The smallest people living in Africa. Pygmies of Africa - the “little people” of the continent
- (Pygmaei, Πυγμαι̃οι). Mythical people dwarfs, the size of πηγμή, τ. i.e. height no more than the distance from elbow to fist. According to Homer, they lived on the shores of the Ocean; Subsequently, the sources of the Nile, as well as India, began to be considered their location. Current... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology
PYGMIES- a group of peoples belonging to the Negrill race, the indigenous population of tropical Africa. They speak the languages Bantu (Twa, 185 thousand people, 1992; Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire), Adamaua of the eastern group (Aka, Binga, etc., 35 thousand people; Congo, Central African Republic) and Shari... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
Pygmies- (foreign language) people are morally insignificant. Wed. For the crowd he is great, for the crowd he is a prophet; For himself he is nothing, for himself he is a pygmy!... Nadson. “Look, there he is!” Cf. In the midst of his wanderings, he loved his poor Fatherland. She is surrounded by blizzards, She is surrounded by pygmies... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)
PYGMIES Modern encyclopedia
Pygmies- From ancient Greek: Pigmaios. Literally: The size of a fist. In ancient times Greek mythology Pygmies were the name given to the fairy-tale people of dwarfs who were so small that they often became victims of cranes, like frogs. Therefore, the dwarfs had to... Dictionary winged words and expressions
PYGMIES- a people of dwarfs who, according to the legendary tales of the Greeks, lived on the shores of the ocean (Homer) and on the sources of the Nile (late writers), where they waged a constant struggle with cranes. Dictionary foreign words, included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907. Pygmies ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
Pygmies- (Pugmaioi), own. people the size of a fist in Greek mythology, a fabulous people of dwarfs living in Libya. The Iliad (III, 6) tells about their battles with the cranes (cf. L. v. Sybel, Mythologie der Ilias, 1877, and L. F. Voevodsky, Introduction to Mythology ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
Pygmies- PYGMIES, a group of peoples: Twa, Binga, Bibaya, Gielli, Efe, Kango, Aka, Mbuti with a total number of 350 thousand people belonging to the Negrill race, indigenous population Tropical Africa. The name comes from the Greek pygmaios (literally the size of... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
pygmies- a group of peoples in Central Africa. Total number 390 thousand people (1995). They speak Bantu languages. Many pygmies retain a wandering lifestyle, archaic culture, and traditional beliefs. * * * PYGMIES PYGMIES, a group of peoples belonging to ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary
PYGMIES- (from the Greek “fist” or “distance” from the fist to the elbow) in Greek mythology, a tribe of dwarfs, symbolizing the barbaric world. The name is associated with the small stature of the pygmies and symbolizes a distorted perception of the true ethnic group. The Greeks determined... ... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia
Books
- Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic achievements of the Leader, the current owners of the Kremlin look like mere dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy the political ones... Buy for 210 rubles
- Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, or Russia, which must be found, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic achievements of the Leader, the current owners of the Kremlin look like mere dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy political...
Dwarfism and gigantism are opposites of the human world that attract attention. In addition to 190 cm giants, Africa is home to the smallest people in the world. And this is not just a glitch in genetics - there is a whole set of factors here that everyone will be interested in learning about.
The smallest people in Africa are called pygmies or negrillies.. Translated from Greek, “people the size of a fist.” Their height ranges from 124 to 150 cm (and dwarfism is considered height below 147 cm).
Pygmies are well adapted to life in tropical rainforests - it is easy for them to move in impassable wilds, their organisms cool better in hot climates and require much less calories for food.
On the mainland there is a fairly large community of pygmies (about 280 thousand people), widespread in equatorial forests Central Africa on the territory of 5 states. They are conventionally divided into Western and Eastern.
Pygmies can be found on all continents: the Philippines, Brazil, Australia, Bolivia, Indonesia, the Fiji and Adaman Islands. Except, tropical forests, the smallest people in the world live in other places (for example, African pygmies tva - in the desert).
Pygmies in history
The first mentions of pygmies are found among the ancient Greeks (III millennium BC) and Egyptians (II millennium BC). And officially the world became acquainted with the pygmies after the independent travels in Africa of the German G. Schweinfurt and the Russian V. Juncker in the 1870s.
