A willing benefactor: An essay on wilderness in Nilotic and Bantu culture

Abstract

Using common historiographie sources—early ethnographic reports—we compare traditional perceptions of wilderness among East Africa's pastoral Nilotes and highland Bantu. Specifically, the hypothesis that Nilotic and Bantu views are substantially the same is investigated and cautiously accepted. Acceptance of the hypothesis, however, does not mean that important differences do not exist in the perception and approach to wilderness among the peoples being compared. Nilotes, dominated by pastoralism, lived closer to wilderness and wildlife, which they found necessary to integrate into their culture, whereas the highland Bantu, as agriculturalists, established significant barriers between themselves and wilderness. Both peoples, however, share ontological views that depict creation as lively, active, and complex. These shared views, to the extent they remain prevalent in contemporary society, are a possible basis for a unified, indigenous philosophy of wilderness independent of the West's traditions of romant...