J- lúhmi*- ■■   Í,TU ^w * ^ /{Jir' ^rL,              C±y
produce directly. By contrast, the Nande economy at the forests edge is often driven by the need to expand, their plantationstoacquire %513 -in'MIer tefgustaln Ihelrlán networks broader econoňiý -an economy of plantains ffiyfoTfrnwEch the Mbuti are easily used and discarded. Meanwhile here, at the centre of the forest, ffieTfila anöTvIrlÖtrWÖnümylnvbives ä constant sustainable movement between river, forest and road. It is a constant exchange of Mbuti forest produce and labour for Bila agricultural produce and trade goods which is not driven by external extractive forces but by local social relations and needs. While gold panners are engaged in an economic process which would appear to be unsustainable for all but those in charge of the gold camp and the lucky few; for the Mbuti, market hunting offers the chance to remain in the forest for long periods of time; and it offers the Bila an alternative context for living, and the - rarely realised - scope to become substantially better off.
Case  Study:  Protestations  of power
Today, as under colonialism, what underpins Bila/Mbuü relations can be a laughable, or oppressive, structural opposition at the end of a long chain of abusive relationships. More often, though, it is the usual fluid movement between forest and village that both Bila and Mbuti are entwined in. A good example of this is the Bila chief Banyé and his Mbuti wife Alimoya, who move with the other Bila and Mbuti between the river, forest and road. One evening Bisaili complained to me that Banyé shouldn't have an Mbuti wife. "They don't know how to cook, nor look after a home" he said; before heading over to eat a meal she had prepared from the fish they had caught that day. And I watched the three of them laughing over some joke, as the firelight played on their faces and on the huge trees overarching the camps small clearing: the reality of relationship dissolving his protestations of power.______________________________________________________________
f Thus, unlike under colonialism, this economic exchange between Bila and Mbuti is not driven by the necessity i for the Bila to meet tax and labour demands, but is a meeting of equals; however much Mbuti sometimes seek
to manipulate the situation through protesting their poverty, and Bila sometimes seek to assert dominance and
hierarchy through protesting their power.
CHAPTER 6               THE MOLIMO AND THE NET HUNT: The Mbuti and the Forest
This chapter focuses on relationships among the Mbuti, and between the Mbuti and the forest. J^j^gi&jifjte hiintj the mediating power of the molimo, and Mbuti relations with each other and with the forest, are seen to be centred in egatitarianism xtnd a strong identification with the'forest "Economic relations tMwWKWřfflMňi and the Bila have, as we have seen, changed significantly since colonialism; and it is possible that in some ways their relations may therefore more closely resemble their pre-colonial, rather than their colonial, state. By contrast, the core ways in which the Mbuti relate to the forest and to each other would appear to remain remarkably resilient. Central among these is the demand-sharing we have already discussed, the net hunt itself, and the molimo ritual which was happening almost nightly for weeks on end during my main fieldwork period. This chapter begins by briefly sketching relations among the Mbuti, and by placing their relations in the context of their having to deal with abusive external forces.
