Pygmies - a dwarf tribe, Africa. Pygmy is an inhabitant of the equatorial forests of Africa

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 the entire Central Africa, but were then forced out into the tropical forest area.

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 butcher it, 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. 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.

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A pygmy is a representative of one of the nationalities living in equatorial forests Africa. This word is of Greek origin and means “a man the size of a fist.” This name is quite justified, given the average height of representatives of these tribes. Find out who the pygmies of Africa are and how they differ from others on the hottest continent.

Who are the pygmies?

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

At home

The buildings in which representatives of this people live are made of twigs and leaves, holding everything together with clay. Oddly enough, building and repairing huts here is the job of women. A man, having decided to build a new house, must go to the elder for permission. If the elder agrees, he hands 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. The man does this; all other construction concerns fall on the woman’s shoulders.

Lifestyle

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, as long as there is game around their village. When there are no more unafraid animals, the nomads leave 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 entire tribe, if one of its members dies, migrates, believing that the forest does not want anyone to live in this place. The deceased is buried in his hut, a funeral is held, and the next morning the entire settlement goes deep into the forest to build a new village.

Production

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

Bottom line

The pygmies are accustomed to the traditions of their life, which have been established for centuries. Despite the fact that the state government is trying to teach them a more civilized life, cultivation of the land and a settled existence, they continue to remain far from this. The pygmies, photographed by many researchers studying their customs, refuse any innovations in their everyday life and continue to do what their ancestors did for many centuries.

It turns out that they have their own dwarfs. They are the Mbuti tribe who live in the forests of Ituri province in Congo. In this case, the height of men rarely reaches 140 cm, women - 130 cm. In terms of their physical structure, the pygmies of the Mbuti tribe are thin people of the Negroid type, living in Stone Age conditions. They have almost no idea about modern civilization. All their knowledge is aimed only at survival. The knowledge itself is religious prohibitions on mixing in sexual matters with other African peoples and the experience of survival.
Photo: Depositphotos

When examining the tribe, medical scientists found that short stature is completely normal for the Mbuti. Tribe members do not have any diseases that would inhibit growth. There are no external negative food factors. The food of the pygmies of this tribe is all environmentally friendly - berries, mushrooms, nuts, edible roots, meat of wild animals, fish. Pygmies do not have agriculture or livestock farming. Everything that is obtained by gathering and hunting is eaten on the same day. The next day we need to look for food again.

Pygmies' skills include the ability to make a fire and build a dwelling out of sticks and large leaves. When hunting - the ability to sneak up on prey unnoticed. Large game is killed with wooden spears with the end burnt for sharpness. Small game is killed with arrows and clubs, or simply caught by hand. The fish are "stunned" plant poison and when she half-asleep floats to the surface, they catch her with her hands. Among the valuables - only “clothing” in the form of loincloths made of vegetation, sometimes - fabric clothing received from rare tourists and travelers.

Photo: ru.wikipedia.org

Group of scientists long time believed that the short stature of pygmies is due to the fact that they live in difficult jungles. They say that it is the small stature that facilitates rapid movement among vines and fallen trees. Again, they say, short stature helps to sneak up on game unnoticed. In a word, evolution itself decided how to adapt the pygmies to the difficult forest life. And then short pygmies were discovered in a shroud with almost no trees. Why then are they short?

All pygmies belong to the Negroid race. Their development stopped many thousands of years ago. The reason for this has not yet been clarified by scientists. There are only assumptions that, having been “stuck” in the Stone Age, the pygmies themselves do not at all strive to leave it. They are satisfied with everything in life.



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The daily life of the pygmies is interesting. They do not have clear “leadership”. But responsibilities are distributed according to age and gender. Everything that was found or obtained from food during the day is divided according to age and need for food. When dividing, the degree of personal “contribution” to the well-being of the tribe is taken into account.

Pygmy children grow up very early. A child who is only three years old is already taken to pick berries, mushrooms and even dangerous hunt. The only cultural thing is dancing. Moreover, they are monotonous and accompanied by the sound of their feet tapping on the ground.
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The average pygmy is about 40 years old. The main danger is death from predatory animals and snakes. The most dangerous snake- python. It camouflages itself well and, if accidentally approached, instantly wraps itself around the pygmy’s body and strangles it. The second danger is infectious diseases. Although pygmies do not enter into sexual contact with other African tribes similar in genotype, when visiting their former sites during migrations through the jungle, they use forgotten things. Most often - clothes. Diseases are usually transmitted through it.


The name "pygmies" literally means "people the size of a fist." IN equatorial Africa There are many peoples whose height could be defined 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 amulets are made from natural materials; at birth, a baby is bathed in forest water; men perform special magical rituals using amulets woven from vines and tree bark when they go hunting.

Etc.; formerly supposed pygmy languages

Religion

Traditional Beliefs

Racial type

Negrillian type of the large Negroid race


Pygmies(Greek Πυγμαῖοι - “people the size of a fist”) - a group of short Negroid peoples living in the equatorial forests of Africa. Another name for African pygmies is negrilli.

Evidence

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).

Pygmies in mythology

Physical type

Among the Efe and Sua peoples living east of the Baka, small children are initially born - the growth limiter is activated during intrauterine development. Baka children are born normal, but in the first two years of life, Baka children grow noticeably slower than Europeans.

Occupation

Pygmies are forest dwellers, and for them the forest is the source of everything they need for life. The main occupations are hunting and gathering. Pygmies don't make stone tools labor, previously did not know how to make fire (they carried the source of fire with them). The hunting weapon is a bow with arrows with metal tips, and these tips are often poisoned. Iron is exchanged with neighbors.