In the 60s of the twentieth century, the Belgian researcher J.P. Alle lived for several months in one of the pygmy communities, Efe. He made 2 about the aborigines documentaries and founded charitable foundation. Now this organization provides real help of this people in the Congo, providing them with land for farming.
Genetics, anthropology of pygmies
Many researchers identify pygmies as a special race. Men with a height of one and a half meters are considered giants, and the average height of women fluctuates around 133 cm. African pygmies have light brown skin, a small head with wide forehead and nose, black and curly hair, as well as thin lips.
It is interesting that in appearance the Negritos inhabiting the south and southeast of Asia, as well as the islands of Melanesia and the north of Australia are closest to the pygmies. But genetically the differences are quite large.
Pygmies still have the Neanderthal gene (up to 0.7%). These human ancestors lived from 600 to 350 thousand years ago, and modern man this gene has mutated and is practically not found.
Origin hypotheses
Reasons for short stature
- Hormones
It is not surprising, but the pituitary gland secretes growth hormone in pygmies in the same way as in ordinary people. But Africans do not experience growth acceleration, since the secretion of hormones during puberty does not occur at the proper level.
Already in childhood, strong differences are visible between the same Europeans and pygmies. A five-year-old pygmy is the same in height as a 2-year-old European. And in adolescence(12-15 years), pygmies simply stop growing.
- Malnutrition
Pygmies are not only small, but also extremely delicate. Their nutrition depends largely on luck. For example, the pygmy tribe in the Philippines is considered the thinnest of all human populations. Infant mortality in this tribe accounts for half of the total birth rate.
Therefore, in order to survive, the size of the pygmies decreased from generation to generation.
- Living near the equator
The tropics are characterized by hot and humid climate. In such conditions (if we add forests here), the body will definitely overheat. People usually sweat and thus can avoid heatstroke.
But when high humidity You just won't be able to sweat a lot. The pygmies managed to reduce muscle mass and thus establish thermoregulation.
- Sun deficiency
Dense tropical forests prevent sufficient penetration sunlight(and the formation of vitamin D in the body). Therefore, the skeleton of pygmies is smaller - calcium is not absorbed enough and bone growth is inhibited.
- Lifestyle
One of the main activities of the aborigines in Africa is collecting honey. Pygmies have been doing this for several thousand years, so they have evolved into small and agile people, weighing up to 45 kg, who can climb vertically on branches that can support their weight. Among the Batwa pygmies, even the feet can bend at an angle of 45 degrees, although in ordinary people - only up to 18.
Pygmies even managed to enter into a kind of symbiosis with bees. Bees almost never bite people, and the latter practically do not react to minor stings. But it's worth showing up nearby to the white man and sweat a little - he will have no mercy.
- Small century
Unfortunately, the smallest people in the world live very short lives. Their average duration life is only 24 years, and 40-year-olds are already considered elders. Pygmies survive only due to frequent changes of generations.
Puberty occurs very early in them, simultaneously with growth inhibition. Men begin to reproduce at the age of 12, and the peak birth rate for women is at 15.
Pygmies in the modern world
Modern African pygmies live in forests, obtaining everything they need through hunting and gathering. They kill animals with a bow and arrow.
At the same time, until recently, they did not know how to make fire (they carried it when changing sites) and did not make tools (they exchanged them with neighboring tribes).
A large segment of nutrition (up to 30%) is occupied by collecting fruits and honey. And the pygmies exchange the rest of the food and things (metal, tobacco, clothes, dishes) from nearby farmers for honey and other forest provisions.
Pygmies are constantly wandering. This is due to the custom - when a member of the tribe dies, he is left in the hut where he lived. In this case, the entire community moves to a new place.
Pygmies are very good at medicinal plants. Therefore, no one can prepare a medicinal or poisonous mixture better than them. Even the bulk of the pygmy vocabulary consists of similar words.
Pygmies catch fish in an interesting way. They produce a poison that causes all the fish in the pond to float upside down. But over time, the poison loses its potency and the fish can be eaten.
Slavery and cannibalism
It turns out that slavery still exists in the Republic of the Congo. The neighboring tribe, the Bantu, has pygmy slaves in their families and passes them on by inheritance.
