modern man v. the hadzabe
There are still pockets of the world today where people live pristine stone age lifestyles, and the continued existence of one of them -- the Hadzabe tribe of Tanzania --is in dire peril due to the relentless predations of modern man.
The Hadzabe tribe of Tanzania represent in splendid living form our original ancestors from the wilderness of Africa's Rift Valley where the forerunner of modern man, 'homo habilis', emerged upright about two million years ago.
The Hadzabe are nomadic hunter-gatherers and live as we all once lived -- and, possibly, should return to living in order to save the planet and ourselves from the evils of mammon.
The last of their type in Africa, the Hadzabe wander the plains, have no fixed habitat, and move camp in accordance with the changing seasons. The men are hunters, killing every species, except elephants and snakes, for meat; and the women and children are gatherers, collecting wild vegetables, berries and tubers.
The Hadzabe also have a sweet tooth, risking being stung by huge swarms of bees to collect honeycombs high up in baobab trees, and they use wild tobacco for pleasure as well as for medicinal purposes.
Expert fire-makers -- they take seconds to light kindling by rubbing two sticks together -- their lives may appear to be hard but they are totally free of constraint.When the rains come, they retreat to caves used by their ancestors for many thousands of years, and in the dry they move camp regularly, leaving behind very little trace of habitation.
Surprisingly strong and healthy, with perfect teeth, the Hadzabe dress in animal skins, speak with a click and whistle language, and for hunting use a wooden bow with string made from giraffe tendons and arrows tipped with poison.
Their lifestyle has not changed significantly since human evolution began, but in recent years their numbers have been reduced from more than 10,000 to less than 400.
Although their nomadic lifestyle allows them to avoid contact with other humans, their traditional territory is being invaded by modern man. A combination of wealthy men with guns and helicopters, gawking tourists and a rapacious Tanzanian government is making it very difficult for them to survive.
For years, the Tanzanian government has tried to domesticate the Hadzade tribes-people -- turn them into modern men and women with houses and fields of crops to tend. Attempts to resettle them and take them off their traditional territory have caused the same sort of problems that you see with other indigenous populations -- they rot and die in captivity, or find alcohol and drugs and become hopeless addicts.
To add to the travails of the remaining nomadic Hadzade people, wealthy Arabs with billions in petro-dollars are in negotiation with the Tanzanian government to buy up their traditional hunting grounds and use it for private shooting parties. This would mean evicting the Hadzade tribe and, although the Arabs are willing to build private homes, hospitals and schools to recompense for their displacement, the Hadzade are rightfully very unhappy that their traditional existence is being threatened.
In a pristine environment, where tourists pay up to $1,000 a day to view the animals, and wealthy Arabs pay up to $5,000 to kill one, the homeland of the Hadzade has been hijacked by a rapacious government and without it -- the land they have roamed for thousands of years, and believe to be theirs, without any concept of private property -- they are doomed.
Environmentalists and anthropologists may believe that the Hadzabe should be allowed to continue their way of life unbridled by modern man, but their support for the Hadzabe may be just as exploitative. In observing them, the people who take us back to our roots in Africa, the Hadzade would become like animals in a scientific zoo, little different from being gawked at by tourists, as they are now.
Despite the relentless efforts of Christian missionaries, the Hadza worship their own God, Hine, and don't believe in death -- believing they return somewhere else, far away -- so when they are forced into resettlement it will be like a living death for them.
Given a homeland that provides plenty of meat and honey for the taking,freedom from all constraint and a god who gives you a second chance,one might very well ask whether modern man has a better or a happier life than our stone age Hadzabe distant cousins.
For more information and a magnificent photograph of an Hadzabe tribesman see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=469847
The Hadzabe tribe of Tanzania represent in splendid living form our original ancestors from the wilderness of Africa's Rift Valley where the forerunner of modern man, 'homo habilis', emerged upright about two million years ago.
The Hadzabe are nomadic hunter-gatherers and live as we all once lived -- and, possibly, should return to living in order to save the planet and ourselves from the evils of mammon.
The last of their type in Africa, the Hadzabe wander the plains, have no fixed habitat, and move camp in accordance with the changing seasons. The men are hunters, killing every species, except elephants and snakes, for meat; and the women and children are gatherers, collecting wild vegetables, berries and tubers.
The Hadzabe also have a sweet tooth, risking being stung by huge swarms of bees to collect honeycombs high up in baobab trees, and they use wild tobacco for pleasure as well as for medicinal purposes.
Expert fire-makers -- they take seconds to light kindling by rubbing two sticks together -- their lives may appear to be hard but they are totally free of constraint.When the rains come, they retreat to caves used by their ancestors for many thousands of years, and in the dry they move camp regularly, leaving behind very little trace of habitation.
Surprisingly strong and healthy, with perfect teeth, the Hadzabe dress in animal skins, speak with a click and whistle language, and for hunting use a wooden bow with string made from giraffe tendons and arrows tipped with poison.
Their lifestyle has not changed significantly since human evolution began, but in recent years their numbers have been reduced from more than 10,000 to less than 400.
Although their nomadic lifestyle allows them to avoid contact with other humans, their traditional territory is being invaded by modern man. A combination of wealthy men with guns and helicopters, gawking tourists and a rapacious Tanzanian government is making it very difficult for them to survive.
For years, the Tanzanian government has tried to domesticate the Hadzade tribes-people -- turn them into modern men and women with houses and fields of crops to tend. Attempts to resettle them and take them off their traditional territory have caused the same sort of problems that you see with other indigenous populations -- they rot and die in captivity, or find alcohol and drugs and become hopeless addicts.
To add to the travails of the remaining nomadic Hadzade people, wealthy Arabs with billions in petro-dollars are in negotiation with the Tanzanian government to buy up their traditional hunting grounds and use it for private shooting parties. This would mean evicting the Hadzade tribe and, although the Arabs are willing to build private homes, hospitals and schools to recompense for their displacement, the Hadzade are rightfully very unhappy that their traditional existence is being threatened.
In a pristine environment, where tourists pay up to $1,000 a day to view the animals, and wealthy Arabs pay up to $5,000 to kill one, the homeland of the Hadzade has been hijacked by a rapacious government and without it -- the land they have roamed for thousands of years, and believe to be theirs, without any concept of private property -- they are doomed.
Environmentalists and anthropologists may believe that the Hadzabe should be allowed to continue their way of life unbridled by modern man, but their support for the Hadzabe may be just as exploitative. In observing them, the people who take us back to our roots in Africa, the Hadzade would become like animals in a scientific zoo, little different from being gawked at by tourists, as they are now.
Despite the relentless efforts of Christian missionaries, the Hadza worship their own God, Hine, and don't believe in death -- believing they return somewhere else, far away -- so when they are forced into resettlement it will be like a living death for them.
Given a homeland that provides plenty of meat and honey for the taking,freedom from all constraint and a god who gives you a second chance,one might very well ask whether modern man has a better or a happier life than our stone age Hadzabe distant cousins.
For more information and a magnificent photograph of an Hadzabe tribesman see http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=469847
<< Home