Baka people (Cameroon and Gabon)

The Baka people are the principal hunter-gatherers of the tropical rainforest of Central West Africa.[11] Groups establish temporary camps of huts constructed of bowed branches covered in large leaves (though today more and more homes are constructed following Bantu methods).

The Baka hunt and gather their own food. The men hunt and trap in the surrounding forest, using poisoned arrows and spears to great effect. The men also welcome the help of dogs when going on hunting excursions.

Fishing is very important in Baka culture as young boys are taught to use fishing rods at a young age.[11] The men fish using chemicals obtained from crushed plant material. Using fast-moving river water, they disperse the chemical downstream. This non-toxic chemical deprives fish of oxygen, making them float to the surface and easily collected by Baka men. Another method of fishing, performed generally only by women, is dam fishing, in which water is removed from a dammed area and fish are taken from the exposed ground. Children and adolescent-girls often accompany the women when they go fish-bailing in nearby streams. More than only fishing with adults, their job is also to help the women by watching over the infants while they fish.[11] Women cultivate plants, such as plantains, cassavas and bananas,[11] and practice beekeeping. The group remains in one area until it is hunted out. It then abandons the camp and settles down in a different portion of the forest. The group is communal and makes decisions by consensus.

During the dry season, it is common for the Baka to move and set camp within the forest in order to facilitate fishing and overall nutritional gathering.[11] The Baka are the most active during these dry seasons. Men hunt from dawn until dusk and the women gather two types of fruits: the "mabe" and the "peke", which are used for the provision of juice and nuts. The Baka people continue to monitor bee activity in order to obtain honey or "poki".[12]

The Baka worship the forest spirit called Jengi (also known as Djengui or Ejengi).[4] The spirit plays the role of the mediator between the supreme being, Komba, and the Baka people.[13] The Baka thus compare Jengi to a protecting father or guardian.[4] They strongly believe and revere Jengi as they believe that he is the only way to Komba. The Baka people believe Jengi to be omnipresent within the forest allowing him to punish transgressors within the confines of the forest. Ultimately, the Baka worship nature as it is Komba, not Jengi, that resides in it.[4]

After hunting successfully, the Baka worship Jengi with songs of thanksgiving and dancing in a ritual called Luma.[4] These rituals are necessary for Jengi to appear before the Baka, as they believe that he only shows himself when harmony reigns among the villagers.[13] Jengi also appears during the important ceremony, Jengi, where a young man goes from being a boy to a man.[4] During these ceremonies, young Baka men volunteer to be initiated by Jengi. Once they are initiated, they have the right to live and walk freely within the sacred forest.[13] This secret ceremony was studied by anthropologist, Mauro Campagnoli, who claims having been able to partake.[4] Journalist Paul Raffaele describes his experience with Jengi:

"Emerging from the shadows were half a dozen Baka men accompanying a creature swathed from top to bottom in strips of russet-hued raffia. It had no features, no limbs, no face. "It's Ejengi," said Wasse, his voice trembling. At first I was sure it was a Pygmy camouflaged in foliage, but as Ejengi glided across the darkened clearing, the drums beat louder and faster, and as the Pygmies' chanting grew more frenzied, I began to doubt my own eyes."[8]

Death is considered to be a misfortune for the Baka. They deem the death of one of their own to be a representation of spiritual discord. Each tribe, having witnessed the death of one of their own, is required to pray to Jengi and dance around the debris covered corpse for an entire night. The dance performed during the death rituals is called the Mbouamboua. After a long night of dancing, the villagers depart from where they were stationed, leaving the corpse behind, and set out to move somewhere else in order to flee the curse.[13]

In socio-economic and political spheres, the Baka people are not seen as equal to the Bantu villagers.[12] The Baka rely on the farmers for trade opportunities. They exchange some of their primary goods (fruits, wild nuts, medicinal plants etc.) for money and industrial goods. The farmers are the Baka’s only connection to the modern Cameroonian or Gabonese bureaucracies. Because of this, the Baka often work as indentured servants to the farmers. The Baka thus follow most of the farmers’ orders. This unbalanced relationship often causes tensions between the two groups.[12] These inequalities are perpetuated by the fact that some of the villagers speak French (the national language of Cameroon and Gabon) but none of the Baka do.[11]

The Baka People form an acephalous society, one in which there are no political leaders or hierarchies.[18] This makes it difficult for the Baka to assimilate to the political landscapes of Gabon and Cameroon. According to anthropologist Alec Leonhardt, the Baka people are deprived of their human rights. Leonhardt explains that the fight for Baka rights is not on Cameroon and Gabon's political agendas and neither is it on the "policy agenda" of the U. N Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a working group whose purpose is to fight for the rights of indigenous peoples.[18]

Being hunter-gatherers as opposed to farmers, the Baka face troubles when education is concerned. Because the Baka are an ethnic minority in both Cameroon and Gabon, they are often either excluded from their respective school systems or forced to forgo their culture and assimilate to the Bantu. Formal schooling for Baka youth can often be difficult for them to handle because it does not fit in with their nomadic way of life.[11]

According to anthropologist Kamei Nabutaka, although there are public schools for all children, the Baka often choose not to attend because education is generally not a central part of Baka culture. Secondly, she explains that the Baka choose not to attend school due to their physical distance from these schools as most of the formal schools are built outside of Baka settlements. The Baka also tend to feel uncomfortable in these public schools as they are often despised by their Bantu neighbors and made fun of for their small height. Furthermore, they do not feel at ease when attending school because they do not understand the language as the only languages accepted within these schools are French and Bantu languages. Kamei also describes the economic reasons behind why the Baka children do not attend public schools. Baka parents are often unable to afford sending their children to school as only a small fragment of the Baka society is pecuniary.[11]

In recent years, deforestation of the tropical forest has greatly increased. For example, some deforestation projects have been initiated in order to procure palm oil which is heavily found within the confines of the forest.[19] Survival International has recently set up an initiative to help the Baka people survive the extreme deforestation of their homes.[20]

Deforestation impacts the Baka as the forest is their home. Anthropologist Shiho Hattori, recorded about 100 instruments that the Baka use daily for cooking, hunting and gathering, rituals etc.[12] Out of these 100 utensils, Hattori reports that 40 (or about 2/5) of these utensils were made "partly or entirely out of natural resources" found in the forest. These deforestation projects can be extremely detrimental to the Baka as they will be destroying the environment on which they so heavily rely for absolute subsistence as well as for economic standing in face of the farmers.[12]