Aka Pygmies Research Articles

Food Sharing among the Pygmies of Central Africa

This paper describes the sharing and circulation of food among the Aka Pygmies from Central African Republic (northwest Congo Basin), compared with other groups, Baka and Gyeli from Cameroon, and Mbuti from eastem Zaire. .411 four groups practice sharing in three phases: (1) dividing up meat among hunters, (2) sharing of each hunter's part among his kin, (3) distributing cooked food by cvery household. Sharing is niade, without any centralization. by ascribing the ownership of the animal, i.e.. the responsibility of its sharing. to the owner of the weapon that killed it. Sharing arnong African Pygmies is a way of pooling risk, which satisfies two complementary functions: a supplying function (corresponding to food supply uncertainty). and a social function (corresponding to group cooperation and cohesion). However, in the Pygmy's concept, food sharing cannot be isolated from other types of exchange: it is only one part of a larger system including the circulation of goods (mainly iron tools) and the acquisition of spouses. Food sharing is a function in the wider system of exchange and cooperation that perpetuates the society.

Cultural Transmission Among Aka Pygmies

American AnthropologistVolume 88, Issue 4 p. 922-934 Free Access Cultural Transmission Among Aka Pygmies Barry S. Hewlett, Barry S. Hewlett Department of Anthropology University of California, Santa BarbaraSearch for more papers by this authorL. L. Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. Cavalli-Sforza Department of Genetics Stanford University School of MedicineSearch for more papers by this author Barry S. Hewlett, Barry S. Hewlett Department of Anthropology University of California, Santa BarbaraSearch for more papers by this authorL. L. Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. Cavalli-Sforza Department of Genetics Stanford University School of MedicineSearch for more papers by this author First published: December 1986 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1986.88.4.02a00100Citations: 247AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat References Cited Bahuchet, S. 1979 Utilisation de l'espace forestier par les Pygmées Aka, Chasseurs-Cueilleurs d'Afrique Centrale. Information sur les Sciences Sociales 18: 999– 1019. Bruel, G. 1910 Dancers of God. London: Sidwick and Jackson. Cavalli-Sforza, L. L. 1986 African Pygmies. New York: Academic Press. Cavalli-Sforza, L. L., and M. W. Feldman 1981 Cultural Transmission and Evolution: A Quantitative Approach. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Colson, Elizabeth 1958 Marriage and the Family among the Plateau Tonga of Northern Rhodesia. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Demesse, Lucien 1958 Quest for the Babinga: The World's Most Primitive Tribe. London: Souvenir Press. Erchak, Gerald M. 1977 Full Respect: Kpelle Children in Adaptation. Pittsburgh: HRAFlex Books. Fortes, Meyer 1938 Social and Psychological Aspects of Education in Taleland. Africa 11(4): 44– 125. LeVine, Robert A. 1977 Childrearing as Cultural Adaptation. In Culture and Infancy: Variations in the Human Experience. P. Herbert Leiderman et al., eds. Pp. 52– 70. New York: Academic Press. LeVine, Robert A. 1982 Culture, Behavior, and Personality. Chicago: Aldine. Mead, Margaret 1928 Coming of Age in Samoa. New York: Morrow. Mead, Margaret 1942 Our Educational Emphasis in Primitive Perspective. American Journal of Sociology 48: 633– 639. Ogbu, John U. 1981 Origins of Human Competence: A Cultural-Ecological Perspective. Child Development 52: 413– 429. Regnault, M. 1911 Les Babenga. L'Anthropologie 22: 261– 288. Ruddle, Kenneth, and Ray Chesterfield 1977 Education for Traditional Food Procurement in the Orinoco Delta. Berkeley: University of California Press. Scribner, S., and M. Cole 1973 Cognitive Consequences of Formal and Informal Education. Science 182: 553– 559. Whiting, J. W. M., and Irvin L. Child 1953 Child Training and Personality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Whiting, Beatrice B., and John W. M. Whiting 1975 Children of Six Cultures. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Williams, T. R. 1981 Socialization. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Citing Literature Volume88, Issue4December 1986Pages 922-934 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Les plantes à tubercules de la forêt dense d’Afrique Centrale

The different species of rain-forest plants developing starchy tubers were studied around Makokou (N.E. Gabon) and in the Lobaye River district (S.W. Central African Republic). A detailed description of the tuberous parts is given, particularly in wild yams (Dioscorea spp.) to help to elucidate the taxonomic status of a number of species. The unusual morphology of yams belonging to the Enanthiophyllum section required the use of three new descriptive terms borrowed from the Aka pygmies, namely «Mbolo» for a lignified plateau, «Mosway» for the fingerlike expansions, and «Yoko» for the spherical terminal edible parts. The different underground storage structures are considered as adaptive to the rain-forest environment. During the long period that most plants spend in the shade of the undergrowth (as the «set of the future», Oldeman, 1974), the energy stored in tubers is more likely to escape insect and/or vertebrate predation than the aerial parts of other plant species. Accordingly, many tuberous plant taxa, both dicots and monocots, might well have originated in rain-forest areas rather than in more seasonal woodlands or savannas. Counts were made along very narrow transects to estimate the number per hectare of stems visible above ground level (Tables III to V). The number of stems averaged 97/ha in the closed forest of the Lobaye, but can reach locally higher values (up to 24,000/ha) in open areas. In the latter places the distribution of tuberous plants was clumped, and therefore more likely to be successfully exploited by animal consumers ; most of their tubers, however, were poisonous. By contrast, the tuberous plants found in the closed forest did not contain highly toxic alkaloids and were rich in starch (up to 80 %, dry weight) and protein (up to 10 %) (Tables VII to IX). Stem densities were lower in Gabon than in the Central African Republic. An estimate of the underground tuber biomass has been made at Makokou (Table VI). The tuber biomass was even higher in the Lobaye District ; a standing crop of more than 5000 kg of wild yams can remain available throughout the year on the home range of an Aka pygmy group. The benefits of energy storage in tubers and the reproductive strategies of the various plant species concerned are discussed in relation to the selective pressures exerted by animal consumers, not forgetting human traditional hunter-gatherers.

