The Hadzabe. Listen to the land!
Who are the Hadzabe? They are, perhaps, the last hunters-gatherers living a traditional life in Africa. The Hadza live in the Lake Eyasi region of Tanzania bordering the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
The Hadza are living fossils but they have not been frozen in time. That said, the amazing thing is how little they have changed. They speak a click language similar to the Khosian language spoken by the bushmen of the Kalahari. They live in small groups and move every month or two which is key for its subsistence, they still make fire with sticks, carve their own weapons, use the same tools to acquire and eat most of the same foods. But don’t get it wrong, Hadza life is not harsh. The foraging lifestyle is to great extent peaceful, healthy and fulfilling.
They have plenty of leisure time and they are magnificent storytellers. The Hadza world is continually being reinterpreted and invented through their magnificent capacity for imagination in the stories they create as much as retell around the fire or around the painting area.
Today many influences are changing them. First there is the ever-increasing number of non-Hadza in their area. The farmers cut down and burn trees to clear areas for planting maize. This continues to threaten the wild life populations and the future of hunting by the Hadza. Another threat to the foraging lifestyle today comes from the tourists.
The Hadzabe are shy and do not like conflict. They have gone farther and farther into the bush to avoid conflict, to places where most cannot survive. But now there is nowhere else to go.
There are no simple answers. Some Hadza want to change; others do not. As long as those who are hunting and gathering can continue to do so, they really are probably much better off than they will be under most plans that are likely to be forthcoming any time soon.
References: The Hadza. Hunter-Gatherers of Tanzania. Frank W. Marlowe. The language of the land. James Stephenson. The Hadzabe society of Tanzania. Amani Lusekelo.