Ant 101 - Mbuti Case

Mbuti

Zach Loveless

ANT 101

Jessie Cohen

August 1, 2011

The Mbuti will soon be homeless because of deforestation caused by war, and politics which are helping destroy the Ituri rainforest, even though they have lived in Ituri for 6000 years, making them the oldest surviving people. They are one of the oldest groups to live in the area of the Ituri rainforest in Congo. Since they are hunter gatherers, they are classified as foragers. They live in bands ranging from fifteen to sixty people. In these bands, there are groups that are based on nuclear families. All together, there are anywhere from thirty to forty thousand members of the Mbuti tribe. Some people call the Mbuti the Bambuti, but either title works. Which way they are called is really a matter of who they are being called that by and where they are from.

The Mbuti are a tribe of people who live off the land, and have very few worldly possessions, if any at all. They take what they need to survive from the rainforest, and that is all. When they build homes, they use what they find in the forest, and use their hands to build them. They are a self sustaining people who have lived in the Ituri rainforest for over six thousand years. They face homelessness soon though, as the rainforest is destroyed by war, as well as people hunting, and having little, to no regard for the ecosystem that is sustained there. The Mbuti still continue to live in the Ituri rainforest and continue to do what they have done for years there, and that is live the best way, and only way that they can.

Since the Mbuti live in such small bands, that means they do not have much in the way of a political organization. They also have little in the way of social structure. Any issues, or conflicts that come up are discussed over campfires in groups. The Mbuti have no chiefs or even any type of formal council of elders. They believe in a benevolent forest deity. All important occasions, including the maturity of boys and girls (Nkumbi for boys, Elima for girls), marriage, and death, are all marked by special songs designed “to rejoice the forest” (Britannica, 2011). Some of these occasions are marked by the Molimo feast.

The women of the tribe are seen as equals within the tribe. The women and children can, and will help with the hunting, which is usually the man's job in other cultures. The men will also gather, which is usually the job that is handled by the women and children in other cultures.

While hunting for food, the Mbuti people will eat all types of foods. Animal based foods that they eat includes antelopes, ants, crabs, fish, honey, larvae, monkeys, pigs, shellfish, and snails. They also