Language

Pygmies usually speak the languages ​​of the peoples around them - Efe, Asua, Bambuti, etc. There are some phonetic differences in the Pygmies' dialects, but with the exception of the Baka people, the Pygmies have lost their native languages.

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Notes

Literature

  • Putnam E. Eight Years Among the Pygmies / Anne Putnam; With a preface and ed. B. I. Sharevskaya; Artist B. A. Diodorov. - M.: Publishing House of Oriental Literature, 1961. - 184 p. - (Travel to Eastern countries). - 75,000 copies.(region)

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Excerpt characterizing the Pygmies

“Dr... or stupid!...” he said.
“And that one is gone! They were already gossiping about her too,” he thought about the little princess, who was not in the dining room.
-Where is the princess? – he asked. - Hiding?...
“She’s not entirely healthy,” said Mlle Bourienne, smiling cheerfully, “she won’t come out.” This is so understandable in her situation.
- Hm! hmm! ugh! ugh! - said the prince and sat down at the table.
The plate did not seem clean to him; he pointed to the spot and threw it. Tikhon picked it up and handed it to the barman. The little princess was not unwell; but she was so insurmountably afraid of the prince that, having heard how out of sorts he was, she decided not to go out.
“I’m afraid for the child,” she said to m lle Bourienne, “God knows what can happen from fright.”
In general, the little princess lived in Bald Mountains constantly under a feeling of fear and antipathy towards the old prince, which she was not aware of, because fear was so dominant that she could not feel it. There was also antipathy on the part of the prince, but it was drowned out by contempt. The princess, having settled down in Bald Mountains, especially fell in love with m lle Bourienne, spent her days with her, asked her to spend the night with her, and often talked to her about her father-in-law and judged him.
“Il nous arrive du monde, mon prince, [Guests are coming to us, prince.],” said m lle Bourienne, unfolding her pink hands white napkin. “Son excellence le prince Kouraguine avec son fils, a ce que j"ai entendu dire? [His Excellency Prince Kuragin with his son, how much have I heard?],” she said questioningly.
“Hm... this boy of excellence... I assigned him to the college,” the prince said offended. “Why son, I can’t understand.” Princess Lizaveta Karlovna and Princess Marya may know; I don’t know why he’s bringing this son here. I don't need it. – And he looked at his blushing daughter.
- Unwell, or what? Out of fear of the minister, as that idiot Alpatych said today.
- No, mon pere. [father.]
No matter how unsuccessfully M lle Bourienne found herself on the subject of conversation, she did not stop and chatted about greenhouses, about the beauty of a new blossoming flower, and the prince softened after the soup.
After dinner he went to his daughter-in-law. The little princess sat at a small table and chatted with Masha, the maid. She turned pale when she saw her father-in-law.
The little princess has changed a lot. She was more bad than good now. The cheeks sank, the lip rose upward, the eyes were drawn downwards.
“Yes, it’s some kind of heaviness,” she answered when the prince asked what she felt.
- Do you need anything?
- No, merci, mon pere. [Thank you, father.]
- Well, okay, okay.
He went out and walked to the waitress. Alpatych stood in the waiter's room with his head bowed.
– Is the road blocked?
- Zakidana, your Excellency; Forgive me, for God's sake, for one stupidity.
The prince interrupted him and laughed his unnatural laugh.
- Well, okay, okay.
He extended his hand, which Alpatych kissed, and walked into the office.
In the evening Prince Vasily arrived. He was met at the prespekt (that’s the name of the avenue) by coachmen and waiters, who shouted and drove his carts and sleighs to the outbuilding along a road deliberately covered with snow.
Prince Vasily and Anatoly were given separate rooms.
Anatole was sitting, having taken off his doublet and resting his hands on his hips, in front of the table, at the corner of which he, smiling, intently and absentmindedly directed his beautiful big eyes. He looked upon his entire life as a continuous amusement that someone like that for some reason undertook to arrange for him. Now he looked at his trip to the evil old man and the rich ugly heiress in the same way. All this could have turned out, he supposed, very well and funny. Why not marry if she is very rich? It never interferes, Anatole thought.
He shaved and perfumed himself with care and panache, which had become his habit, and with a good-natured, victorious expression innate to him, carrying high beautiful head, entered his father's room. Two valets were busy around Prince Vasily, dressing him; he himself looked around animatedly and nodded cheerfully to his son as he entered, as if he were saying: “So, that’s exactly what I need you for!”
- No, no joke, father, is she very ugly? A? - he asked, as if continuing a conversation he had had more than once during the trip.
- That's enough. Nonsense! The main thing is to try to be respectful and reasonable with the old prince.
“If he scolds, I’ll leave,” said Anatole. “I can’t stand these old people.” A?
– Remember that everything depends on this for you.
At this time, the arrival of the minister with his son was not only known in the maid's room, but appearance both of them have already been described in detail. Princess Marya sat alone in her room and tried in vain to overcome her inner agitation.
“Why did they write, why did Lisa tell me about this? After all, this cannot be! - she said to herself, looking in the mirror. - How do I get out into the living room? Even if I liked him, I couldn’t be on my own with him now.” The thought of her father's gaze terrified her.
The little princess and m lle Bourienne had already received all the necessary information from the maid Masha about what a ruddy, black-browed handsome minister's son was, and about how daddy dragged them with force to the stairs, and he, like an eagle, walking three steps at a time, ran after him. Having received this information, the little princess and M lle Bourienne, still audible from the corridor in their animated voices, entered the princess’s room.

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