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In the word today, some groups of people are known for their distinguishable behavior patterns for which they subscribe and make themselves unique in their regional settlement. However, the influence of the invaders leads to change of the way of life of many indigenous societies in the world as well as resettlement from their initial places of residents. In the world, there are many indigenous groups although most of them are losing their uniqueness because of their interactions with others (United Nations, 2009). In order to understand indigenous culture and their change in culture through which they have undergone, the analysis of the pygmies of Central Africa helps to explore the topic. The exploration shows the culture of the pygmies before the Belgium colonialists entered Central Africa, the situation after their entry and the current situation of the pygmies’ culture.
Before they got any influence, pygmies lived in the Mbuti region in Central Africa and they held various ceremonies as part of their cultures (Seshadri, 2005). Among the ceremonies that happened include the Elima during which they celebrated the initiation of women, Molimo, which was done when a member of their society died and they also did other ceremonies during marriage, worship and participated in dances. They lived in bands that were nomadic in nature (Patin et al, 2009).
The arrival of Belgium colonialists distorted the social organization of when they captured some of the pygmies and exported them to European zoos and fairs. The social organization of the group has changed since there have been policies introduced by the colonialists and propagated by the current government has threatened the existence and cooperation of the group. In this way, they have marginalized the community to the point that they treat them brutality and have driven them out of their original settlement areas to localized villages (Seshadri, 2005).
References
Patin, E.; Laval, G.; Barreiro, L. B.; Salas, A.; Semino, O.; Santachiara-Benerecetti, S.; Kidd, K. K. & Kidd, J. R., (2009). Inferring the Demographic History of African Farmers and Pygmy Hunter–Gatherers Using a Multilocus Resequencing Data Set. In Di Rienzo, Anna. PLoS Genetics 5 (4). Retrieved from: <http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1000448>
Seshadri, R. J., (2005). Pygmies in the Congo Basin and Conflict. ICE Case Studies American University. Retrieved from: <http://www1.american.edu/ted/ice/pygmy.htm>
United Nations, (2009). State of the World's Indigenous Peoples. United Nations, Retrived from: <http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/SOWIP_web.pdf>