Studies of blood group antigens in Aka Pygmies

A sample of 320 Aka pygmies was studied for ABO, Rhesus, Kell, Duffy Kidd, MNSs, Lutheran and Colton blood group antigens. The results show that the Aka pygmies have the blood group characteristics of black people: a high frequency of R o haplotype, a high proportion of U negative, fy (a-b-) people, a low frequency of K gene. All these results confirm that African pygmies can be considered as a very ancient population from Africa and possibly have a common origin with African people.

Exploration Ranges of Aka Pygmies of the Central African Republic

A study of I09 Aka pygmies of the Central African Republic was aimed at their individual mobility and the exploration of the area in which they live that takes place over their lifetime. We were unable to fit the data to equations earlier suggested for 'neighbourhood knowledge'. but found instead a negative exponential function of distance was a good description of the probability of a person ever having visited a given place. A 'half-range' is defined and evaluated as the median distance of places visited, a measurement of the 'exploration range'. The halfrange is found to vary with age, sex, ethnic affiliation, locality, and also shows extensive individual variation within these criteria. Reasons for travel are primarily for visiting family, next for hunting/gathering or dance, and finally and only to limited extent for work connected with village life. Acculturation seems to bring about substantial sedentarisation, and this to be more important than the difference in incidence of farming between what we call acculturated and non-acculturated pygmies.

Exploration and mating range in African Pygmies.

The distributions of exploration range and of mating range were studied among Aka Pygmies of the Central African Republic. Exploration range is defined and methods of estimation for single individuals suggested. A simple exponential distribution is found for individual Aka Pygmies, with variation of exploration range (the parameter defining mobility) with sex, age and ethnic affiliation. Distribution of distances from birthplace and place of residence are compared and show modest differences. The frequency of visits to a given place has also been studied. The average distance between birthplaces of mates is very similar to the mean exploration range. Correlations between individual exploration and mating ranges suggest that it is the male who may be choosing a marriage partner among Pygmies. A theory by Boyce, Küchemann & Harrison (1967) on the relations between "neighbourhood knowledge" and mating distance is inapplicable because of its reliance on the Pareto distribution, which does not apply in the present case, and of other unnecessary assumptions, but the general principle of a close relationship between exploratory activity and mating distance seems valid, at least in the present case. Suggestions are made for causes for the difference between the present distributions and those with other shapes observed in less primitive economies.

HLA-A and B antigens in AKA pygmies.

HLA-A and B antigens were studied in 543 AKA pygmies. The present analysis showed two characteristics of this pygmoid group: the absence of HLA-A1, A11, B8 and Bw38 and the high frequency of Aw30, B17, B27, B37, B40 and Bw39. The strongest gametic associations were found with the haplotypes Aw30, B37 and A3, B5.

Gc, Tf, Hp Subtype and α<sub>1</sub>-Antitrypsin Polymorphisms in a Pygmy Bi-Aka Sample

Protein polymorphism is studied in more than 900 serum samples during different investigations conducted in a Bi Aka Pygmy group. The Gc, Tf and alpha 1-antitrypsin subtype polymorphisms were determined after isoelectric focusing while the haptoglobins alpha and alpha 2-peptides were studied on PAGE. A high frequency of the Hp2 gene is noted while Hp1F and Hp1S gene frequencies are similar. According to the Gc1S and Gc2 gene frequencies this group falls within the cluster of the melanoderm populations such as the Sara, Bantu and Peulhs. The two subtypes of TfC1 and TfC2 are present in this sample. TfC3 is absent. The TfD1 variant frequency is one of the highest observed in African groups. The alpha 1-antitrypsin polymorphism corresponds to the presence of the three PiM subtypes. No other variants are observed, neither PiS nor PiZ. For the first time a highly significant association is described between the TfD1 and Gc1A1 (GcAb) genes. Family pedigrees do not permit the ascertainment of the linkage between the two loci.

A propos des thérapeutes Pygmées Aka de la région de la Lobaye (Centrafrique)

Within the study on the therapeutist role among the Aka pygmies of the Lobaye rain forest in Central Africa, the author takes more particular interest in soothsayers-healers «bondo», in their initiation, in the part they play in different rituals and in the plants they use on these various occasions.

Les contraintes écologiques en forêt tropicale humide: l'exemple des Pygmées Aka de la Lobaye (Centrafrique)

On the basis of ethnobiological field work among the Aka Pygmies of the Lobaye rain forest in Central Africa, the author considers the problem of ecological constraints in the case of the societies living in the tropical rain forest.

Aka Pygmy Music

Aka Pygmy Music