How African pygmies live (24 photos). The Pygmies tribe - the people of equatorial Africa: photos, videos, films about the life of African Pygmies. Dwellings, songs, growth Pygmy tribe in central Africa

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. Real existence these African tribes were only confirmed 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 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 the swamp south of the river Congo. They, like the Twa tribe, live in cooperation with neighboring tribes, adopting their culture and language. Most Tswa are engaged in hunting or fishing.

Pygmies (Greek Πυγμαῖοι - “people the size of a fist”) are a group of short Negroid peoples living in equatorial forests Africa.

Testimonies and mentions

Mentioned already in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e., at a later time - in ancient Greek sources (in Homer’s Iliad, Herodotus and Strabo).

In the XVI-XVII centuries. they are mentioned under the name "Matimba" in the descriptions left by explorers of West Africa.

In the 19th century, their existence was confirmed by the German researcher Georg August Schweinfurt, the Russian researcher V.V. Junker and others, who discovered these tribes in the tropical forests of the Ituri and Uzle river basins (various tribes under the names: Akka, Tikitiki, Obongo, Bambuti, Batwa) .

In 1929-1930 P. Shebesta's expedition described the Bambuti pygmies; in 1934-1935, researcher M. Guzinde found the Efe and Basua pygmies.

At the end of the 20th century, they lived in the forests of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, and Rwanda.

The most ancient mention of pygmies is contained in the story of the Egyptian Hirkhuf, a nobleman from the era of the Old Kingdom, who boasted that he managed to bring a dwarf from his campaign for the amusement of the young king. This inscription dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. In an Egyptian inscription, the dwarf brought by Hirkhuf is called dng. This name has been preserved to this day in the languages ​​of the peoples of Ethiopia: in Amharic the dwarf is called deng, or dat. Ancient Greek writers tell all sorts of stories about African pygmies, but all their reports are fantastic.

Pygmies lead a hunting lifestyle. In the economy of the pygmies, gathering apparently occupies the first place and mainly determines the nutrition of the entire group. The share of women falls most of work, since production plant food- a woman's business. Every day, women of the entire living group, accompanied by children, collect wild roots and leaves around their camp. edible plants and fruits, catch worms, snails, frogs, snakes and fish.

The pygmies are forced to leave the camp as soon as all the suitable plants in the vicinity of the camp are eaten and the game is destroyed. The entire group moves to another area of ​​the forest, but wanders within established boundaries. These boundaries are known to everyone and are strictly observed. Hunting on other people's lands is not permitted and may lead to hostile conflicts. Almost all groups of pygmies live in close contact with the tall population, most often the Bantu. Pygmies usually bring game and forest products to villages in exchange for bananas, vegetables and iron spearheads. All pygmy groups speak the languages ​​of their tall neighbors.

Pygmy house made of leaves and sticks

The primitive nature of the pygmy culture sharply distinguishes them from the surrounding peoples Negroid race. What are pygmies? Is this population of Central Africa autochthonous? Do they constitute a special anthropological type, or is their origin the result of the degradation of the tall type? These are the main questions that form the essence of the pygmy problem, one of the most controversial in anthropology and ethnography. Soviet anthropologists believe that pygmies are aborigines of tropical Africa of a special anthropological type, of independent origin.

Height ranges from 144 to 150 cm for adult males, light brown skin, curly, dark hair, relatively thin lips, large torso, short arms and legs, this physical type can be classified as a special race. The possible number of pygmies can range from 40 to 280 thousand people.

In terms of external type, the Negritos of Asia are close to them, but genetically there are strong differences between them.

The most short people on the ground, average height which does not exceed 141 cm, live in the Congo River basin in Central Africa. “The size of a fist” - this is translated from the Greek pygmalios - the name of the pygmy tribe. There is an assumption that they once occupied all of Central Africa, but were then forced out into the tropical forests.

The daily life of these wild people devoid of romance and associated with the everyday struggle for survival, when the main task of men becomes getting food for the entire village. Pygmies are considered the least bloodthirsty hunters. And indeed it is. They never hunt for the sake of hunting, they never kill animals for the sake of the desire to kill, they never store meat for future use. They do not even bring a killed animal to the village, but cut it up, cook it and eat it right on the spot, calling all the village residents for a meal. Hunting and everything connected with it is the main ritual in the life of the tribe, clearly expressed in folklore: songs about heroic hunters, dances depicting scenes of animal behavior, myths and legends. Before the hunt, the men cover themselves and their weapons with mud and dung from the animal they are going to hunt, turn to the spear with a request to be accurate, and set off.

The daily food of the pygmies is plant-based: nuts, edible herbs and roots, palm pith. Seasonal activity is fishing. For fishing, pygmies use a special grass that makes the fish fall asleep, but does not die. The grass leaves are dissolved in the river, and the catch is collected downstream. Particularly dangerous for pygmies is the jungle, full of a variety of wild animals. But the most dangerous is the python. If a pygmy accidentally steps on a python more than 4 meters away, it is doomed. The snake instantly attacks, wraps itself around the body and strangles.

The origin of the pygmies is still not entirely clear. What is known is that the first Europeans only recently entered their world and were met with a rather belligerent reception. The exact number of members of the tribe is not known. According to various sources, there are about 280 thousand of them. The average life expectancy is no more than 45 years for men, women live a little longer. The first child is born at the age of 14-15, but there are no more than two children in a family. Pygmies roam in groups of 2-4 families. They live in low huts covered with grass, which can be made in a few hours. Boys aged 9-16 are circumcised and subjected to other rather cruel tests, accompanied by moral instructions. Only men take part in such rituals.

