When the Mbuti trespass in the forests of the world famous Virunga National Park to forage or to hunt, park guards frequently treat them brutally. The Inter Press Service reported recently on the harsh treatment and the discrimination that the indigenous people of the northeastern D.R. Congo receive from the… Continue reading…
When the Mbuti trespass in the forests of the world famous Virunga National Park to forage or to hunt, park guards frequently treat them brutally. The Inter Press Service reported recently on the harsh treatment and the discrimination that the indigenous people of the northeastern D.R. Congo receive from the… Continue reading…
An Mbuti group in the eastern D.R. Congo has successfully forestalled government attempts to establish a nature reserve that would have prevented their traditional uses of their forests. Instead, they are working with several major NGOs to develop an effective preserve that will include their indigenous rights to use sustainably… Continue reading…
Last week, Eric Michael Johnson described the way the Mbuti censured the abhorrent behavior of Cephu, a story told originally by Colin Turnbull in The Forest People, one of the classics of modern anthropology.
Meni Mbugha, a Congolese man, has launched a career in Kinshasa designing fabrics based on the traditional art of the Mbuti, which they draw on bark cloth fabricated from trees. He learned about the traditional bark cloth art from his interactions with the Mbuti, and in return he is attempting… Continue reading…
The Mbuti living in the Ituri rainforest are suffering from violence fostered by illegal mining in their region and the armed rebel gangs who profit from it. According to a news story last week in Aljazeera.com, titled “The Struggle to Save the ‘Congolese Unicorn,’” the violence not only affects the… Continue reading…
“There are no fixed patterns in the Mbuti way of life—whenever the mood takes them, they move deep into the forest and set up a hunting camp.” The narrative that accompanies a marvelous film about the research of famed scientists Terese and John Hart also provides a great deal of… Continue reading…
A group of Mbuti have left their forest homes and taken refuge in a primary school in Oicha, in eastern DR Congo, where locals resent them for interrupting classes for the kids. The 60 or so Mbuti fled their forest homeland due to the depredations of the Allied Democratic Forces—National… Continue reading…
A group of Mbuti have left their forest homes and taken refuge in a primary school in Oicha, in eastern DR Congo, where locals resent them for interrupting classes for the kids. The 60 or so Mbuti fled their forest homeland due to the depredations of the Allied Democratic Forces—National… Continue reading…
The man’s words are haunting: “We are Mbuti, children of the forest …. We were created in the forest, and the forest is where the spirits of our ancestors still live. The forest gives us all that we need.” Chief Mundeheykwa continues by describing the uses the Mbuti have traditionally… Continue reading…