A hunter-gatherer society is defined as a society in which most of its food is acquired from wild plants and animals. This is different to agricultural societies that rely on domesticated animals and home grown vegetables. Hunting and gathering traces its roots to the earliest humans, that is the Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Collin Turnbull’s “The Forest People” studies the last group of Central Africa pygmies. The pygmies are one of the few remnants of the hunting and gathering cultures in existence today (Turnbull 11). Evidence points out that the pygmies are descendants of the original human inhabitants of the rainforest. Turnbull notes the special characteristics of this group, which are expounded explicitly in this paper.
The pygmies have a characteristic of small groups whose optimal size depends on their hunting tact. Turnbull specifically dissects the Mbuti and the Ki pygmies who live in a series of camps of makeshift shelters. The group is semi-nomadic and shifts location of their camps depending on annual cycle of social and nutritional needs. The size of these groups is determined by the proximity to terrain viable for hunting and gathering. The Mbuti live in the Ituri forest, which according to Turnbull (82) is a good hunting and gathering environment for them. The Mbuti tend to be relatively mobile as their existence is pegged on the natural environment to provide resources essential for their sustenance. They move to seek environs with plentiful game and vegetation.
The Mbuti have great possession of detailed environmental knowledge. Although the Ituri forest seems impenetrable to outsiders, the Mbuti have valuable knowledge of the paths, valleys and rivers (Turnbull 26). The Mbuti also have invaluable knowledge on herbs and concoctions that can be used in treating ailments. They can also discern edible foods from poisonous ones, for example edible mushrooms from the good ones.
Defined roles in the Mbuti society is another observable character in many hunting and gathering societies. The men occupy the traditional role of hunting while women act as the homemakers and gatherers (Turnbull 91). There is flexibility of roles where at times, the Mbuti women hunt small animals while the men gather food during their hunting escapades. The hunting of big animals requires much skill and is a preserve for men. Women on the other hand fulfill the central role of nurturing the young ones. They replicate much of their roles to their children: boys learn their hunting from their fathers, while girls home keeping from their mothers. This helps in perpetuating and sustenance of their indigenous culture.
Characteristic of hunters and gatherers, the Mbuti have a ritualistic life. The Mbuti’s rich culture incorporates rituals that are carried out during different events. The Molimo is a major ritual, which is inspired by the Mbuti belief in the forest as their sole reason for their existence. During the Molimo ritual, the Mbuti sang to the forest as Collin Turnbull cites. They sang praises to the forest to proclaim their love for it in real sense making it their deity (Turnbull 79). They also had Elima, a ritual that celebrated females coming to age. Elima signaled a young girl’s transition to womanhood through menstruation. The menstrual blood signaled life to this tribe. It showed a girl was viable to conceive. The girls in transition to womanhood were secluded into the Elima house where a respected mother figure would give them advice and guidance on how to approach womanhood (Turnball 168). During the Elima, interested pygmy suitors came to sing special Elima songs. This was part of celebrating the ritual.
In Turnbull’s book “The Forest People,” generalized and balanced reciprocity has been illustrated in depth. Generalized reciprocity is the exchange of goods and services without necessarily keeping track of their precise worth. This is done with expectation that their value will equate over time. Balanced reciprocity is explained as a fair exchange of goods and services. This is done with the hope that the trading parties get the true or actual worth of goods and services exchanged. However, it is important for us to note that during some cases, the Mbuti stole from villager’s plantations rather than them farming or engaging in barter trade. The Mbuti looked upon their Bantu village neighbors as inferior as justifying their heinous acts. The general reciprocity is also observed in adaptation of some of the village cultures in the Mbuti way of life. They incorporate some elaborate political structures borrowed from their neighbors. The villagers on the other hand use the Mbuti as spiritual intermediaries in the Ituri forest. This enhances the social spirit unity that the villagers cannot achieve due to their hierarchy system and agriculturally centered lives.
Lastly, the balanced reciprocity according to Collin Turnbull is observed in the barter trade that existed between the Mbuti and Bantu villagers. The Mbuti provided villagers with food viewed as prestigious such as honey and game meat in exchange for starch foods (Turnbull 173). At times, the Mbuti provided farming services and fishing to the villagers in exchange for foodstuffs. The villagers also acquired thatching materials, firewood, edible mushrooms and medicinal plants from the Mbuti. This was due to their proximity to the Ituri forest that was easily accessible to them.
Works Cited
Turnbull, Colin. The forest people. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1968. Print.
