The Baka Tribe

Where is the Baka Tribe found?

The Baka Tribe is found in the depths of the Cameroon, Republic of Congo, northern Gabon and Central African Republic rain forests. Their population is about 5,000 to 28,000.This information is very hard to get because live in a very remote area.

What makes them so special?

What makes the Baka Tribe so special is that they are able to use a very wide range of plants around them to make medicine to cure simple symptoms such as fever, cough, etc. They are also special because of their houses and their singing. Their houses are made out of Tilipi leaves and are pretty cozy too. The Baka Tribe polyphonic sing, which is when a person sing two notes at once.

What are their customs, religions and language?

The Baka Tribe are animist. This means that they believe that there are spirits in humans, animals and plants. They also worship the forest spirit, Jengi or Djengi. They also have this private ceremony where a boy becomes a man. This ceremony is called Mauro Campagnoli. They speak French, Baka ( a language only the Baka people speak) and koozime.

What are their daily routines?

The daily routines for the Baka Tribe men are hunting, gathering honey from trees and for women, they would have to gather vegetables and take care of their children. Their daily routines were nothing really special.

What challenges do they face?

The challenges that they face are that their houses are made out of Tilipi leaves, which is can be easily destroyed in storms and their houses are very venerable to wild animals that might attack at night. Another problem is that many trees are being cut down in forests such as the ones that the Baka Tribes live in (Cameroon, Republic of Congo, northern Gabon and Central African Republic) making all the animals they hunt escape and letting the tribe people starve to death.

How Can We Help Them?

We can help them by sending them tin canned food, clothes, toys,etc. The most affective donation would be sending them medicine because in such remote areas (even though they are experts in using plants as medicine) there are still some illness that they can't just treat with plants. And that would require medicine, but in such remote places that would be hard to access. So any donations to the Baka Tribe would be very kind.

FINISH