The Forest People

Turnbull explains how ending the elima brought about another crisis for the Pygmies and the village. He mentions that one of the ways the villagers try to control the Pygmies is through marriage. If they are married according to the Negro custom, they are joined to the Negro concept of the supernatural, as well as being tied to the village for aid. The Pygmies do not take weddings as seriously as the villagers do, but they allow these wedding to happen to appease the villagers. Pygmies would rather wait and return to the forest to get married.

Sister-exchange takes place with marriages. The family losing a daughter is given a daughter in return so that she may marry one of the family’s sons. In this case described, Akidinimba marries Atete. Akidinimba’s brother, Mulanga, marries Atete’s sister. Everyone thinks that Akidinimba will be jilted and left at the altar, but Atete eventually returns from hunting and, though bored, marries Akidinimba.

Kenge likes a girl named Maliamo, but must give one of his sisters as a bride-exchange. Though his sister Yambobo likes the youth Taphu, she does not want to get married. This causes a great fight in the family. The villagers consider Yambobo lazy and idle. Kenge is so enraged by her refusal that one day, he beats her in front of everyone. Though she is bloody and has been abused, everyone agrees that she got what she deserved. Yambobo runs off to her mother. Kenge tells Turnbull their mother will treat her even worse. Sure enough, Yambobo is marched back into camp by Kenge’s mother and ridiculed. She tells the entire camp that her lazy daughter will marry Taphu so that Kenge can marry Maliamo.

Turnbull returns to the topic of the nkumbi, the initiation ceremony for males. The ceremony takes place in a special initiation camp in the village. This is perhaps the most representative way in which the villagers try to exert influence over the Pygmies. It is also the reason that many observers assume the BaMbunti are dependent on and controlled by the villagers. The BaMbunti, however, participate in the ritual and allow their sons to be initiated for their own reasons. The villagers believe the initiation will not only turn the boys into men, but by adhering to their strict rules during the ritual, it will keep away evil. Turnbull notes that the BaMbunti do not believe in the magic and evil that the villagers believe in, and so fear no repercussions from this supposed evil.

Turnbull gives as an example the time he partook in the nkumbi and helped with the ceremonies. This nkumbi was different in that there were no village boys to be initiated, only Pygmy boys. Though the villagers did not want to give such a ceremony for just Pygmies, they did want to “save” the Pygmies by allowing them to partake in the ceremony. Though the Pygmy boys were circumcised and seemingly went along with the strict rules of the villagers, they secretly broke the rules at night. The rules included not eating any food, or only the food provided by the villagers. They were not allowed to wash, but Pygmies hate being dirty. They were also supposed to remain asleep and quiet at night, though the Pygmy fathers visited their children at night and allowed the boys to play. The boys are tortured mildly, and though any boy whose parents intervene is made fun of, the Pygmy parents would intervene and endure the jibes of villagers if they thought the torture was too much.

The Pygmies explain to Turnbull that they are not intentionally trying to disgrace the villagers and their religion, but the two see evil differently. The Pygmies believe anything not of the forest is evil, while the villagers believe the forest is evil. As such, the Pygmies go out of their way to make sure the influence of the villagers is not taken into the forest when they return home. The forest provides all they need. The Pygmies go along with the ceremonies because the Pygmy boys are initiated into adulthood, and as adults, have access to the villages. This is what the Pygmies want. They do not care for the magic or ceremony of the ritual. The villagers want to bind the boys to their way of thinking, and to the world of their ancestors. The Pygmies, however, celebrate life.

Turnbull relates a tale about Aberi, the father of one of the initiates. Aberi takes the initiation seriously because he and two other Pygmies tricked a villager a while back, and the villager cursed them. Aberi has said that since then, he has been slowly dying. The Pygmies laugh this off, yet Turnbull witnesses the effects of this magic firsthand. Aberi suddenly becomes sick one day and, the next morning, dies. It is later confirmed that the other two men who slighted the villager died as well in similar fashion. Though some suggest that the men might have been poisoned, no one wants to bring up the possibility of magic. The pygmies look at the deaths as a curse from those evil and unwanted ones who entered their forest.