RELATIONSHIPS  AMONG PEOPLE
Abusive  Power  Relations
Throughout this period of my fieldwork the impact of Dieu Donner, the Bila Chef de Groupement, made itself felt in camp. His actions included: arresting the four youths responsible for having beaten up the old woman they and Yuma had accused of being a witch, demanding the payment of a fine of forty mboloko duiker, and beating up the Mbuti chief Yuma when not enough mboloko arrived. Dieu Donner was well hated by the Mbuti and by most Bila. In any dispute in which those involved wished for a fair outcome they would always go to Umatatu, the Chef de Groupement for the neighbouring area towards Epulu, rather than draw Dieu Donner into the situation since that could only mean a heavy fine on all parties, or on only one side if the other was able to bribe him handsomely. Dieu Donner had ousted the traditional chief Batomine, who had been unpopular with the local authorities in the Zone de Mambasa. They accused him of being lazy and failing in his duty since he did not engage in Dieu Donner's zealous approach to inventive taxation, and therefore rarely enriched those above him. Meanwhile the new chief was seen as efficient and hard working by many incoming Nande, such as Venance at Mandimo, and by others in positions of power. They described him as working hard and they viewed local people as lazy for sitting back like Batomine and failing to really exploit the wealth of the forest
The story of a corrupt chief, with all the power of a corrupt political system behind him, is only half the story^ however. It was because these Mbuti beat up the old woman that they laid themselves open to his abuse. Anjila-o, the old woman accused of being a witch, was distantly related to Ngo-i, the man whose near fatal* illness she was accused of causing. The reason the four hunting companions gave for beating her up was that it
'Mbuti hunter-gatherers and rainforest conservation in the Ituri Forest, Zaire'. 1996. Justin Kenrick
was because the Mbuti chief, Yuma, had told them to do this to frighten her into refraining from causing the illness. Yuma was a fierce orator, and a man who was himself caught up in seeking to assert his power while fearing its erosion. He often accused Others of sorcery, believing they were causing his hunting to be unsuccessful and wishing him harm. Yuma and his wife Saláma were childless and for the most part they lived in the Mbuti camps very close to the village. It was when he arrived in the hunting camps that talk of sorcery would increase. Yuma was normally absent from the hunting camps and, of the older people, those who carried the greatest authority in camp and on the hunt were his sister-in-law Nahto, her brother Za, and her maternal uncle Aposi.
Camp   Relations
Nahto was a formidable woman who had been married three times. Her present husband, Kitobela, was quiet and acquiescent, and spent most of his time at the Mbuti camp near Jeans fields, always deferring to her dynamic presence when he visited the hunting camps. Nahto had had two children by her first husband, Ngomani (who now lived elsewhere) both of whom were often in camp with their children. After Ngomani she married Yuma's elder brother, a man called Phelix who should have been chief but had left Utama because he didn't want a position that gave him no power over his fellow Mbuti while leaving him accountable for their every action to people such as the Chef de Groupement. Nahto and he had had four children, who had remained here with their mother. Since Phelix's brother Yuma was childless, it was Nahto and Phelix's eldest son, Bon Anne, who would succeed his uncle Yuma as chief. Bon Anne was a powerful hunter, a leader much sought after by the women, and his voice was often hoarse from smoking too much cannabis. He had Nahto's ability to inspire and to come up with the unexpected; and this was perhaps one of the key abilities that tended to give him leadership. Nahto herself was in a pivotal position. Not only had she been married to Yuma's elder brother, but her children were at the heart of these hunting camps; camps which ranged in size from twenty five to fifty adults.
Nahto's younger brother Za, a man with a dry sense of humour, tended to take the lead in hunting. He was normally based with the hunting band his father had belonged to further west (where both he and Nahto had been born). It was their mother who was from Utama, and it was to her mothers group that Nahto had long been attached. Za had come along to join them. He often made speeches in the evening, but always from his own hearth at the side of the camp, and never from the centre which would suggest belonging and commitment to the camp, since part of his approach was to keep alive the possibility that he might return to his own group and that they might lose the man most of them thought of as the best hunter. Za was generally followed when he showed leadership concerning the hunt. Thus reflecting a broader experience of leadership among the Mbuti which is 'authoritative' rather than 'authoritarian' (Silberbauer, writing on the Khoisan, 1982: 29), and is respected only in those areas where an individual is recognised as being more competent
Aposi (Nahto and Za's maternal uncle) had long ago been chief of the Babukusi, during the brief period between Nahto's husband Phelix leaving and Yuma becoming old enough to replace him. His three sons were in this group and they and other relations would group their huts in another part of camp to Nahto and her children. Two of his sons, Tumbelo and Aseli, had beaten up the old woman. Komie, the fourth hunter involved in the incident, would sometimes place his hut nearer to Tumbelo and his brothers, and other times nearer to Bon Anne. Komie was often laughed at for being fanatical. The sheer amount of cannabis he smoked often entailed others having to pull him out of a fearfully spaced out state by working on his body: they would do this casually, placing their hands on his head as he went through convulsions while they continued their conversation with someone else, almost completely ignoring him until he had regained his composure. The speed with which he would race up trees in search of honey, wielding his axe in search of the hive faster than anybody, and the way he threw himself so completely into any task at hand, such as digging up the ambaka tree at the start of the nkumbi, was highly unusual. It was easy to imagine him obeying Yuma's order to beat up the old woman with far more thoroughness than anybody had intended. The conflict that emerged between Aseli and Bon Anne over Bon Anne taking Aseli's wife, partly reflected the potential for conflict between two of the main families in camp.
