The people of Bayaka are a nomadic Mbenda pygmy tribe who hails from the Central African Republic and the Brazzaville region of the Republic of the Congo. They occupy 11 unique ecological zones within the Western Congo Basin.
The Aka are nomadic hunter-gatherers. Their diet includes 20 species of insects, 28 species of game, 63 plants, as well as mushrooms, roots, nuts, honey, and fruit. They barter honey and bushmeat with the neighboring Ngandu tribe for manioc, plantain, yams, taro, maize, cucumbers, squash, okra, papaya, mango, pineapple, palm oil, and rice.
Unlike many communities, thi
s forest tribe has a parenting system that involves fathers having heavy interaction with their young children. Infants are said to be within arms’ reach 47 percent of the time.
Fathers make physical contact with their babies upwards of five times per day and are also heavily involved with rearing their children. The men also develop strong bonds with their wives by engaging in activities together such as hunting, preparing meals, and
leisure events.
The Aka people ar
e in frequent contact with jungle fauna and for this reason, they’ve developed seropositivity or have a pathogen present in their blood that indicates the presence of the Ebola virus in their bodies although they don’t display any symptoms.
Simply put, the Aka people
have immunity to the virus.
With
the introduction of European colonialism came the shift of their lifestyle. During the 18th century, the slave trade introduced additional tribes onto the lands inhabited by the Aka.This caused the Aka to become elephant hunters, providing the tusks to fuel the ivory trade.
Their foray into the forest enabled them to revolutionize their hunting techniques such as using nets as opposed to spears and encouraging more women to become hunters as well.
Music and dance is a vital part of the Aka community. Unlike many forms of western polyphonic music, Aka’s music production allows for spontaneous expression and improvisation, which creates an impression that music is constantly evolving.
They are known for their contrapuntal polyphony based on four voices, which all members of the community have mastered.
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