The Mbuti Bands of Africa
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The Mbuti Bands of Africa
Harold W. Sharrow Jr.
ANT 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Cynthia Livingston
May 6, 2013
The Mbuti are a semi-nomadic/foraging band of people from the Ituri rainforest of the northeastern Congo in central Africa. The Mbuti still live as they have for centuries. They still follow the same tribal rules that they have always utilized. Even though they are not an advanced civilization, the Mbuti still have their own beliefs and values, economic organization, and social organization.
The Mbuti are a semi-nomadic/foraging band. A band is a small group of people that live together for many reasons. Some of these reasons are food, work load, and protection. Being a semi-nomadic refers to the bands mobile habits. The Mbuti tend to move from one place to another to sustain their way of life. Moving around often allows for the band to survive. Whenever their food sources start to dwindle the Mbuti simply move to another location where their food sources are more abundant. A foraging society is one that hunts as well as gathers vegetation when available (Nowak, Laird, 2010). “The Mbuti are a hunter gatherer society with an emphases on hunting” (Fabbro, 1978, pp. 71). The Mbuti thrive more on hunted meat than on gathered vegetation.
The Mbuti follow the same beliefs and values that they have had for centuries. Among these beliefs and values the Mbuti have no conflicts either within their territory or outside of their territory that they get involved with. The Mbuti are a peaceful band. There is no interpersonal violence or structural violence. One of the biggest beliefs of the Mbuti is the ability to undergo change peacefully. There is little to no violence among the Mbuti band, therefore there are no military or police force of any kind (Fabbro, 1978).
The Mbuti believe that everyone should be involved from adult male and female to children. With this belief there is always ample help for hunting and foraging. From a young age children are encouraged to act like adults. This means that children are expected to hunt with nets and even help with gathering vegetation for food. The Mbuti firmly believe that there should be no one in the band that is unproductive once weaned from their mothers. The Mbuti also believe in self-mutilation. The Mbuti believe that self-mutilation will drive away pepo. Pepo is one of the words the Mbuti use to define the forest and higher powers they believe it possesses. Pepo is believed to be the bringer of death. Therefore, the Mbuti believe that self-mutilation is required to stay alive (Fabbro, 1978).
The Mbuti do not believe in sorcery. When one of the Mbuti band is poisoned to indicate sorcery by another band or band, the Mbuti do not believe in the supernatural powers. However, at the same time the Mbuti believe that the forest is their form of deity. They believe that the forest not only provides food, but also protection, and nourishment of a godly persuasion. The Mbuti also believe in respecting each other in their own bands and other Mbuti bands. The Mbuti believe that everyone in the band should have a say in what happens within the band. That includes the bands movements, trading, and even dispute resolution. The Mbuti believe that a man and woman are to be respected equally (Fabbro, 1978).
The Mbuti also believe in arranged marriages, although the arranged marriages do not always work out. The Mbuti have no problem with divorce. They prefer to settle marital disputes rather than dissolve any marriage. When marital disputes arise the Mbuti discuss how to correct the dispute, without divorce, as an entire group. All the adults, both men and women, have their say in the discussion. The Mbuti believe that everyone in the band is equal (Fabbro, 1978).
The Mbuti band is considered to be an egalitarian band. An egalitarian band is a group of people that believe everyone is equal (Nowak, Laird, 2010). They do not have any form of high ranking officials. No one is better than anyone else within the band. Everyone in the Mbuti band is considered equal to each other. The Mbuti do not have a chief or leader. They have no head of the house hold. They only have a band of people that all consider each other equal.
The Mbuti will assign someone as an acting leader when visiting with other non Mbuti neighbors for trading. The leader will be someone whom excels in trickery. The leader will try to make all the trades come out in the favor of the Mbuti band. The only time that the assigned leader will not make a decision is in the event that someone is injured or poisoned. If this does happen then the band will decide on a whole the best course of action. Then once the band returns to the forest the spokesman is no longer recognized as their leader (Fabbro, 1978).
The Mbutis economic organization is something that everyone could learn from. The Mbuti band like several other gatherer-hunter bands get everything they need from nature. Everyone in the band helps by either hunting or gathering. When one family does not have enough to eat the others share their food. The Mbuti band uses the method of generalized reciprocity (Bird-David, 1990). Generalized reciprocity is the giving of something without expecting something in return immediately (Nowak, Laird, 2010). The belief of generalized reciprocity is that things will even out through giving and receiving. They have no need for any form of money.
With the way the Mbuti live they have to depend on generalized reciprocity. One example is hunting. The Mbuti have no way of storing meat for long periods of time. When one of the hunters bring home a large animal that cannot be consumed by their family they give some of the meat to other families within the band. This way the meat does not spoil. With the rules of generalized reciprocity the families that received the meat will in turn share their food when they have an abundance. This is a large part of the Mbuti economic structure.
Among the Mbuti band everyone is involved in the economic organization. Starting around the age of six years, children start helping with camp chores