Overview
The Aka pygmies are a hunter-gatherer group living in the tropical forest regions of South Central Africa and north Congo-Brazzaville. The camps in which they live range from 25 to 30 individuals. They share a trading partner relationship with the Ngandu agriculturalists.
Cultural history
The prehistory of the Aka is a hotly debated subject. Certain lines of evidence suggest that the Aka have occupied the forest independently until the Bantu expansion 2000 years ago, while ecological evidence may suggest that the forest would not provide enough carbohydrates to support a society such as the Aka. Some researchers suggest that the Aka may have lived at forest margins, exploiting both the resources of the forest and of the savanna. Ethnohistoric accounts such as those by Homer, Herodotus, and Aristotle support a history of forest occupation (Hewlett 1991).
Language
The Aka language is a distinct Bantu language of the Benu-Congo group. This is also the language of their Ngandu trading partners (Hewlett 1991).
Subsistence Activities
The Aka are considered transitional hunter-gatherers due to the fact that roughly 50% of their diet comes from domesticated village products (Hewlett and Cavalli Sforza 1986). However, they devote 56% of their time to hunting, 27% to gathering, and only 17% working in the Ngandu village (though these numbers vary seasonally). Trade is done with farmers for the majority of the vegetables in their diet. For three to four months each year, the Aka will live in villages and clear fields for the Bantu.
Hunting
Hunted game includes hogs, elephants, duikers, and monkeys (Hewlett 1991). The Aka hunt primarily with nets, though other methods are employed. The majority of the nets are made and maintained by men even though women and men participate in net hunting equally. Net hunting is practiced most of the year, and the target animal is the duiker. Men and women take turns in the roles occupied during net hunting. Most often, men will chase the animals into the nets while the women trap them (called banda), and other times the roles are reversed (mbembo) (Heweltt 1991). From January to May, the dry season, 67.2 % of the day is spent on net hunts (Hewlett and Walker 1990).
Other hunting is done with cross bows with poison arrows and spears. Monkeys are the game most often hunted by crossbow, while hogs and elephants are hunted with spears. Women do not participate in spear hunting, but occasionally participate in crossbow hunting. Trapping is also an important aspect of hunting. Medium-sized game such as rat, mongoose, and porcupine are hunted using traps. Both men and women participate in trapping (Keith 2006: 31).
Aka men may be gone for days or weeks at a time while hunting pigs and elephants. During this time, women obtain meat by hunting with nets with relatives.
Gathering
Gathering staples in the Aka diet include honey, fruit, mushrooms, cocoa, nuts, and caterpillars. Women are the primary gatherers, and may do this in groups or alone. Gathering honey is usually done by Aka men (Hewlett 1991). During the wet season, August and September, 60% of the day is spent gathering food (Hewlett and Walker 1990).
The Aka exploit the leaves, roots, nuts, and fruits of 63 plant species. They gather 20 varieties of insects, including termites, crickets, grubs and caterpillars. Honey is gathered from 8 species of bee, and 12 species of mushroom are eaten by the Aka.
Relationship with the Ngandu
The Aka work in a semisymbiotic relationship with the Ngandu agriculturalists, who moved into the Ituri region about 120 years ago. They farm manioc, plantain, yams, taro, maize, cucumbers, squash, okra, mango, pineapple, and rice. They also keep chickens, ducks, goat, sheep, and dogs. Most Ngandu farmers keep coffee as a cash crop. The Ngandu occasionally hunt, but most of their meat is obtained through trade with the Aka, in which the Aka obtain most of the vegetation in their diet. The Ngandu see themselves as owners of the Aka, and this can be manifested as a nearly egalitarian relationship, or an extremely exploitative one (Hewlett 1991).
Social Structure
The Aka are patrilineal and patrilocal, but many husbands live with their bride's family as part of the "bride service" until their first infant is able to walk independently. Aka kinship terms are generational, with one word used for both mother and mother's sister, or one word describing all grandchildren. Clan exogamy is preferred.
The Aka recognize few status positions. The kombeti does not act as a traditional chief, but is influential in group decision-making. He also acts as a liaison between the the Aka and the Ngandu. The nganga is the healer in the group. His responsibilities include divination while hunting, the curing of witchcraft, and herbal remedies. The tuma is the great hunter of the group, and has usually killed several elephants alone. He leads the spear hunts, as well as the associated rituals. The tuma also organizes the education of young Aka men for the secret society. These people of status hold little actual power in the group, but instead influence people with "hospitality, persuasiveness, humor, and knowledge, not by their position" (Hewlett 1991).
The Aka are egalitarian and independent. Many of their cultural practices reinforce these values. Prestige avoidance, where one must not be boastful of accomplishments is particularly important. Rough joking is employed when a member forgets the rules of prestige avoidance. Demand sharing also reinforces egalitarianism, and discourages farming as well, since any Aka who has invested time into tending a plot must share everything from that plot with his family and friends.
