The Mbuti are members of an indigenous Central African group, originating from the dense Ituri forest in northeastern Congo, who survive thanks to the incredible skill of being the world’s shortest women
Besides delivering the game to the rest of the tribe, the woman’s role is to lure the animal and hold it in a net so that the man can throw it. The net is usually as heavy as they themselves – as Mbuti women reach around 130cm in height in their lifetime.
Despite the violence and loss, the Mbuti tribe still lives in the rainforest, using the knowledge they have acquired from nature over the centuries.
The Mbuti are excellent hunters and gatherers who move every two weeks to a different area of the African rainforest to secure food and basic needs. Anthropologists believe that they are the earliest people of Africa. Known as the “children of the forest” (bamiki bandura), it is estimated that there are currently around 40.000 of them.
The Mbuti see their forest as a sacred place. They speak to their home full of respect, admiration and adoration. A song about the forest is deeply rooted in their tradition, which they practice as soon as they learn to speak.
The dark and cold nights of the rainforest bring various dangers. The forest sleeps at night, so the tribe must wake it up with a song so that it can come to its aid if attacked by enemies. Songs to the forest are also a sign of gratitude for all that the forest does for them.
Unlike their neighbors, they do not believe in spirits and magic, but only in the goodness that comes from nature. A Mbuti mother develops a special lullaby that she begins to sing to her baby while it is still in the womb. The song is the work of any mother and usually contains verses that praise the forest and teach the child kindness, love and togetherness.
Missionaries call this particular tribe the happiest people in the world. Laughter is an integral part of their culture and they use it as the main weapon in the fight against the enemy. Each generation has its own clown, a man from the tribe who is tasked with attracting the attention of the enemy to himself with laughter, jokes and various jokes and thus save his countrymen.
The women of the Mbuti tribe perform almost all the activities necessary for life, and their skills are essential for hunting. Traditional hunting involves an animal trap in the form of a net, which the men set and the women, along with the game, take back to the village.
In addition to delivering the game to the rest of the tribe, the woman’s role is to lure the animal and hold it in a net so that the man can throw it. The net is usually as heavy as they themselves, as Mbuti women reach up to 137 cm in height in their lifetime. The researchers believe that growth hormone function is limited in order for their tiny bodies to adapt to the special challenges of the rainforest.
The Mbuti tribe does not have a leader and decisions are made by consensus. The voice of the man, woman and child is equally important and the political unit of this tribe is the gang. The worst crime a member of this tribe can commit is “endangering the tribe”, and the worst punishment is expulsion from the gang.
The life and death of the tribe is in an inextricable connection with nature. As soon as the child is born, the women water it with grape juice and tie a braid of grass around its ankle. This ceremony is similar to baptism and is the traditional occasion for a tribal celebration. For this occasion, hunters and gatherers find special foods, and song and dance last for days. It is customary that until the transition to the world of adults, other children from the tribe are called brothers and sisters. Marriage in this tribe is monogamous, and is considered official only after the birth of the first child.
Unlike their neighbors, the Mbuti do not practice magic, but they have a rich tradition of practicing a religion and special rituals. Their central ritual is called elima – marking a young woman’s first period. According to their belief, it is a time of sexual freedom, which eventually leads girls to find a future marriage partner.
The girls spend the “first week of adulthood” with their closest women in a special cabin where through conversation, song and dance they learn about all aspects of motherhood, sexual relations and the transition to the world of adult women. If a girl feels ready after a week of sex education, she can start looking for her boyfriend.
The boys, however, are part of a brutal rite of passage into the adult world that involves painful circumcision, as it is believed that they can sit at the same table with their ancestors after death. This ceremony is called nkumbi, it is closed to the public and women are not allowed to participate.
The Mbuti are as vulnerable as their forest. A more obvious threat to their traditional way of life is the destruction of the forest, and thus their source of life.
They have no legal rights to their home, so they watch helplessly as commercial logging destroys the green spaces they have protected for centuries. /KP