Pygmies obtain food for their masters in the forest in exchange for goods necessary for survival. To be fair, it is worth noting that slaves may well be in the service of several farmers.
And in the province of North Kivu there is still a belief that by eating the flesh of a pygmy, you can get magical powers.
Video
A pygmy is a representative of one of the nationalities living in the equatorial forests of Africa. This is the word 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 wake 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. That's why early 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.
In the tropical forests of the Ituri province of the Republic of Congo live the shortest people on the planet - the pygmies of the Mbuti tribe. Their average height is 135 cm. Light color skin helps them live easily and unnoticed in the forest shade at the Stone Age level.
They do not raise livestock or cultivate plants. They live in close connection with the forest, but no longer than a month in one place. The basis of their diet is picked berries, nuts, honey, mushrooms, fruits and roots, and their shape public organization determined by hunting.
Among the Mbuti who hunt mainly with bows and arrows, the group may consist of only three families, although during the honey season the hunters unite into large groups, required during raids and escapes. But in the West, hunters using nets should have a group of at least from seven families, preferably twice as many. In cases where the group already unites 30 families, it is divided.
There is enough space for 35 thousand Mbuti in the Ituri forests. Each group occupies its own territory, always leaving a decent-sized common area of land in the center of the thicket.
The group as a whole considers itself a single family. And this is the main social unit, although the group does not always consist of relatives. Its composition can also change with each monthly nomadic journey. Therefore, there are no leaders or permanent leaders. In any case, all members of the group are in solidarity with each other.
When hunting, the family is divided into age groups. The older men set traps and ambush them with darts and clubs. Young men stay at a distance with arrows in their hands, so that if the game escapes, they can kill it. And women and children are behind the young hunters, facing them and waiting for the caught game to be put into baskets. They carry baskets behind their backs and are held in place by straps placed on their foreheads. When the group has caught game for the day, it returns to the campsite, collecting everything edible along the way. Then the food is cooked over a fire.
The most disgusting crime among the Pygmies is when some cunning hunter sets up nets at the time of driving in game. The main catch ends up in his hands, and he doesn’t share it with anyone. But justice is restored simply and impressively. All the spoils are taken from the sly man, and his family remains hungry.”
A curious Englishman, Colin Turnbull, decided to conduct an experiment. He really wanted to check how the pygmy would behave outside his forest. This is what he writes: “I persuaded experienced hunter Kenge come with me to national reserve Ishango, to the savannah, which is teeming with game. We loaded up with all sorts of provisions, got into the car and drove off. Since it was pouring rain, Kenge did not even notice that the forest was left behind. When we drove out onto a grassy plain, my companion began to grumble: “Not a single tree, what a bad country.”
The only thing that calmed him down was the promise of large quantities game. But then he was upset again when he learned that it was impossible to hunt this game. When we climbed the slope and looked out over the plain, Kenge was dumbfounded. In front of him, a green plain stretched to the horizon, merging with Lake Edward. Without end and without edge. And elephants, antelopes, buffaloes, etc. graze everywhere. Kenge had never seen anything like this before.
“This meat would last for many months,” he said dreamily. I got into the car and kept getting out of it until we left the reserve. The next day, Kenge felt more confident and said:
- I was wrong, this good place, although I don't like it. Here the sky is clear and the earth is clean. If only there were more trees... On the way back, the deeper we drove into the forest, the louder Kenge sang. At the camp he was greeted as a hero
The Mbuti tribe are pygmies living in eastern Zaire, numbering approximately 100 thousand people and speaking the Efe language. Their dark glory as merciless hunters is distinguished by a rather peaceful way of life, compared to the warlike North Kenyan tribes. All tribes have already been discovered, because European missionaries do not leave any ethnic group without their attention.
Mbuti pygmies change their sites once every five years in order to migrate closer and closer to civilization - near roads and rivers they can exchange their prey in the form of skins, meat, wild fruits and berries for the achievements they need cultural life- salt, matches, metal objects.
Mbuti tribe
They also became interested in clothing, so it is almost impossible to see their famous skirts made of leaves and tree bark. The Mbuti come into contact for such natural exchanges with the sedentary and civilized Bantus (translated from Swahili - “people”).
