Pygmy People In Africa Essay

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A People in Peril For thousands of years the many pygmy tribes of Africa had been at war with each other in a fight for dominance and land ownership (Koopmans). As recent as the 1990’s the opposing tribes would hold raids against each other killing as many as 20,000 of its enemies in a single week (Koopmans). However, when the dust settled the pygmy culture remained intact. They were able to recover, and continue with their ancient traditions and way of life as they had for generations. The attacks among neighboring tribes were nothing new to them, and they knew how to handle the destruction that followed. Conversely, a more modern threat is leaving the pygmy culture in danger of extinction, and they fear that they may not be able to continue their lifestyle as they have in the past. The pygmy people of Central Africa should be allotted a piece of land for use in continuing with their traditional way of life as a replacement for the land taken from them as a result of deforestation and enslavement. The African pygmies are made up of four main groups called the Binga, Twa, the tribes of Rwanda, and the tribes of Ituri (Columbia). All of which are individually composed of several subgroups, and there are over 200 different languages spoken among these tribes (Milios). The diverse culture displayed among these groups serves as just one obvious reason for expected confrontation. Although, today they fight not against each other, but against one common enemy; the Bantu (Thomas). The Bantu people make up the majority of the population of Central Africa, and they have a normal body structure, much unlike the pygmies (Milios). Pygmy men generally do not grow taller than four feet and nine inches, while the women will average four feet... ... middle of paper ... ...s. All of this poverty, hunger, and slavery can be stopped by the implementation of a simple law allowing pygmies to own their own land, or at least be paid an equitable wage for the labor they are doing for the Bantu. Until then, all of their traditional skills are useless in helping them survive, and they will continue to live on the streets at the edge of the National Parks where they used to thrive (Batwa). A recent study showed that when given land to live on, the mortality rate of pygmies dropped from 59% to 18% (Ohenjo). The continuation of this culture depends on how these people are being treated today. They deserve to be compensated for what has been forcefully taken from them. Otherwise, the only 250,000 remaining pygmies in Africa may soon die off, and their unique culture will be lost forever at the hands of the power-hungry Bantu people (Raffaele).

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