The indigenous people of Africa are pygmies. The Pygmies tribe - the people of equatorial Africa: photos, videos, films about the life of African Pygmies

The most short people on earth, whose average height 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 this is true. 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, 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 greeted quite belligerently. The exact number of members of the tribe is not known. According to various sources, there are about 280 thousand of them. Average duration life - 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, so 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.

Do you know how the word “pygmies” is translated? People the size of a fist. This is the smallest people on the planet.

Most people by the word “pygmies” mean short people living in Africa. Yes, this is partly true, but even the African pygmies are not one people. Various nationalities live on the Dark Continent: the pygmies Batwa, Bakiga, Baka, Aka, Efe, Sua, and this is not the whole list. The height of an adult man usually does not exceed 145 centimeters, and a woman - 133 cm.

How do the smallest people on the planet live?

The life of pygmies is not easy. They live in temporary villages in the forests. Why temporary, you ask? At the very small people Nomadic lifestyle, they are constantly in search of food and look for places rich in fruits and honey. They also have ancient customs. So, if a person dies in the tribe, then he is buried under the roof of the hut and the settlement is abandoned forever.

Near temporary villages, pygmies hunt deer, antelope and monkeys. They also collect fruits and honey. With all this, meat makes up only 9% of their diet, and they exchange the bulk of their production for garden vegetables, metal, fabrics, and tobacco from people who keep farms near the forest.

Little people are considered excellent healers: they prepare medicinal and poisonous potions from plants. It is because of this that other tribes dislike them, since they are attributed magical power.

For example, the pygmies have a curious way of catching fish: first, they poison the pond, which causes the fish to float to the surface. And that’s it, the fishing was a success, all that remains is to collect the catch. No gatherings with fishing rods on the shore or harpoon fishing. After a few hours, the poison stops working and the live fish returns to its normal life.

The lifespan of pygmies is very short: from 16 to 24 years. People who live to be 40 years old are truly long-livers. Accordingly, and puberty It occurs much earlier for them: at 12 years of age. Well, they start having offspring at the age of fifteen.

Still in slavery

Africa is the most controversial continent. Slavery has long been prohibited throughout the world, but not here. For example, in the Republic of Congo, according to established tradition, pygmies are inherited among the Bantu people. And these are the real slave owners: the pygmies give them their spoils from the forest. But, unfortunately, the small people are forced to endure such treatment, since the “owners” give them the products and goods necessary for survival, without which it is impossible to live in the forest. Moreover, the pygmies use tricks: they can be “slaved” by several farmers at the same time in different villages. If one owner did not provide food, then perhaps another will make him happy.

Pygmy genocide

The smallest people have been under constant pressure from other tribes for many centuries. And here we are talking not only about slavery, but even about... cannibalism! Moreover, in our modern world, in the 21st century. So, during the period civil war in the Congo (1998-2003), pygmies were simply caught and eaten. Or, for example, in one of the African provinces, North Kivu, at one time there was a group working to prepare the territory for mining. And during the cleansing process they killed and ate the pygmies. And some peoples of the Dark Continent generally believe that the flesh of a pygmy will give magical power, and a relationship with a woman from some low-statured tribes will relieve diseases. That's why rape happens very often here.

Of course, all this affects the life of a small people: there are no more than 280 thousand people left, and this figure is decreasing every year.

Why is he so short?

In fact, the miniature nature of these peoples is explained by evolution. Moreover, in different peoples the reasons are different, this is exactly the conclusion scientists came to. Thus, genetic analyzes have shown that in some tribes (for example, among the Sua and Efa pygmies), a child’s growth limiter is activated already in the mother’s womb and babies are born very small. And in other nations (Baka), children are born normal, the same as among representatives of European races, but in the first two years they grow very slowly. All these changes at the genetic level are provoked by various factors.

Thus, poor nutrition contributes to short stature: the body of pygmies has decreased in the process of evolution. The fact is that they need much less food to survive than larger nations. It is also believed that the tropics “helped” short stature: after all, body weight affects the amount of heat produced, so large peoples have a much greater chance of overheating.