Bantu is a linguistic group of most of the Zairian tribes and many other African peoples, the literal linguistic name of which means sedentary people, tall.
Some argue that by this act the hunters atone for their guilt for depriving the forest of game and vegetation, as among the pygmies ambivalence to the hunt. It brings them joy, pleasure, and they love to eat meat, but still they believe that it is not good to take the life of living beings, for God created not only the people of the forest, but also the animals of the forest.
Children in the most early age They instill the idea of dependence on the forest, faith in it, make them feel like they are part of the forest, and therefore they are entrusted with the responsibility of kindling a redemptive fire, without which there will be no successful hunt.
The high mobility of pygmies also leads to the unstable nature of social organization. Since the composition and size of groups changes all the time, they cannot have leaders or individual leaders, since they, like other people, can leave and leave the group without a leader. And since the Mbuti do not have a lineage system, it would be difficult to share leadership when the group splits into smaller units once a year. Here in the system of government it also plays important role age, and everyone except children has their own responsibilities. But even children play a certain role: bad behavior (laziness, grumpiness, selfishness) is corrected not with the help of a punishment system - it does not exist among the pygmies - but simply by ridiculing the offender. Children can do this very well. For them, this is a game, but through it they comprehend the moral values of adult life and quickly correct the behavior of the offender, making him laugh. Young people are more likely to influence the lives of adults, in particular, they may express their dissatisfaction with the group or approval of the group as a whole rather than individuals during religious holiday please. Adult hunters have the final say in economic matters, but that’s all. Elders act as arbiters and make decisions on the most important issues groups, and the elderly are universally respected.
The closeness that exists between the Mbuti Pygmies and their forest world, manifests itself in the fact that they humanize the forest, calling it father and mother, since it gives them everything they need, even life. They don't try to control the world around us, but adapt to it, and this is the fundamental difference between their attitude towards the forest and the attitude towards the forest of its other inhabitants - fishermen and farmers. The Mbuti's technique is very simple, and other tribes who own a certain amount of material wealth consider hunters to be poor. But such material wealth would only hinder the Mbuti nomads, and the technology they have in sufficiently satisfies their needs. They do not burden themselves with any excess. They make clothes from bark broken by a piece of elephant tusk, from skins and vines they make bags in which they carry children on their backs, quivers for arrows, bags, jewelry and ropes for weaving hunting nets. The Mbuti build shelters in a few minutes from young shoots and leaves, cutting them with metal machetes and knives that they receive from farmers living nearby. They say that if they did not have metal, they would use stone tools, but this is doubtful - the pygmies are gradually entering into iron age.
The abundant gifts of the forest can be judged at least from the kasuku tree - the resin from its top is needed for cooking, and the resin taken from the roots of the tree is used to illuminate homes. The Mbuti also use this resin to seal the seams of the bark boxes in which they collect honey. Child with early years learns to use the world around him so as not to destroy it, but only to take everything he needs in at the moment. His education comes down to imitation of adults. His toys are replicas of objects that adults use: a boy learns to shoot slow-moving animals with a bow, and a girl goes into the forest and picks mushrooms and nuts in her tiny basket. Thus, children provide economic assistance, getting some food, although for them it is just a game.
Thanks to the sense of interdependence and community, brought up from birth, the pygmies as a single collective oppose the neighboring tribes of forest farmers, who have a completely different attitude towards the forest and consider it dangerous place, which must be cleared in order to survive. The pygmies trade with these farmers, but not for economic reasons, but simply to prevent farmers from entering their forest in search of meat and other forest products that the peasants always need. Villagers are afraid of both the people of the forest and the forest itself, protecting themselves from them with rituals and magic.
The only magical remedy for hunters is of a “sympathetic” nature - a talisman made from forest vines decorated with tiny pieces of wood, or mastic made from ash forest fires, mixed with the fat of some animal and placed in the horn of an antelope; it is then smeared on the body to ensure successful hunt. The idea of such a talisman is simple: if the Mbuti comes into even closer physical contact with the forest, then his needs will certainly be satisfied. These acts are more religious than "magical" in nature, as seen in the example of a mother who swaddles her newborn baby in a special robe made from a piece of bark (although now the mother could get soft cloth), and decorates the baby with amulets made of vines, leaves and pieces of wood, and then bathes him in the forest water that accumulates in some of the thick vines. With the help of this physical contact, the mother, as it were, devotes the child to the forest and asks for his protection. When trouble comes, as the Mbuti say, all they have to do is sing the sacred songs of the Molimo ceremony, “wake up the forest with them” and draw its attention to their children - then everything will be all right. It is a rich but simple faith, presenting a striking contrast to the beliefs and practices of neighboring tribes.