Two of the other main families in these hunting camp were those of Kanjalai and of Musimu. Musimu was an elderly woman with a wicked sense of humour who would often bring disputes to an end with performances which reduced the whole camp to tears of laughter. Her sister Saláma was married to chief Yuma. Her eldest son, Duobo, was in his forties, was unmarried and like some other unmarried adults was considered a doctor with powers to heal which were connected with not having children. Unlike his brother Ndumé and his sister Anifwa, Duobo moved frequently between this and other hunting camps. Ndumé and Anifwa were married to two of Kanjalai's children, Charlotte and Mokubwa, through kosono (sister/brother exchange). Together with Musimu's quiet husband Umé, and Kanjalai when he was in camp, the two families provided a third nucleus of
8 'Mbuti hunter-gatherers and rainforest conservation in the Ituri Forest, Zaire'. 1996. Justin Kenrick
the camp. |n this situation sister/brother exchange did not appear to be about men's control of women, but about siblings staying close to each other and building up a network of support in which tasks such as childcare and cooking were more closely shared than between other couples.
Although he was a superb hunter, Kanjalai preferred to stay near Utama working with the old Bila sage of Utama, Phelix. He stayed there partly out of his love for the palm wine that could be found there. When Phelix spent time fishing at the Ituri River, Kanjalai would go with him, and he also entered the forest to help me learn my way to the hunting camps. The closeness between Kanjalai and his wife, and both of them and Phelix and his Lese wife, was clearly a strong reason to remain in the village. The four of them lived slightly apart from the rest of the village, far enough to discourage people from visiting after dark, which meant that they could pass quiet evenings together. Kanjalai lived in a large Mbuti hut of interwoven saplings, and Phelix lived in a villagers square mud house nearby. The relationship ensured a good supply of garden produce for all, and because the fields supposedly belonged to Phelix this meant that Kanjalai's family were protected from losing all their hard earned produce to other Mbuti through demand-sharing. Kanjalai's family worked the fields alongside Phelix and his wife, and took what they wanted when they wanted. Kanjalai's daughter, Charlotte, and her husband, Ndume, spent much time in the hunting camps. Ndume was also building them a square villagers mud house next door to Kanjalai's hut. For Ndumé and Charlotte there is no contradiction between maintaining a strong presence in the camps and establishing a semi-permanent dwelling near the village: the two worlds are not opposed to each other but rather supplement each other.
Arriving at Bongaduwé
On arriving at a new camp, for example Bongaduwé, one of the hunting camps just south of the Ituri River, many people would build new huts, but the more important question than which hut was where it would be. At this point people can realign closer to some and further from others. The realignment of residence, practised by Bila villagers every ten years or so when they move their village back to a former ancestral site, is re-enacted every few weeks as the Mbuti move their hunting camps. Thus instead of a race to secure the least dilapidated former hut, there was a slow process of establishing residence. For example, Za cleared the ground and his wife, Masamba, created a new hut within a few hours. The fact that he had chosen the place for the hut gave him a strong say in the realignment of relationships, the fact that she constructed it gave her the power to position the door facing towards whoever she felt friendly with and away from those she disliked.
