Baka Tribe

Where are they found?

The Baka tribe is found in many different parts of Africa: the rainforests in Cameroon, northern parts of Gabon, northern republic of Congo and Central African Republic. The population of the Baka tribe is estimated to be around 5,000 to 28,000.

What makes them so special?

Most people in the Baka tribe are skilled in using plants to treat illnesses and sicknesses. The Baka's skills in practicing traditional medicine are very talented, even non-Baka people seek their help for getting treatments. Adults mostly look out for children's health because diseases can easily spread over a generation, which could cause death. They also know how to do polyphonic singing, which is singing two notes at once.

What are their customs, religions and languages?

The Baka tribe is religious and are animists. Animists are people who believe in souls and spirits existing inside of human beings, animals and plants. They worship a forest spirit, either named Jengi or Djengi, who they think of as a parent and guardian. For each and every successful hunt, they come with a dance of thanksgiving called the Luma, which is accompanied by polyphonic singing and drumming. One of the most traditional ceremonies called the Jengi, celebrates a boy growing up to being an adult. Unlike most other central African pygmy groups, the Baka keep their very own unusual language called Baka. Even more, the Baka speak Koozime as their second language. An even smaller proportion of the Baka tribe speaks French.

What is their daily routine?

Most Baka men spend their whole day hunting for food like plants and animals from the wild. Men hunt using spears and poisoned arrows and sometimes they also collect honey from beehives in the canopy. As well as hunting, they also go fishing using chemicals from plants. This is not poisonous and remove the oxygen from the fish, which allow them to float and will be easier for them to collect on the water's surface. Women gather wild fruits and nuts, they also practice beekeeping so the men can collect it from these beehives. But if they have children they will bring them along while collecting food and because there are no one to look after these children, the women will strap them to their back while gathering food.

What challenges do they face?

Baka tribes live in rainforests and because they are instantly cutting down trees for wood and paper, they will no longer exist. They all rely on the animals and plants in the rainforest, but if they keep on cutting down trees then animals will also become extinct and plants will die. They will have nothing left to eat because the animals will quickly escape the rainforest and there will be no oxygen from the trees. Their houses are not built of enough quality; it is made of tilipi leaves, which are very weak and unstable. They can easily be blown away in the wind or destroyed in storms.

How we can help to protect them?

First of all, we can help a great deal by not cutting down so many trees and use less paper. We can also provide them with the basic needs, like clothes, books and canned foods. The reason why we should give them canned foods and not ordinary foods, is because canned foods often last for longer and they would probably want to safe it up and not eat it all in a week. We can also visit them in the rainforest and read books to children and play games with them:like volunteer work. If human beings are clever enough, we can find out what diseases they suffer from and prevent that from spreading around. Anyone kind and considerate enough to contribute would be appreciated.