The Forest People Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Forest People - Essay Example This society viewed their world as a place with no evil as they got everything the forest without necessary clearing any forested area to cultivate and plant food. Everything was in the forest that they required. Anybody who didn’t understand the forest views it as hostile and dangerous, contrary to this BaMbuti had a different perception of the forest. Those who lived outside the village perceived the forest as fearful and evil. BaMbuti never viewed the forest as evil either did they possess any fear of living in the forest. The forest was their home, â€Å"for them it is a good world† (pg15). Forest was their cosmos and in return it supplied them with all their needs. They mastered the art of living in the forest that no outsider could comprehend how they did it while the outsiders viewed the forest as an impossible place to live in. Men and women had different roles to play in the society, and this phenomenon can be described as a division of labor. A normal day in the â€Å"pygmy village was alive with women bundling up their household possessions in the baskets they would carry on their backs. The men were busy checking their hunting nets, examining their arrow shafts and testing their bows, or sharpening the blades of their spear†. (pg53). Hunting was affair of men and for this reason they were obliged to train the young boys to hunt. Moneys and birds were hunted by men using bows and arrows. The women could travel collecting mushrooms and roots for the evening meals, this illustration indicates that the women were solely responsible for evening meals. The women were also obliged to cook for their husbands, â€Å"†¦ watching his third and youngest wife, Kamaika, cooking his breakfast.† (pg54). Thatching of huts was a role that was conferred to women â€Å"Ageronga’s wife prepares a bundle of mongongo leaves for thatching her hut.† It was also the obligation of women