Changing residence patterns
The members of different hunting camps are not rigid sub-groups but are flexible networks of kin and affines, and since most people are related to most others through more than one kinship connection, there is much more choice for the individual than may be apparent on the surface. > > » The net hunt relies on the forest being reasonably dry, and as numbers in camp increased and the hunt became less successful, the camp first countered this by splitting and moving south deeper into the forest. By this strategy they intended to benefit from being in forest where the duiker were less disturbed by humans and initially were more plentiful. Then as the rains increased and the days hunting time decreased, the groups adopted a strategy of staying at each camp for shorter and shorter periods of time. Finally they had to move north so that the village fields became easier to reach from the hunting camps, and in this way they could supplement their diet by working in the village fields, since there was no longer a surplus of meat in the camps which could be exchanged with villagers for agricultural produce. ■<& The Bélélé
The very first night that the whole group arrived at Bongaduwé, the Bélélé, the spirit of the forest, arrived and Nahto spoke with it on behalf of the camp. The Bélélé was described as being a Satani (in KiSwahili) or Kéti (in KiMbuti/KiBila): an ancestor spirit, a spirit of the forest.
Case Study:  Women representing the camp to the forest and ancestors
Nahto led the singing, with everyone (especially the children) singing the refrain: a repetitive eerie chanting that was very restrained, lacking any individual variation or exuberance. Using a stick, Nahto beat on the ground and called out to the spirit of the forest to come out and meet her. The Bélélé emerged out of the darkness of the forest at the edge of the camp: a figure totally covered in green leaves, moving very slowly in an inhuman jerky way. .Nahto cried out to it, "you are always here when I come", and the Bélélé replied, "Imé kaku -1 never die". She then called on it to bless the camp and to help the hunt to give us lots of animals; after which the figure disappeared into the pitch-black night forest, a host of children and youths following it, blundering through the forest and being thrashed by it. Za was nowhere to be seen until long after the event, and it was his son Ausa who helped lead the Bélélé, it seemed most likely that he was playing the part of the spirit of the forest/ancestors while his sister Nahto represented the camp.______________________________________
9
'Mbuti hunter-gatherers and rainforest conservation in the Ituri Forest, Zaire'. 1996. Justin Kenrick
When such Bakéíi come into camps and bless both the camp and the hunt, the Bakéti often dance wildly and tear at huts. They are often covered in extraordinary points of light given off by the phosphorescence of decomposing plants. It is often an elder woman of the camp, although sometimes a man, who takes the lead role in addressing such spirits on behalf of the camp. > > > [This, and countless other incidents] argue against the denigrated position one would have to ascribe to Mbuti women according to the arguments of Ortner (1974) and Collier and Rosaldo (1981). > > > Mbuti women can indeed be threatened or denigrated, but this differs in kind from the more general rivalry between the sexes only in the context of the attempt by the Mbuti chief Yuma to assert hierarchy and domination over everybody. In the context of Yuma's assertion, the difference is a difference in kind for everybody and not simply for the women concerned. Yuma was only briefly present at any of the hunting camps, the rest of the time he stayed in an Mbuti camp near to Utama. Here at Bongaduwé the most powerful people were Nahto, Za, their uncle the much older Aposi, and the equally old Musimu.
For an adult man, marriage is a prerequisite for having ones own hut, since in theory it is the women who build them. For a woman, it is a prerequisite to accessing the meat procured by her husbands net. Thus their cooking fire symbolises the marriage: the ability to cook ones own food, to demand and offer food from; and the place to speak from and socialise at. This division of male and female roles is seen as essential ideologically, however much women are essential to the hunt, and however much men help in the building of the huts, in practice.
