Children Of The Forest Essays - African Pygmies,

Children Of The Forest Sect.007 Mar.9, 1999 Children of the Forest is a narrative written by Kevin Duffy. This book is a written testament of an anthropologist's everyday dealings with an African tribe by the name of the Mbuti Pygmies. My purpose in this paper is to inform the reader of Kevin Duffy's findings while in the Ituri rainforest. Kevin Duffy is one of the first and only scientists to have ever been in close contact with the Mbuti. If an Mbuti tribesman does not want to be found, they simply won't be. The forest in which the Mbuti reside in are simply to dense and dangerous for humans not familiar with the area to enter. Without them he would simply be wandering aimlessly in the forest. It was very important for Kevin Duffy to win the respect of the tribe when he arrived. The Mbuti are one of the most fascinating of all the uncivilized peoples of the world. This tribe inhabits equatorial Africa near the city of Kisangani in Zaire in the Ituri rainforest. The Mbuti, being the smallest people on earth, live in the most inaccessible place on earth. An Mbuti tribe is almost impossible to find in such a dense forest. The tribe's men and women are only about four and a half foot tall yet they navigate though rich and dense forestry daily in the search for meat and fruit. The Mbuti greatly acknowledge their beloved forest as the supplier of all their worldly needs and possessions. The forest supplies them with food, clothing, shelter, and to them, affection. The Mbuti treat the forest as their parents and see themselves as it's children. They often sing to it in times joy and pray to the forest in times of remorse. Duffy becomes a fly-on-the-wall among this particular Mbuti clan. Not by spying on them, but becoming a friend, a very good friend. The Mbuti trusted him like a brother and invited him into their lives to share everything from the birth Mazero's new child to the death of Ndima, one of the tribes' elders. He was even allowed to film the Mbuti's famous elephant hunt. To achieve this kind of trust among an alien culture is a phenomenal feat. The elephant hunt was the first story that depicted the actual way that the Mbuti hunted and shared their shared their rewards from a hunt. The entire tribe set out in order to search for an elephant for a feast. All the males of the tribe, regardless of age left with spear in hand. Hunting elephants is a very serious threat to Mbuti life. An injured elephant can probably kill many Mbuti simply out of shear rage. Every hunter proceeded with the utmost caution. When an elephant was spotted, everyone stayed back as one of the lead hunters, Arumba, stepped up to take aim at the elephant. The first time, he was unsuccessful because the elephant galloped away right before he had a chance to strike, it took a few more hours to re-track the creature. When it was spotted again Arumba crept up with great stealth and ease and struck the elephant with the spear. Arumba's spear entered deep into the side of it's target. The elephant let out a screech of pain and galloped off again. The Mbuti hun ters then followed the blood trail of the wounded elephant and waited for it to die. They followed this particular elephant for approximately two hours before it stopped running. Word was sent back to camp that an elephant was wounded and that they should be ready to move very soon. Later, the elephant was found again, swaying on it's feet fighting to stay alive. One of the hunters through a stick and hit the elephant in the head, it simply let out a yell, but did not move. This animal is dead, said one of the hunters. They soon approached it and jabbed it lightly with the spear once more, it didn't even budge. Then the elephant dropped to the ground, it was dead now. Arumba checked to see if the massive animal was really dead one more time by touching the elephant's eyelid with his spear, it didn't even