But otherwise, the life of the Mbuti has not changed in any way; they, as in past centuries, remain the same gatherers and nomadic hunters, preserving their traditional culture.
Video: Ritual dances of African pygmies.
Baka pygmies inhabit rainforests in southeastern Cameroon, northern Republic of Congo, northern Gabon and southwestern Central African Republic. In February 2016, photographer and journalist Susan Shulman spent several days among the Baka pygmies, reporting on their lives.
Tropical rain forests - their natural environment habitat. Their main occupations are hunting and gathering; in this harmonious unity with nature they live for centuries, and their world is determined by the presence of forests. Pygmy tribes are scattered across Africa over an area of 178 million hectares.
Pygmies are distinguished from representatives of other African tribes by their miniature size - their height rarely exceeds 140 cm. In the photo above, members of the tribe are conducting a traditional hunting ceremony.
Susan Shulman became interested in the lives of the Baka pygmies after hearing about Louis Sarno - American scientist, who has been living among the Baka pygmies in Central Africa for 30 years, in rain forest between Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.
Louis Sarno is married to a woman from the tribe, and all these years he has been studying, helping and treating the Baka pygmies. According to him, half of the children do not live to be five years old, and if he left the tribe for at least a year, he would be afraid to return, because he would not find many of his friends alive. Louis Sarno is now in his early sixties, and the average life expectancy of Baka pygmies is forty years.
Louis Sarno not only provides medical supplies, but also does other things: he acts as a teacher for children, a lawyer, a translator, an archivist, a writer and a chronicler for a community of 600 Baka pygmies in the village of Yandoubi.
Louis Sarno came to live with the Pygmies in the mid-80s after he heard their music on the radio one day and decided to go and record as much of their music as possible. And he doesn’t regret it one bit. He has the opportunity to regularly visit America and Europe, but always returns to Africa. You could say that a song led him to the heart of Africa.
Baka pygmy music is a yodeling-like multi-sound chant set against a backdrop of natural sounds. tropical forest. Imagine the polyphony of 40 female voices and a drum rhythm tapped by four men on plastic barrels.
Louis Sarno claims he's never heard anything like it before, and it's divine.
Their hypnotic music usually acts as a prelude to a hunt, as the tribe sings to summon the forest spirit called Bobi and ask him for permission to hunt in his forest.
Dressed in a suit of leaves, the "spirit of the forest" grants permission to the tribe and blesses those who will take part in tomorrow's hunt. In the photo above, a pygmy is about to go hunting with a net.
The diet of the tribe is based on the meat of monkeys and blue duiker, a small forest antelope, but in lately There are fewer and fewer of these animals in the forest. This is due to poaching and logging.
“Poachers hunt at night, they scare the animals with torches and calmly shoot them while they stand paralyzed with fear. The nets and arrows of the tank pygmies can't compete with firearms poachers.
Deforestation and poachers seriously devastate the forest and greatly harm the way of life of the Baka pygmies. Many of these poachers are members of the neighboring Bantu ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the population in the region,” says Susan Shulman.
As the rain forests in which the Baka live are gradually depleted, their future forest house is in question, since it is unclear where all this will lead.
Historically, the Bantu tribe considered the Baka pygmies to be “subhuman” and discriminated against them. Currently, relations between them have improved, but some echoes of the past still make themselves felt.
Since traditional life the pygmy tank becomes more complex and problematic day by day, to the younger generation have to look for work in cities where Bantu dominate.
“Young people are now at the forefront of change. There are very few opportunities for them to earn money. As hunting resources dwindle in the forest, you have to look for other opportunities - and this is usually just temporary work for the Bantu, who offer, say, $1 for five days of hunting - and even then they often forget to pay,” says Susan.