The Net Hunt and the Forest
If the forest is dry and the hunters are sufficiently galvanised by discussion or by the molimo singing the night before, the hunt will start early in the morning. Several of the younger hunters, or possibly an older hunter whose advice has been accepted concerning which direction to hunt in, will set off slightly earlier than the others and build a small hunting fire: either a few hundred yards from camp if the hunt is to begin nearby, or once they have reached the area the hunt is to take place in. They will mark the way for those who follow; and as soon as the first hunter has left camp carrying a smouldering log to light the fire with, he will begin singing to the forest as he seeks to establish a peaceful state of mind and a peaceful relationship with the forest
The mornings hunting fire having been lit, the others will gradually arrive and the men will sit near to the fire passing round taba, joking or telling stories of earlier hunts, and some of the men may mark their faces with charcoal from the fire, the fire being seen as a blessing and the charcoal as a sign of this. The women will sit separately either by their own fire or close to the men, and there is often good humoured but highly charged banter back and forth between the men and women. Small boys will be with the men, and girls with the women; but young couples often sit together to one side with their infants. This pattern is repeated many times throughout the day as everyone comes together after each cast of the nets: lighting a fire or having just a brief pause before the next cast of the nets. During these pauses the stories of animals that have been caught and the ones that got away are told and re-told (as they will be later in camp), with re-enactments and a great deal of humour directed at individual hunters and at the animals themselves. The conversation is often raucous and loud, and in sharp contrast to the silence that follows as the women head off to circle round the area, getting ready to double back towards the men waiting by their hunting nets; the women beating the undergrowth to scare the antelope towards the semi-circle of nets.
John Hart has described these pauses as "an important time to flirt and visit, to play with babies, and to discuss the next drive" (1978: 337). During a typical pause in the hunt sweet potatoes were roasted in the fire, some men hacked into a nearby fallen tree, searching for an njiko (a small forest animal), and other men climbed a tree in search of honey. Meanwhile some of the women looked for mbuti (forest mushrooms); and the rest sat around near their own fire where two women re-enacted a moment in the hunt.
Case study: Re-enacting ambivalent relations between humans and animals Mapaulo - a childless young woman who's husband had died, and one of the only people to demonstrate any affection towards the camps hunting dogs - played at being an antelope attempting to escape and then, using branches to symbolise the animal, she caught it and cut its throat, with appropriately blood curdling sounds. Then Nahto's daughter, Alieti, joined in: chasing Mapaulo madly though the undergrowth around the fire. The chase ended up with the 'hunter* demanding that the 'animal' brought her fire ('pika na isa'). The animal was reluctant but eventually agreed, and each time she agreed the hunter would just walk off rather than accept the fire, to the hysterical amusement of all those around. The performance played on the ambivalent relation between humäns and animals, especially since Mapaulo was the one person in camp who crossed the boundary from hounding to befriending the hunting dogs. The humour lay not simply in the idea that an animal bringing fire to humans was preposterous, but also in the fact that its gift and therefore friendship was being refused. There followed a huge humorous fight between the two and this time it was the animal who in effect won and walked off, sticking out her backside and farting at everyone as she strode off._________________________
10 'Mbuti hunter-gatherers and rainforest conservation in the Ituri Forest, Zaire'. 1996. Justin Kenrick
These stories of animals outwitting, or being outwitted byi-hunters are highly entertaining, but also display a strong degree of identification with the animals. They involve people re-enacting the movements and feelings of the hunters and the animals in very similar terms: both the hunter and the animal are within the performance, moving through the forest in an equally alert fashion. The storyteller in camp will move between giving a running commentary on the story and being the voice of each character in it. His or her body taking on the appearance and movement of the hunter and the animal with equal intensity, and with equal respect for their abilities. At a highly practical level the stories are a form of active evaluation of the forest and the hunt, and they also teach listening children about the nature of different animals.
