.
A short video: pygmies hunting and fishing
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