Overview
The Efe are a group of foragers living in the Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They share this region with three other groups of Central African Foragers. Of these groups, the Efe have the broadest distribution (Bailey 1993: 13). They engage in a trading partner relationship with the Lese agriculturalists.
Subsistence Activities
Women of the Efe spend more time in villages while the men spend more time in the forest. Because of this difference in lifestyle, men tend to eat more meat and nuts, while women eat more carbohydrates (Hewlett and Walker 1990).
Relationship with the Lese
The Efe engage in a trading partner relationship with the Lese Agriculturalists, in which the Efe supply meat and honey gathered in the forest to the Lese in return for crops grown in the village gardens (Bailey 1993: 112). The average Efe man will spend about 10% of his time in a Lese village, while an Efe woman will spend much more time there. Efe women often tend to the gardens of villagers, and grow their own food in these gardens as well. These village gardens have become very important to the subsistence and lifestyle of the Efe, as it is believed that at least 25% of their calories come from food cultivated in Lese villages. However, the Efe are still considered a foraging society. Although the Efe have maintained contact and trading with the Lese for hundreds of years, their relationship remains inegalitarian. The Lese often use the metaphor of calling all Efe hunter-gatherers female, regardless of biological sex, to represent their unequal relationship and their non-gendered social and political differences (Grinker 1990: 120).
Hunting
Hunting is a male activity among the Efe, one which contributes to the identity of every Efe man. On average, men in the Efe community spend 2.7 hours in a 12-hour day hunting game (Bailey 1991). Meat contributes 9% of the calories and 48% of the protein eaten by the Efe, and also contributes to the diet of the Lese villagers. Efe men employ many different methods for hunting. On monkey hunts, they hunt alone and with poisoned-tipped arrows. Ambush hunts employ metal-tipped arrows and targets mid-sized forest mammals such as duikers. Group hunts are done in groups of 4-30 people and target mid-sized as well as large mammals (Bailey 1991:79-82).
Gathering
Most food gathering efforts of the Efe are made by women, and include forest fruits, nuts, and tubers. However, some gathering efforts are collaborative. One such activity involves gathering fruit from the Cannarium schweinfurthii tree. Men climb the tree and shake the branches, causing fruit to fall where it can be gathered by the women. These fruits contribute greatly to the calorie intake of the Efe, and are in season in August and September (Bailey 1991:44).
Honey Gathering
Gathering honey is an important subsistence activity for Efe men, second only to hunting. While the men spend an average of 11.1% of their time in the forest actively looking for hives, they are frequently seen looking up during other activities, such as hunting. Most of the honey that the Efe acquire comes from the Cynometra alexandrii tree blossoms in February and March, and Brachystegia laurentii tree blossoms in June-September, with the period of greatest abundance corresponding with the blossoming of Brachystegia laurentii. Honey is so important to the Efe that the location and size of their camps is largely determined by the availability of honey (Bailey 1991:45).
The honey season plays an important role in the relationship of the Efe to the Lese villagers. The villagers give their Efe trading partner an aluminum pot, which is filled with part of the Efe person's daily yield of honey every day until it is full. These pots can weigh up to 35 kgs when full, but weigh on average 15-20 kgs. This honey is usually consumed by the villager's family, but is sometimes sold to other villagers. The payment for this honey is often a piece of clothing, but this trading pattern can exhibit considerable variation according to the satisfaction of each partner (Bailey 1991:45).
The average amount of honey extracted from a single beehive is 3.154 kg, and this takes on average 1.70 hours to extract. Honey extraction is extremely labor intensive, and sometimes requires men to climb to heights of up to 170 feet several times in one extraction. Bridges and halters may be constructed in order to easily go from one tree to another, but these structures are also labor intensive to make. Still, this process takes the effort of rarely more than four men, with two being the average number. The honey is distributed equally among all men present while extracting honey, with a slightly higher share going to the man who spotted the hive. This equal distribution encourages small group size, and necessitates frequent camp relocation during honey season (Bailey 1991:46). Honey can make up to 42.7% of the caloric intake of the Efe (Hewlett and Walker 1990).
Firewood and Water
The gathering of firewood and water fall into the domain of Efe women. An Efe woman will spend about 40 minutes per day gathering these essentials, usually in the company of another woman. Failing this, she may recruit a younger woman, a young boy, or her husband. A husband who "escorts" his wife during this activity is showing his devotion to her, and this behavior is common early in a marriage. These excursions may provide valuable "alone" time (Bailey 1991:47).
Social Relationships
The Efe live in small groups which are usually patrilocal. Kin relationships are close, and most marriages are monogamous. Efe men are have the closest relationships with kin, and in particular close kin. Strong bonds between the Efe exist as a buffer against social competition, as well as ecological and economic pressure (Bailey & Aunger 1988). There are, however, members of the Efe who are more influential, they are known as kapita (Hewlett and Walker 1990).
