Pygmy is a representative of one of the nationalities living in the equatorial forests of Africa. This word is of Greek origin and means "a man the size of a fist." Such a name is quite justified, considering medium height representatives of these tribes. Find out who the pygmies of Africa are and how they differ from others in the hottest continent.

Who are the pygmies?

These tribes live in Africa, next to Ogowe and Ituri. In total, there are about 80 thousand pygmies, half of which live along the banks of the Ituri River. The height of the representatives of these tribes varies from 140 to 150 cm. The color of their skin is somewhat atypical for Africans, because they have a slightly lighter, golden brown. Pygmies even have their own national dress. So, men wear a fur or leather belt with a small apron made of wood in front, and a small bunch of leaves in the back. Women are less fortunate, often they only have aprons.

Houses

The buildings in which representatives of this people live are made of twigs and leaves, fastening everything with clay. Oddly enough, the construction and repair of the hut here is the responsibility of the women. A man, having conceived the construction of a new house, must go to the elder for permission. If the elder agrees, he gives his visitor a nyombikari - a bamboo stick with a peg at the end. It is with the help of this device that the boundaries of the future home will be outlined. This is done by a man, all other construction worries fall on the shoulders of a woman.

Life style

A typical pygmy is a forest nomad who does not stay in one place for a long time. Representatives of these tribes live in one place for no more than a year, while there is game around their village. When the fearless animals run out, the nomads take off in search of a new home. There is another reason why people often move to a new place. Any pygmy is an extremely superstitious person. Therefore, the whole tribe, if one of its members dies, migrates, believing that the forest does not want anyone to live in this place. The dead man is buried in his hut, a commemoration is held, and the next morning the whole settlement goes deep into the forest to build a new village.

Mining

Pygmies feed on what the forest gives them. Therefore, in the early morning, the women of the tribe go there to replenish supplies. On the way, they collect everything edible, from berries to caterpillars, so that every pygmy of the same tribe is fed. This is an established tradition, according to which the woman is the main breadwinner in the family.

Outcome

Pygmies are accustomed to the traditions of their lives, which have been established for centuries. Despite the fact that the government of the state tries to educate them in a more civilized life, cultivation of the land and a settled existence, they continue to be far from it. Pygmies, photographed by many researchers studying their customs, refuse any innovations in their everyday life and continue to do what their ancestors have been doing for many centuries.

Most low people on the ground, whose average height does not exceed 141 cm, live in the Congo Basin in Central Africa. "The size of a fist" - so translated from the Greek pygmalios - the name of the pygmy tribe. There is an assumption that they once occupied the whole of Central Africa, but then they were forced out into the region of tropical forests.

The daily life of these wild people devoid of romance and coupled with the daily struggle for survival, when main task men becomes food for the whole village. Pygmies are considered the most non-bloodthirsty hunters. And indeed it is. They never hunt for the sake of hunting, they never kill animals for the desire to kill, they never store meat for future use. They do not even bring a killed animal to the village, but butcher, cook and eat right on the spot, calling all the villagers to a meal. Hunting and everything connected with it - main ritual in the life of the tribe, clearly expressed in folklore: songs about hunting heroes, dances that convey scenes of animal behavior, myths and legends. Before the hunt, men smear themselves and weapons with mud with the dung of the animal they are going to hunt, turn to the spear with a request to be accurate, and set off.

Everyday food of the pygmies is vegetable: nuts, edible herbs and roots, the core of the palm tree. Fishing is a seasonal activity. For fishing, pygmies use a special grass, from which the fish fall asleep, but do not die. Grass leaves are dissolved in the river, the catch is collected downstream. A particular danger for the 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, he is doomed. The snake instantly attacks, wraps around the body and strangles.

The origin of the pygmies is still not entirely clear. It is only known that the first Europeans quite recently penetrated into their world and were met rather belligerently. The exact number of representatives 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 the family. Pygmies roam in groups of 2-4 families. They live in low huts covered with grass, which can be done in a few hours. Boys 9-16 years old are circumcised and subjected to other rather cruel trials, accompanied by moral instructions. Only men take part in such ceremonies.