When the pause during the hunt is over - the sweet potatoes eaten, and the story finished - the women head off carrying their baskets which they hope to fill with the animals caught in their husbands or male relatives nets. They circle silently round to the far side of the area in which they hope there are antelope, and wait for the men to finish setting up their nets. The hunting nets, which the men carry in a big circular coiled mass hanging from their shoulders or from their heads, are between three and four feet high, and from 100 - 300 feet long. At every cast, each hunter will advance one place up the line towards the lead position and so be able to determine exactly where they place their net. This means that at each cast each hunter will position their net at a different point in the semi-circle. The nets are hung from saplings by a twist of the rope. Women and children often help in setting up the nets, and then circle round to their beating position opposite the semi-circle of nets. When the nets are ready there will be quiet animal calls between the men and then at a signal (an arm clap, whistle, shout or animal call) the women will start shouting and advancing, beating the undergrowth to scare the duiker towards the nets. Short whistles indicate that an animal is approaching and tell the waiting hunters to remain still and silent Loud noise erupts after an animal has passed, and often the men will have positioned themselves within the capture area and will themselves attempt to scare any duiker into running and getting entangled in their net
The beating and shouting to frighten the nocturnal duiker from their hiding places is a peculiar long moment of great commotion in the forest, during which nothing may be happening apart from humans making as much noise as they can, (since there may not in fact be any duiker in the vicinity). However, once a duiker rushes into the barely visible net then it is quickly killed and placed in the basket, and will not be divided up until the group returns to camp. Turnbull found that "The moment of killing is best described as a moment of intense compassion and reverence. The fun that is sometimes subsequently made of the dead animal, particularly by the youths, appears to be almost a nervous reaction, and there is an element of fear in their behaviour". (1965:161)
Although respect for the forest itself is evident in the molimo and in the calm period that follows each cast of the nets, the moment of killing was full of joy at the good fortune of the hunt having succeeded, of having been blessed by the forest/ancestors. Although the jokes may have been nervous reaction, the stories told and retold in the camp in the evening always had, as one of their high points, a graphic rendition of the sound and movements of the struggling and dying animal. In fact four years before writing the above passage, Turnbull described the killing of duikers which clearly involved no reverence, compassion or fear whatsoever, but instead involved joking and mockery in which "one of them kicked the torn and bleeding body" (1961: 95). He states that "it was at times like this that I found myself furthest removed from the pygmies" (1961: 95). Thus the story Turnbull tells changes slightly over time between 1961 and 1965; and the change is towards polarising the experience of the peaceful Mbuti and the fearful Bila: a distorting opposition between the poles which are indeed present, but present among the Bila and the Mbuti, not between them.
After each cast, the nets are gathered and everyone gradually heads on to the next meeting point. It is at this time that there is almost always a strong sense of calm and contentment with people singing different songs quietly to themselves and singing "Ituri-o" to the forest. There is a stark contrast between the commotion, noise and desire to catch an animal in ones own net, and these songs sung to the forest and the ancestors in good humour. As they move off towards the next cast they will be keeping an eye open for signs of roots, mushrooms, and honey; and pointing out, to children and to each other, changes happening in the forest In the Ituri there are large areas which are open mbau forest (Gilbertiodendron monospecific forest). Mbau do not allow other trees to grow beneath them so mere is not a dense undergrowth, and moving through such areas is easy. It is in the denser areas of mixed forest that the duiker tend to hide: so although one can pass through mbau with ease, it is when the hunting group begins to move along the twisting paths through pockets or large areas of mixed forest and then finally starts to move into areas of the densest thickets, that one has the best chance of finding duiker.
Attempts in camp to improve the hunt occur on three levels. On the individual level black paste mixed in the horn of an antelope is put on the net as are pieces of hair, and any other lucky charms. On the second level
11 'Mbuti hunter-gatherers and rainforest conservation in the Ituri Forest, Zaire'. 1996. Justin Kenrick
there is the endékélélé, a small spirit house that is sometimes built just outside the camp and where food offerings are made collectively by all the hunters to ensure a good hunt Lastly there are the interactions with the forest/ancestors in the form of remonstrating, dialoguing and singing with the molimo, and with the other forms the forest/ancestors assume, such as the Bélélé.