Well, another theory says that miniature makes life easier in the tropics, making pygmies more nimble, because in impenetrable forests this is an excellent quality. This is how evolution helped little people adapt to their lifestyle and climate.

Interesting facts about pygmies that you didn't know before

Fact No. 1. Many people believe that pygmies live in forests. However, this is not always the case: for example, the Twa pygmies live in deserts and swamps.

Fact No. 2. Moreover, some anthropologists classify dwarf peoples as pygmies, where a man’s height does not exceed 155 centimeters. In their opinion, pygmies live in different corners planets: in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bolivia and Brazil. Here, for example, are the Philippine pygmies:

Fact No. 3. Most of the words among pygmies are associated with honey and plants. In general, they have lost their native language and now speak the languages ​​of the peoples around them.

Fact No. 4. Some researchers believe that pygmies are representatives ancient people, which existed more than 70 thousand years ago.

Fact No. 5. Pygmies were known back in Ancient Egypt. Thus, black dwarfs were brought as gifts to rich nobles.

Fact No. 6. IN late XIX At the beginning of the 20th century, pygmy children were sold to zoos in the USA and Europe as exhibits.

Fact No. 7. The smallest people in the world are the pygmies of Efe and Zaire. The height of women does not exceed 132 cm, and that of men - 143 cm.

Fact No. 8. In Africa there live not only the shortest people, but also the tallest. In the Dinka tribe, the average height of a man is 190 cm, and a woman is 180 cm.

Fact No. 9. Pygmies even today do not use a calendar, so they do not know the exact age.

Fact No. 10. A Caucasian child aged 2.5 years is approximately the same height as a five-year-old pygmy.

The name "pygmies" literally means "people the size of a fist." Equatorial Africa is home to many peoples whose height could be described as “one meter in a cap” if these people wore traditional headdresses. The record holders among the “forest midgets” are Mbuti, their height usually does not exceed 135 cm!

Having visited the Mbuti tribe, any Slav will feel like a giant. Getting to know the short nomads will be interesting, since the Mbuti culture is distinctive, and the structure of society is fundamentally different from the models we are used to. The total number of this ethnic group reaches about 100 thousand people. All Mbuti live in harmony with nature, hunting and gathering, but taking from the forest only as much as they need to survive. The basis of their worldview is a thrifty attitude towards resources.

The Mbuti have no social hierarchy, they live in large groups consisting of at least 7 families. There is no leader in the group; everyone has their own responsibilities depending on gender and age. All members of the tribe take part in the hunt: men set up nets, women and teenagers drive the beast, children and elders remain in the camp to light the sacred fire.

The Mbuti constantly change their locations; they build houses very quickly, using tree shoots and leaves for this. They traditionally made clothes from tree bark, kneading it with an elephant tusk. Loincloths were especially popular among the tribesmen. Modern Mbuti do not refuse ordinary clothes, which they exchange for game from residents of nearby settlements.

The Mbuti consider themselves an integral part of the forest and react painfully to tree cutting and poaching. All their amulets and charms are made from natural materials; at birth, a baby is bathed in forest water, special magical rituals men use amulets woven from vines and tree bark when they go hunting.

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. Juncker and others, who discovered these tribes in tropical forests basin of the Ituri and Uzle rivers (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 Khirkhuf, a nobleman of the era Ancient 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. Women do most of the work, since the extraction of plant food is the work of women. Every day, women of the entire living group, accompanied by children, collect wild root vegetables, leaves of edible plants and fruits around their camp, 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 of the Negroid race. What are pygmies? Is this population autochthonous? Central Africa? 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 tropical Africa 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.

By external type The Negritos of Asia are close to them, but genetically there are strong differences between them.

Pygmies (Greek Πυγμαῖοι - “people the size of a fist”) are a group of short Negroid peoples living in the equatorial forests of 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. Juncker 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. Women do most of the work, since the extraction of plant food is the work of women. Every day, women of the entire living group, accompanied by children, collect wild root vegetables, leaves of edible plants and fruits around their camp, 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 of the 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.