Batwa-Bambuti PygmiesAll you need to know about Bambuti people of Africa,Batwa tribe Uganda.Culture and background of the batwa pygmiesBatwa-Bambuti tribe in Uganda is the least among the many tribes in Uganda.These people were living in the forest until recently. Details about the them in Uganda are found on this page.
The Batwa-Bambuti are often referred to as pygmies and they are believed to have been the original inhabitants of the Rwenzori Mountain areas before the arrival of the Bantu. Their original home is said to have been the Congo forest. Their language is called Kumbuti. It is said to be very complex and difficult to learn. They belong to forest people of small stature who are also called Pygmies (this also refers to people of low average height, perj. dwarfism) and who live in the rain forests surrounding the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda. Even more tribes live in the Ituri Rain Forest in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; there they are called Mbuti. In comparision to other Bantu tribes (Black Africans), their complexion is much fairer. Further relatives are the tribes living in the farther western rain forests in the Congo as well the San peoples (bushmen, Hottentots) in South Africa or the Ndorobo inKenya. These tropical rain forests are source as well as livelihood; these peoples do depend on the forests and feel a strong spiritual relation with these forests. Batwa-Bambuti way of living is defined by their living in accordance and in harmony with nature. They live together in little groups (bands) in huts, which are similarly constructed as the Bantu huts; the only difference is that they are much smaller, with a rather narrow entrance which may only be used crawling on one's stomach. The construction consists of branches and twigs, and it is covered with leaves. Batwa-Bambuti base camp is situated in clearings near farmer settlements. They trade goods with the Bantu farmers, and they also help them by working their fields. They trade wheat, tools made from iron or wood, pots and basketry for venison and other wild products of the forests. For their work, they are paid in food stuff. In the dry seasons, they withdraw for a longer period of time deep into the forests. All members commit themselves to the wellbeing of the community as well as the task of educating and raising the children. Batwa-Bambuti Women are responsible for providing food, they do repair work in the huts, and it is their duty to get water. The men carry weapons, for example spears, bow and poison arrows. They are in charge of the hunt. The people live exclusively on the animals they hunt and the vast diversity of food offered by the forests, this is mushrooms, insect larves, honey, cola nuts, root tuber and wild fruit. Batwa-Bambuti dress is composed of a belt wound around the waist, with a piece of bark cloth attached to the belt in the middle of the back, brought down between the legs and fixed against the belt in front. This type of dress suits both men and women. Usually they go naked, some of them with a brass-wire bangle. Their attitude towards another is characterised by co-operation and mutal dependency. Already in their childhood they learn to assume responsibility for economic and social tasks and duties, and in adulthood, this way of living clearly defines the social system. They do not have a traditional leader. Experienced members are elected leaders on the occasion of a hunt or relocation. The elders do have some sort of authority, they are, however, only to be found in the role of mediators or troubleshooters in the case of conflicts; they also direct important rituals. Private property is not of paramount importance. In the end, all decisions are made in consensus, and every member of the group (men and women) has a vote. The community is responsible for the maintenance of law and order. The only authority they have is the forest. Their religion is fixed on life in the forest. They do not have any form of ancestral worship, as they only believe in this life and this world; they are convinced that there is no life after death. For them, the forest is life, their god, their religion.Sister exchange is the common form of marriage. Based on reciprocal exchange, men from other bands exchange sisters or other females to which they have ties. Bridewealth is not customary. There is no formal marriage ceremony: a couple will be considered officially married when the groom presents his bride's parents with an antelope he alone has hunted and killed. Polygamy does occur, but at different rates depending on the group, and it is not very common. It is tradition to hunt with only bow and arrow. In the last couple of centuries, however, they have additionally adapted the method of net hunting practised by the Bantu farmers, which has increased its importance ever since. According to their ethics of hunting, it is prohibited to kill more animals than is absolutely necessary for the provision of food. If you kill an animal for mere pleasure or in order to lift your status in the community, this act will be considered a crime. In order to minimise the desecration of the forest through the hunting and the killing, children or young adults get a fire started, most of the time near the camp. In this way, they offer the forest the due respect. - The bow hunters do not have established hunting territories, and they