The tribe has lost its native language, therefore, the dialects of neighboring tribes are most often used. The clothing consists only of a hip belt with an apron. But sedentary pygmies are increasingly wearing European clothes. The main deity is the forest spirit Tore, the owner of forest game, to whom hunters turn with prayer before hunting.

The culture and traditions of the Pygmies are gradually disappearing. New life slowly penetrates into their everyday life, dissolving in itself the way of life of the smallest people on the planet.

Watch interesting videos.

Unknown planet. Pygmies and Karamojongs. Part 1.

Ritual dances of the Baka pygmies.

First, let's get acquainted with the facts and reports of scientists about the pygmy tribes. There is not as much information about mysterious short people as we would like, so all of them are important. Where and how they live, who they are: a “mistake” or a “regularity” of Nature; Perhaps, having understood their “features”, we will be able to take a better look at ourselves? After all, we are all children of one planet, their problems cannot be alien to us.

"First oldest evidence The Greek historian of the 5th century wrote about the pygmies. to x. e. Herodotus. When he was traveling in Egypt, he was told a story about how one day young men from African tribe Nasamonov decided to “take a trip around Libyan desert with the goal of penetrating further and seeing more of all those who had previously visited its most remote parts, “...” the Nasamons returned safely and that all the people [pygmies] to whom they came were magicians.”

“Another evidence about the pygmies was left to us by the largest Roman scientist Pliny the Elder (24-79 AD). In his Natural History he writes: “Some report a tribe of pygmies living among swamps, of which the Nile begins"".(1*)
“One of the civilizations where the pygmies lived and which has now gone into oblivion located on Hawaiian Islands. "..." Today, pygmy tribes live in Africa (Central equatorial zone) And South-East Asia(Andaman Islands, Philippines, and Malacca Rainforests)."

Hunters and gatherers in Africa are represented by three main groups - the Pygmies of Central Africa, the Bushmen South Africa and Hadza East Africa. Neither the Pygmies nor the Bushmen are a single monolith - each of these groups consists of tribes or other ethnic communities at different levels of socio-historical and cultural development.

Name pygmies comes from the Greek pygmaios (literally, the size of a fist). Main countries of settlement: Zaire - 165 thousand people, Rwanda - 65 thousand people, Burundi - 50 thousand people, Congo - 30 thousand people, Cameroon - 20 thousand people, Central African Republic - 10 thousand. people, Angola - 5 thousand people, Gabon - 5 thousand people. They speak Bantu languages.

Pygmies were one of the races that came out of Africa and settled in southern Asia, where they were very common in ancient times. The modern population of pygmies lives not only in Africa but also in some areas of South Asia, such as Aeta and Batak in the Philippines, Semang in Malaysia, Mani in Thailand. The average height of an adult man is about 140 cm. Women are about 120 cm. Increasingly tall pygmies are the result of interracial mixing with neighboring tribes.

“PYGMIES. Have proportional healthy body, only in a reduced size. Anatomy and physiology are close to normal".

“Among the pygmies there are those who are a little sexual (Amazonians) and easily excitable (Bushmen, who have a constant erection), there are very infantile ones - and very masculine (bearded, muscular, with large facial features, chests, unlike Negroids, hairy). African pygmies are very musical and flexible. They hunt elephants. Nilotic giants live next to them, the most tall people on the ground. They say that Nilotes willingly take pygmy women as wives, but are afraid of men.”

Previously, it was believed that the short stature of the pygmies was due to the poor quality of food and some special diet, but this version has not been confirmed. There are other races living nearby - the Masai and Sumburu in Kenya, who do not eat much better, but are considered the highest in the world. At one time, for the purpose of experimentation, a group of pygmies were fed fully and for a long time, but their growth and the growth of their offspring did not increase.

Pygmies Central Africa can be divided into three geographically distinct groups: 1) the Pygmies of the Ituri River basin, known as the Bambuti, Wambuti or Mbuti and linguistically divided into three subgroups: the Efe, Basua or Sua, and aka (about which more in this article); 2) the pygmies of the Great Lakes region - the Twa, inhabiting Rwanda and Burundi, and scattered groups surrounding them; 3) pygmies of the western regions tropical forest- Baguielli, Obongo, Akoa, Bachwa, Bayele, etc. In addition, there is another group of East African pygmies - Boni.

Now the pygmies are facing harsh times, they are dying out due to diseases like measles and smallpox, which, in combination with poor nutrients food and heavy exercise lead to high mortality. In some tribes average duration life is only 20 years. The taller and stronger black tribes oppress the pygmies and force them into unsuitable areas for existence.

Some scientists are also trying to connect short period the lives of pygmies with their growth (compare the life expectancy of an elephant and a mouse). In general, all researchers of this people agree that the study of pygmies helps to better understand the principles of evolution and human adaptability to different conditions environment.

The high demand for bushmeat forces pygmies to poach in reserves. The unreasonable extermination of endangered animals may soon become a threat to the existence of the pygmy tribes themselves - a vicious circle from which it is no longer possible to escape.

Pygmies go poaching in the reserve, weapons - trapping nets and spears.

Here is the prey, catching an antelope is a great success.

“Pygmies are a nomadic people. Several times a year they leave their homes and, together with all their simple belongings, go along hidden paths into the most remote corners of the forest.”
“... pygmies live in huts that look like small green tubercles.”

“The pygmies constantly keep the fire going. When moving to another site, they carry burning brands with them, since striking a fire with flint is very long and difficult.”

“There is no real clay capable of holding buildings together, and the rains destroy the pygmy “structures.” Therefore, they have to be repaired frequently. You can always see this activity only women. Girls who have not yet started a family and their own home, according to local customs they are not allowed to do this work.”

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 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 animals that are in the area where they this moment reside. 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 decided at 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 give them elementary education and provide medical care.

A short video: pygmies hunting and fishing