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

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

Watch interesting videos.

Unknown planet. Pygmies and Karamojongs. ch1.

Ritual dances of Baka pygmies.

- (Pygmaei, Πυγμαι̃οι). The mythical people of dwarfs, the size of πηγμή, τ. e. growth is not more than the distance from the elbow to the fist. According to Homer, they lived on the shores of the Ocean; subsequently, their residence began to be considered the sources of the Nile, as well as India. Current… … Encyclopedia of mythology

A group of peoples belonging to the Negril race, the indigenous people of tropical Africa. They speak Bantu languages ​​(Twa, 185 thousand people, 1992; Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire), Adamaua of the eastern group (Aka, Binga, etc., 35 thousand people; Congo, CAR) and Shari ... ... Big encyclopedic Dictionary

- (inosk.) people are morally insignificant. Wed For the crowd he is great, for the crowd he is a prophet; For himself he is nothing, for himself he is a pygmy!... Nadson. “You see, there he is!” Cf. He loved his poor Fatherland among his wanderings. She was wrapped in mules, Her pygmies ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Modern Encyclopedia

From Ancient Greek: Pigmaios. Literally: The size of a fist. V ancient Greek mythology Pygmies were called the fabulous people of the dwarfs, who were so small that they often became victims of cranes, like frogs. Therefore, dwarfs had to ... ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions

The people of dwarfs, who lived, according to the legendary legends of the Greeks, on the shores of the ocean (Homer) and at the source of the Nile (late writer), where he fought constantly with cranes. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907. pygmies ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (Pugmaioi), own. people the size of a fist in Greek mythology are a fabulous people of dwarfs living in Libya. Iliad (III, 6) tells of their battles with cranes (cf. L. v. Sybel, Mythologie derIlias, 1877, and L. F. Voevodsky, Introduction to mythology ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

pygmies- PYGMIES, a group of peoples: Twa, Binga, Bibaya, Ghielli, Efe, Kango, Aka, Mbuti with a total number of 350 thousand people belonging to the Negrillian race, the indigenous population Tropical Africa. The name comes from the Greek pygmaios (literally the size of ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

A group of peoples in Central Africa. The total number is 390 thousand people (1995). They speak Bantu languages. Many pygmies retain a wandering lifestyle, archaic culture, and traditional beliefs. * * * PYGMIES PYGMIES, a group of peoples belonging to ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

pygmies- (from the Greek "fist" or "distance" from the fist to the elbow) in Greek mythology, a tribe of dwarfs, symbolizing the barbarian world. The name is associated with the small growth of the pygmies and symbolizes a distorted perception of the true ethnic group. The Greeks defined... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia

Books

  • Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic accomplishments of the Leader, the current masters of the Kremlin look like real dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy the political...
  • Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, or Russia to be found, Sergey Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic accomplishments of the Leader, the current masters of the Kremlin look like real dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy the political...

Baka pygmies inhabit the rain forests of southeastern Cameroon, northern Republic of the Congo, northern Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. In February 2016, photographer and journalist Susan Shulman spent several days among Baka Pygmies, making a short report about their life.

Tropical rainforests are natural environment a habitat. The main occupations are hunting and gathering, in this harmonious unity with nature they live for centuries, and their world is determined by the presence of the forest. Pygmy tribes are scattered across Africa over an area of ​​178 million hectares.

Pygmies differ from representatives of other African tribes in their diminutiveness - their height rarely exceeds 140 cm. In the photo above, members of the tribe perform a traditional hunting ceremony.

Susan Shulman became interested in the life of the Baka Pygmies after hearing about Louis Sarno, an American scientist who has been living among the Baka Pygmies in Central Africa for 30 years. rain forest between Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo.

Louis Sarno is married to a woman from the tribe, all these years he has been studying, helping and treating Baka pygmies. According to him, half of the children do not live up to five years, and if he left the tribe for at least a year, he would be afraid to return, because he would not have found many friends alive. Louis Sarno is now in his sixties, and average duration the life of the Baka pygmies is forty years.