roam in smaller groups through a rather huge hunting territory. Normally the men hunt alone, frequently in accompanyment of their hounds.They use various arrows. Batwa-Bambuti only use their spears if hunting big game like buffalos or elephants. - The net hunters, however, hunt in groups. About 10 to 30 nets are knotted into a semicircle in which the prey animals are supposed to get caught. For this purpose, especially the women and the children have the duty to drive the alarmed animals into the nets. Everything in the Batwa-Bambuti life is centered on the forest. They consider the forest to be their great protector and provider and believe that it is a sacred place. They sometimes call the forest “mother” or “father.” An important ritual is referred to as Molimo ritual. Noise and disturbance are considered negative and are to be avoided. If you have bad luck, if you come back from an unsuccessful hunt, if a serious illness or disease is dooming or in the case of death, there will be performed a so-called Molimo celebration in order to awaken and please the forest by means of songs, music or dances. The celebration is performed very loudly, in order to make sure to awaken the forest. Food is collected from each hut to feed the Molimo celebration, and in the evening the ritual is accompanied by the men dancing and singing around the fire. Women and children must remain in their huts, with the doors closed. "Molimo" is also the name of a trumpet the men play during the ritual. Traditionally, it was made of wood or sometimes from bamboo, today also of metal. The sound produced by a molimo is considered more important than the material it is made of. When not in use, the trumpet is stored in the trees of the forest. During a celebration, the trumpet is retrieved by the youth of the village and carried back to the fire (after use this wooden trumpet will be burnt). Batwa-Bambuti are the oldest population group of Africa that has immigrated into this territory (Egyptians already about 2500 BC gave description of these forest people), long before the Bantu tribes who have later wandered into this area. Their original language is part of the sub-group of the Central-Sudanic language family of the Nilotic speaking tribes. The Europeans advanced into the territories of these forest people for the very first time in the year 1456 AD. Dwellings of Batwa-Bambuti Their faces are broad, their nostrils wide and their lips are extraordinarily thick.Their huts are built in the same model as Bantu huts but are made of leaves, not grass. They round, very short, and with a small entrance so small and low that they crawl on their hands and knees when entering and getting out. Their huts are temporary due to their nomadic life. Their diet is basically composed of meat. Often, they supplement it with bananas and sweet potatoes which they obtain by bartering meat for them with .Bantu neighbors Sometimes they do not wait to barter. They can simply invade one’s shamba and gather the produce without seeking the permission of the owner. Their neighbors fear them because of their aggressiveness. The sight of a mwambuti (singular of Bambuti) in one’s shamba may lead to the family of the owner going into temporary hiding. They obtain their food by hunting and they are very skilled at it. When in the forest hunting, a dozen of them will make less noise than that of the animal being tracked. They arm themselves with the weapons best suited for their prey. Their normal weapons are spears, bows, and arrows. Every Mwambuti is armed with a small bow; barbed, poisoned arrows; and a spear with a blade similar to those of the Batwa. When hunting, they stealthily wait by water pools and tracks used bytes game. If they Kill big game, like an elephant, the whole colony of them, often as many as one hundred, will build their huts around the carcass of the elephant and eat it until it is finished. It is said that a fully grown elephant can feed a colony of Batwa-Bambuti for a week or more.Click here to learn about the traditional food of Ugandans This type of dress suits both men and women but it is not very common for the Batwa-Bambuti to put on clothes. They usually go stark naked though, occasionally, some of them may be found with a brass-wire bangle. Their chief means of subsistence is meat and the forests where they live abound with elephants, monkeys, lizards and some antelopes. The Bambuti prey on these animals and several others which the forest contains.As one would expect, the Batwa-Bambuti have no home industries. Their mode of life is purely subsistence and they do not seem t be troubled by lack of home comfort. If a Mwambuti can find some where to sit and a skin to sleep on, if he has eaten and drunk he finds nothing to trouble the world for. Their usual utensils besides skins include; earth ware pots (traded or stolen) and weapons. Besides these named utensils, there is no other evidence of what one would call “wealth” among the Bambuti. They seem to be contented with what they have and if it was not for the continuous heavy rains, in their country they may even have dispensed with the hut.
When on their normal travels, the Batwa-Bambuti women carry all the family property. They also do all the work including construction of huts. The man only carries his spears and arrows. The men do the hunting and really excel at it.
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