Evening in Camp
A few people always stay behind in camp: this may include a few of the older people, some small children, anyone who is ill, or a hunter has had a bad dream and so would bring bad luck to the hunt. Normally there will be at least one or two Bila villagers in camp hoping to recover some of the debt which is owing them: the meat being smoked on racks to preserve iL The total amount owed to villagers on a typical day equalled one hundred and forty four glasses, or more than half a basket load, of rice; much of which might never be repaid. From the middle of the afternoon the Mbuti left in camp will start making a two-tone two-hoot call to the returning hunters. The men will cut up animals just out of sight: whoever cuts the animal must not eat any of iL If the hunt has been successful then there will be haggling with the villagers over who owes who whaL and although the animal belongs to whoever caught it in their neL there will inevitably be a sharing out of food as people make silent or noisy demands on each other that are difficult to refuse. The division does not follow exact rules and so there is often much argument over who should receive what. The noisy enthusiasm with which the argument is entered into, does not seem to match the much lower actual concern people express once the division has been made. Elders were usually offered the liven it is the preferred food offering to the ancestors, on account of it being the seat of feeling, and because it is easy to chew and digest.
After a buré (KiSwahili: empty, useless) or exhausting hunL the mood on the return to camp is often very loud, argumentative and confrontational. The volatile and almost violent mood contrasts sharply with the calm and rejoiceful singing as they gather their hunting nets at the end of a casL and move on to the next place to hunt. If the final cast is close to camp then the mood switch between individuals at home in their forest environment and individuals in conflict in camp can be very sudden. The angry, confused, shouting and complaining mood is often entered into with great gusto. The mood in camp lifts as people eaL and the camp fills with evening talk around the family fires just outside their huts, or the fires which groups of hunters share, and much later the focus shifts to the shared central fires when the singing gradually begins.
Cannabis is often smoked at the end of the day just before the evening meal. After the adult who has contributed the cannabis has taken one or two deep inhalations, it is passed around all adults who wish to take part. If there is any left over it is passed on to the youngsters. If there is any pattern to who dislikes cannabis it would appear to be the adult generation: those who were primarily responsible for the hunt and who had children who were old enough to hunt themselves The smokers were primarily elders, youths and newly married young hunters.
If, as often happens, all the meat has been destined for exchange with villagers, then only the head, neck and entrails of the animals are due to the hunter. These will then be cooked, normally by the women; the liver, and often the heart, being given to the elders. For a long while Za had great luck on the hunL and then it was his neighbour Pati's turn, which meant that they had enough meat to eat and exchange without having to make demands on others, and instead they were in a position to invite others to eat with them. Pati's toddler would run to Pati when he was upset and crying, since Pati tended to sing to him and hold him while getting on with mending a net or talking with friends, whereas Ikalabo (Pati's wife) tended to scold him. The toddlers often visited others. When they were slighüy older they would spend much of their time together devising games.
One of the older women - Musimu or Nahto - would often have the whole camp in hysterics with a lively performance about their own and others sexuality. Musimu could dance an amazingly lithe dance, wearing nothing but a tiny strip of cloth between her legs, folded over a string vine around her waisL Her performances involved such things as bizarre altercations with empty baskets that were too heavy to lift, or simply moving strangely and engaging in a monologue accompanied by gestures which were sudden and arresting as she leapt on comments shouted to her from the women gathered around her in hysterics. As one such performance ended, the molimo trumpet called out from the foresL circling close to the camp, accompanied by shouts and the sound of the ground being beaten the way the women do when they are beating an animal towards the nets. Ndume stood in camp with his spear pointing in its direction, and then rushed into the forest towards iL shouting that the nyama n'endula (the animal of the forest) was arriving.
The molimo mirroring the Hunt
Hunting songs happened when the young hunters were relaxing and the molimo trumpet was not likely to arrive: for the trumpet required the disappearance of the young hunters who would reappear as the molimo. With hunting songs the harmony is broken up into separate notes, with each person carrying a single note for each
12 'Mbuti hunter-gatherers and rainforest conservation in the Ituri Forest, Zaire'. 1996. Justin Kenrick