Marriage
The importance of Hunting in Efe society has broader implications than just food acquisition. While an Efe woman may marry a Lese man, Efe men are not permitted to marry Lese women. This reflects hypergyny, or "marrying up" in socioeconomic status for the Efe women, and reduces the number of women available to Efe men. This, in turn, increases competition between Efe men, leaving 37% of the men unmarried. While the Efe women do indeed marry into the Lese village culture, they are seldom permitted to do so as a first wife, and are generally married to the poorer Lese men. Efe men have devised several competitive strategies in order to attract Efe women who might otherwise be married to Lese men (Bailey 1991:107).
The social structure of Efe societies is not conducive to horticulture, as the kin networks of the Efe are not as complex as with the Lese, so this would not be an effective competitive strategy. Instead, Efe men accentuate the ways in which they are different from Lese men. Resources such as meat and honey are highly valued in both Efe and Lese culture, but because of the nomadic lifestyle associated with procuring such resources, are more easily obtained by Efe men (Bailey 1991:107).
While there is no direct correlation between hunting success and marriage, the relationship can be manifested in indirect ways. Because of the nature of the trading relationship between the Efe and the Lese, a successful hunter may be able to procure more material possessions by trading surplus meat. These material possessions increase the likelihood that the Efe man will be able to find an Efe wife (Bailey 1991:110).
Sex Differences
The behavior patterns of Efe men and women are very different. Women usually spend a great deal of time in the village gardens, and acquire cultivated food most often. Their caloric contributions to diet are twice those of men. Efe men spend more time in the forest participating in activities like hunting. While the caloric contribution to the diet is half that of women, they spend more time on subsistence activities than women do. Since this does not fit an optimal foraging pattern, it is believed that the Efe men rely heavily on forest activities in order to avoid competitive conflict with Lese men (Bailey 1993:114).
Birth and Childcare
Child rearing amongst the Efe Pygmies is a collective practice called multiple caretaking rather than the traditional biological model of continuous care and contact. Efe women seek help from other group members when raising infants. During Efe infancy, the mother is often not the first woman to nurse her child. The mother, in fact, only spends approximately 40% of her time with her infant until it is 4 months old. During this time, infant transfer is practiced. This is the transferring of the infant to other women in the group for care. On average, the infant is transferred 8.3 times per hour. It is thought that multiple caretaking helps the infant achieve the necessary amount of fluids and energy supplies, and helps in socializing the infant to share and achieve group identification. Also, Efe women have very few children and are available to help other females with their infants unlike other Mbuti.
Efe birth weights are generally low, averaging at 2.4 kg, and another woman's breast milk aids the infant to become strong and healthy. The practice of multiple care taking in Efe groups reinforces the group identity and the importance of creating bonds between group members to foster cooperation and sharing.
Efe women usually give birth to infants within the camp, almost always in their own home. After the birth, a close relative to the mother will nurse the child for the first time. Since there are generally more adults present in an Efe group than children, Efe women without dependent children are able to spend about 6% of their time helping new mothers raise their infants. This contributes to the low infant mortality rate in Efe groups (Hewlett 1989: 186-191).
Leisure
Recreational activities in which the Efe participate include singing, dancing, and playing instruments. Storytelling is particularly enjoyed among Efe men. Many of these activities take place after an evening meal. These evening songs can escalate into large dances including the whole village, which can then last for days.
Tobacco and marijuana are smoked by about half of Efe men and 1/3 of Efe women. In times of scarcity, the Efe become irritable and may be verbally abusive to the women who work in the villages. These substances affect the health of the Efe, but also their ability to obtain material items.
Art
The Efe practice a traditional style of artwork called barkcloth painting. This simplistic style of art has remained unchanged for many generations. The cloth for these pieces is made by stripping the bark from a ficus tree and pounding it with an elephant tusk, and is usually prepared by men. Women then paint designs onto this cloth with sticks and their fingers. Ceremonial events such as funerals, weddings, dances, and puberty rites are important for showing barkcloths.
Cited Works
- Bailey, Robert C. The Behavioral Ecology of Efe Pygmy Men in the Ituri Forest, Zaire. Ann Arbor: Regents of the University of Michigan, 1991.
- Hewlett, Barry S. 1989 Multiple Caretaking Among African Pygmies. American Anthropologist 91: 186-191.
- Bailey, Robert C and Aunger. Significance of the Social Relationships of Efe Pygmy men in the Ituri Forest, Zaire. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 78:495-507.
- Grinker, Roy Richard. 1990 Images of Denigration: Structuring Inequality between Foragers and Farmersin the Ituri Forest, Zaire. American Ethnologist, Vol. 17, No. 1. pp. 111-130.