Louis Sarno not only provides medicines, but also does other things: he acts as a teacher for children, a lawyer, translator, archivist, writer and chronicler for a community of 600 Baka pygmies in the village of Yandubi.

Louis Sarno came to live with the Pygmies in the mid-80s after hearing their music on the radio one day and decided to go and record as much of that music as possible. And he doesn't regret it one bit. He has the opportunity to regularly visit America and Europe, but always returns to Africa. We can say that the song brought him to the heart of Africa.

Baka pygmy music is a yodeling-like polyphonic singing against the background of natural sounds. rainforest. Imagine polyphony 40 female voices and a drum beat played by four men on plastic drums.

Louis Sarno claims he's never heard anything like it before, and it's divine.

Their hypnotic music usually acts as a prelude to the hunt, as the tribe sings to summon a forest spirit named Bobi and ask him for permission to hunt in his forest.

Dressed in a suit of leaves, the "spirit of the forest" grants permission to the tribe and blesses those who take part in tomorrow's hunt. In the picture above, the pygmy is about to go hunting with a net.

The basis of the diet of the tribe is the meat of the monkey and the blue duiker, a small forest antelope, but in Lately these animals in the forest is becoming less and less. This is due to poaching and logging.

“Poachers hunt at night, they scare animals with torches and calmly shoot them while they are paralyzed with fear. The nets and arrows of the pygmies of the tank cannot compete with firearms poachers.

Deforestation and poachers seriously devastate the forest and greatly harm the way of life of Baka pygmies. Many of these poachers are from the neighboring Bantu ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the population in the region,” says Susan Schulman.

As a result of the gradual depletion of the rain forests in which the Baka live, the future of their forest home is in question, as it is not clear where all this will lead.

Historically, the Bantu tribe considered Baka Pygmies "subhuman" and discriminated against them. Currently, relations between them have improved, but some echoes of the past still make themselves felt.

As the traditional life of Baka Pygmies becomes more difficult and problematic by the day, the younger generation has to find work in Bantu-dominated cities.

“Young people are at the forefront of change. There are very few opportunities to earn money for them. As the resources of the forest in terms of hunting are depleted, you have to look for other opportunities - and this is usually only temporary work for the Bantu, who offer, say, $ 1 for five days of hunting - and even then they often forget to pay, ”says Susan.

According to dictionaries, the Pygmies are a very small group of peoples in Central Africa, the total number of which is about 390 thousand people. They speak Bantu languages. Most tribes maintain a nomadic way of life and adhere to traditional beliefs. Their culture is very archaic.

Pygmies photo (clickable)

The name of this people comes from the Greek word pygmaios - "the size of a fist." So, Homer in his immortal "Iliad" called the dwarfs who fought with cranes. The little dancers who entertained the pharaohs of Egypt were also called the same. The European colonialists who came to Africa, faced with this undersized tribe of Africans, whose average height is about 150 cm, considered them descendants of the ancients and borrowed the name.

Where do pygmies live? Pygmies live in difficult places and are extremely reluctant to come into contact with strangers. At the end of the "harvesting" 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 perfectly comprehended all the secrets of the forest and the habits of animals that are in the area where they are in this moment reside. Hunters set snares and traps, use arrows and bows; if big game is driven in, the “weak” half of the tribe also takes part.

Children, upon reaching the age of ten, build themselves a separate dwelling and begin to live independently from their parents. Elders lead the tribe. They do not steal, they treat liars and unfaithful spouses with contempt, and they solve all problematic issues at the general council.

Pygmies: photos of women (clickable)

Misdemeanors that entail punishments up to the prohibition of joint hunting and even expulsion are considered to be the 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 action.

Some members of the Pygmy tribe are engaged in fishing. As fishing rods they use flexible branches trees with hooked wire at the end.

Their prey and "gifts of nature" African pygmies exchanged for agricultural products and other things. They are mainly attracted to metal products - knives, arrowheads and spearheads, axes and wire, which they use to make primitive tools or decorate weapons with it.

Attempts to fix this people on certain plots of land 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 primary education and provide medical care.

Short video: pygmies hunting and fishing