Who are the Pygmies? |
It should be noted that while many of them prefer their tribal name over Pygmy, there is no other term in which to refer to them as a whole.
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The Pygmies are an ethnic group that inhabits the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, a threatened tropical rain forest located in Central Africa. They are composed of four common groups: the Twa of Rwanda, the Baka of Cameroon, the Mbuti of the Central Republic of the Congo, and the Aka of Cameroon.
They are called pygmies because of their incredibly short stature. The most endowed and physically developed of the tribes, the Mbuti, reach five feet tall at most.
Interestingly, the Pygmies are one of the few purely nomadic peoples in the world. They fully source their food, medicine, and home from the rain forest. They live in symbiosis, both supporting and sustaining the other. However, with recent developments in logging, farming, and mining, the Pygmies are losing their home, food, and livelihood to the 'Bantu' people--they're struggling to survive due to the increasingly eroding connection to their local rain forests.
Besides the development and commercial logging disrupting their symbiosis the Bantu people look down upon them. They consider the Pygmies to be sub-human, leading to their mass persecution and massacre. Over 200,000 Pygmies have been murdered thinning out their already dwindling population.
This is a conflict that the Pygmies stand little chance of winning. If something is not done now, many predict that the tropical rainforest of Central Africa, as well as the Pygmies that live within, may disappear within the next 30 years.
They are called pygmies because of their incredibly short stature. The most endowed and physically developed of the tribes, the Mbuti, reach five feet tall at most.
Interestingly, the Pygmies are one of the few purely nomadic peoples in the world. They fully source their food, medicine, and home from the rain forest. They live in symbiosis, both supporting and sustaining the other. However, with recent developments in logging, farming, and mining, the Pygmies are losing their home, food, and livelihood to the 'Bantu' people--they're struggling to survive due to the increasingly eroding connection to their local rain forests.
Besides the development and commercial logging disrupting their symbiosis the Bantu people look down upon them. They consider the Pygmies to be sub-human, leading to their mass persecution and massacre. Over 200,000 Pygmies have been murdered thinning out their already dwindling population.
This is a conflict that the Pygmies stand little chance of winning. If something is not done now, many predict that the tropical rainforest of Central Africa, as well as the Pygmies that live within, may disappear within the next 30 years.