Division of Labor and Gender Relations
Both men and women in the Aka culture play important roles to sustain the group. In most of their daily activities, men and women cooperate extensively. Even though some tasks are delegated to different sexes, each member of the group assists one another when in need. By cross-cultural standards, the Aka are highly egalitarian.
Men are the primary hunters, and also help care for children and gather. Women's tasks are primarily associated with gathering, cooking, and child care. Women also are responsible for shared activities such as house building, trapping, and some hunting. Net hunting is a community activity.
Between the sexes, there are many activities shared, and neither sex is accountable for any certain activity. Husbands and wives generally spend 47% of their subsistence time within sight of each other, but also enjoy spending this time with members of the same sex. Generally, the distribution of food is carried out by the person who obtained the food, whether gathered or hunted (Keith 2006: 31).
Women are afforded the same political powers as men, but do not receive titles such as kombeti. Violence among the Aka is rare, and is virtually unheard of against women. Conflicts between husband and wife are usually resolved through talking and joking. Occasionally, women will act in violence toward men. This violence is often displayed as the destruction of a man's house and refusing to rebuild it, as women are the better builders among the Aka.
Family
Aka fathers are sometimes touted as the "best fathers in the world." Aka fathers hold their babies an average of one hour per 12-hour period. Holding children is important in reducing infant mortality. The roles of father and mother are virtually interchangeable and very flexible among the Aka, as are other responsibilities such as hunting, cooking, and camp location (Hewlett 1991).
Children are usually born three to four years apart, and most adults are married. Newborns on average weigh 2.7 kg. Aka mothers are always the first to nurse their infants, in part because the Aka have a social taboo against other women nursing their children. Aka women believe that other women can give their infant ekila, an illness characterized by convulsions and attributed to eating taboo foods. This is why it is vital for an Aka mother to provide all of her baby's nourishment.
Aka women are never the first to hold their newborns. The women give birth outside of the camp, and then the mother and newborn are welcomed back into the camp. While both mother and father hold an important role in childrearing, Aka mothers are the primary care takers. Women do receive a considerable amount of help from their husbands and other members of the group.
Infant transferring, the transferring of the infant to other care takers periodically, occurs within the Aka group. On average, Aka infants are transferred 7.3 times per hour. During net hunts, the infants are transferred only 2 times per hour (Hewlett 1989: 186-191).
Beliefs
As the Aka are independent in all aspects of their lives, they have consistent disagreements about the supernatural. However, a few general statements can be made about the beliefs of the Aka. Boys are circumcised during adolescence, and both boys and girls have their incisors pointed during this time. Boys and girls may decide for themselves when they are ready for their teeth to be pointed, and with whom they would like to celebrate this occasion. There is very little ritual involved.
There is a general belief that the village is a dangerous place, while the forest is welcoming and comforting. These fears of bad village spirits and aggressive farmers manifest themselves as a behavioral shift. While in the forest, the Aka sing, dance, and play, but while in the village, they are solemn and slow (Hewlett 1991).
The Aka believe in ancestor spirits (edio), which can be personalized as belonging to a specific person or clan, or can be generalized and unnamed. Some believe that the edio are malevolent, but others believe that they can actually be helpful on a hunt. Most believe that the spirits play a small, even negligible, role in their daily life. It is common to believe that an edio can make one sick by sitting next to a person at mealtimes and eating their food until there is not enough to sustain him or her (Hewlett 1991).
Witchcraft is a common belief among the Aka, with different groups citing witchcraft as the cause of death 7-15% of the time. Witches are believed to send poison darts to the victim, and the only way to be cured of this is for the nganga to suck out the poison.
Bembe is a spirit who created all living things and then retired soon after, but faith in this creator is not universal among the Aka. This "primordial monotheism" is common to many Central African Forager groups, and is often cited as a creation of Christian missionaries and not indicative of pre-contact beliefs, which vary greatly between groups (Bundo 2001). Dzengi is a forest spirit who influences elephant hunts. Dzengi enjoys singing and dancing, so it is important to partake in these activities before, during, and after a successful elephant hunt. Women are generally kept at the periphery of celebrations involving dzengi, but they are not fearful of him, and many acknowledge that dzengi is just a way for men to keep knowledge and power from the women (Hewlett 1991).
Cited Works
Hewlett, Barry S. with L. L. Cavalli –Sforza 1986 Cultural Transmission Among Aka Pygmies. American Anthropologist New Series 88(4): 922-934
Hewlett, Barry S. Intimate Fathers: The Nature and Context of Aka Pygmy Paternal Infant Care. University of Michigan Press 1991.
Hewlett, Barry S. 1989 Multiple Care Taking Among African Pygmies. American Anthropologist 91: 186-191.
Keith, Kathryn. 2006 Childhood Learning and The Distribution of Knowledge in Foraging Societies. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association: 27-40.
Walker, Phillip L. with Barry S. Hewlett 1990 Dental Health diet and Social Status among Central African Foragers and Farmers. American Anthropologist New Series 92(2): 383-398
Other resources
Image from www.unesco.org, click here for an external link: Aka Image
