Sunday 17 November 2013

The Batwa people of Uganda


Batwa pygmy man with his bow from the endangered Batwa pymy tribe in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda. Batwa are believed to be God`s first homo sapien creation on earth.The Batwa were the original ancient dwellers of the forest. The first records of pygmies were made by the Egyptians over 4000 years ago. They described short st ature people living near the “Mountains of the Moon” extolling th...eir abilities as dancers and story tellers.Ancient Egyptian scripts named them as "Dancers of the Gods" for their great ability in dance.We know of a letter sent by a Pharaoh of ancient Reign to one of his governors in which he thanked the governor for donating a "Dwarf" coming from "the spirit land," the name with which Egypt named the lands in its southern territories.Homer and Aristotle also made mention of them. They survived by hunting small game using poison tipped arrows or nets and gathering various plants and fruit that the forest naturally supplies. Small temporary huts constructed with leaves and branches served as their dwellings, which are abandoned after a few months when they relocated to another part of the forest in search of fresh supplies of food. Their tools were remarkably pre-stone age. The Batwa were originally based around the mountainous forest areas around Lake Kivu and Lake Edward in the Great Lakes region. Since they were evicted from the forests, they live as squatters in various rural areas

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