Hewlett, Barry S.. Intimate fathers: the nature and context of Aka pygmy paternal infant care. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991. Print.
Hewlett, Barry S. "Cultural diversity among African
pygmies." In:
Cultural Diversity Among Twentieth-Century Foragers.
Susan Kent, ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print.
"'Pygmies'." - Survival International. © Survival International Charitable Trust, n.d. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/pygmies>.
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<http://www.philosophy.dept.shef.ac.uk/culture&mind/people/boyettea/>.
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Monday, May 5, 2014
Aka Cultural Survival
The Aka have faced many different challenges in the past years. Most recently, "The conflict in the DRC (Congo) has been
especially brutal for the country’s ‘Pygmy’ peoples, who have suffered
killings and rape, and allegedly been the victims of cannibalism from
the heavily armed fighters.
In 2003, Mbuti representatives petitioned the UN to protect their people from horrific abuse by armed militia in Congo, including extremely high incidences of rape of women by the armed men. One of the outcomes has been a soaring rate of HIV/Aids. In living memory, we have seen cruelty, massacres, genocide, but we have never seen human beings hunted and eaten literally as though they were game animals, as has recently happened,’ Sinafasi Makelo, Mbuti spokesman. Where ‘Pygmy’ communities continue to have access to the rich forest resources on which they have traditionally depended, their levels of nutrition are good."
The Aka fall into this category of pygmies and they too have been the target of many new threats. The Aka people are facing the like of loggers who are trying to come in and cultivate the land they use. "In the Congo, multinational logging companies rushed in at the first signs of peace to extract valuable timber. Local communities are often tricked into signing away their rights to the land, losing their cultural heritage, the source of their livelihoods and their food security in exchange for a handful of salt, sugar or a machete. The results are devastating to the people, the forest, the climate and the future of this desperately unstable country. In the wake of the loggers come thousands of settlers, eager to farm on the newly accessible land, hostile to the forest peoples whose lands have been destroyed."(http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/pygmie)
These threats are pushing these people off of their native lands and forcing them to leave behind their native traditions and cultures. The lands and rights of the people are being ripped out right from underneath them and it is destroying their world.
In 2003, Mbuti representatives petitioned the UN to protect their people from horrific abuse by armed militia in Congo, including extremely high incidences of rape of women by the armed men. One of the outcomes has been a soaring rate of HIV/Aids. In living memory, we have seen cruelty, massacres, genocide, but we have never seen human beings hunted and eaten literally as though they were game animals, as has recently happened,’ Sinafasi Makelo, Mbuti spokesman. Where ‘Pygmy’ communities continue to have access to the rich forest resources on which they have traditionally depended, their levels of nutrition are good."
The Aka fall into this category of pygmies and they too have been the target of many new threats. The Aka people are facing the like of loggers who are trying to come in and cultivate the land they use. "In the Congo, multinational logging companies rushed in at the first signs of peace to extract valuable timber. Local communities are often tricked into signing away their rights to the land, losing their cultural heritage, the source of their livelihoods and their food security in exchange for a handful of salt, sugar or a machete. The results are devastating to the people, the forest, the climate and the future of this desperately unstable country. In the wake of the loggers come thousands of settlers, eager to farm on the newly accessible land, hostile to the forest peoples whose lands have been destroyed."(http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/pygmie)
These threats are pushing these people off of their native lands and forcing them to leave behind their native traditions and cultures. The lands and rights of the people are being ripped out right from underneath them and it is destroying their world.
Aka Migrations and Diaspora
The Aka people are a nomadic forest dwelling people primarily from southwestern Central African Republic and the Brazzaville Region of the Republic of the Congo. Although they have never been pushed out of their homelands, they are nomadic so they have tendencies to pick up and move whole small villages to more suitable lands and environments throughout the different seasons. During the 1930's under French rule, the Aka were moved into forest side villages, but this was seen as a fail, as many villagers went back into the forest for they convenience of living where they need to. This is the closest instance I could find of Aka being pushed out of their territories. Another instances of migrating throughout the immediate area is inter-tribal marriages, where a Aka man or woman will be married to someone from another tribe. In most cases Aka woman who marry into other tribes will live with their husbands family, and majority of the time Aka males will stay in their own homes with their new spouse. The newly married couples will live under the same roof of the parents for several years, up to 5, until they move out into their own home/hut. The Aka have tended to stay in the forest for the simple lifestyle suits them. Many people have tried to move them out, but up until recently it was very hard to find any use for the lands of the Aka, so most people left them alone.
Aka and Their Neighbors
The Aka tend to be generally peaceful people who live a egalitarian like life. They tend to be pushed and shoved around by many of their neighbors. This makes most of their neighbors use the Aka for their own benefit. In one instance of a neighboring tribe, the Ngandu believe that they own the Aka. These Ngandu rejoice when Aka have children cause it often means cheap labor in the near future. The Aka have very limited social interactions within the neghboring communities. They practice their own lifestyles and customs, but they often interact during the harvest season. They mainly trade honey for other goods in markets near their villages. Because they practice no ownership over any other tribesman, they do not buy many things because they are forced to share with the whole tribe. This is leading to a decline in farming and trading among the Aka with their neighbors.
Other neighbors of the Aka do not understand the "forest lifestyle" that they live, usually consisting of hunting and gathering during the day, and then dancing and socializing throughout the night.
Other neighbors of the Aka do not understand the "forest lifestyle" that they live, usually consisting of hunting and gathering during the day, and then dancing and socializing throughout the night.
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