DID THE PYGMIES DISCOVER FIRE?

 

         This article will discuss a mythological tradition from a group of people known by some people as forest specialists. The term Pygmy has been critiqued as having negative meanings. Western scholarship has labelled them as one group of Africans, particularly due to their features; their short stature. However, this African population remain a diverse group of people. They consist of as many as four specialists who possess different languages and cultures. Certain segments of Western scholarship have grouped them as one homogeneous group. Although this idea has been constantly challenged, hence this write-up will be telling a story about the Bambuti and the Mbuti groups of people. The Bambuti have multiple sub-groups who may or may not share the same oral tradition. Though this story centres on the Bambuti specialist group. The story centres on an ancient oral tradition, the story may not apply to all four specialists.

       The Bambuti people are one of the oldest indigenous people in the Congo region of Africa. They are composed of bands which are relatively small in size, ranging from 16 to 60 people. Scholar Harere writes that the early humans did not start in large groups, the Bambuti seem to continue this very tradition, and perhaps their mythological story regarding the discovery of fire is a very ancient one. The ancient story reveals that one day, a forest specialist came upon a Chimpanzee village, they welcomed him, fed him with bananas and allowed him to warm himself by the fire. The forest Specialist came back again and again, one day he went to the Chimpanzee village wearing a strange costume of pounded bark and a long tail. He came at midday while the adult chimpanzees were out in the banana plantations and only small Chimpanzees remained in the village. The small Chimpanzees greeted him as they had seen their parents do, offered him bananas and sat with him next to the fire. They noticed that his tail was lying close to the embers of the fire and was at risk of catching fire. The young Chimpanzees warned the forest specialist about this but he was unbothered. He ate his bananas and continued talking with them, eventually, his tail did catch fire, he rose and leapt around, as though he was trying to put the fire out. He also cried as though he was suffering from the pain. The small Chimpanzees followed him around shouting and laughing at the excitement. When he reached the edge of the village, he suddenly dashed straight into the forest. The small Chimpanzees shouted an alarm in surprise and some of the adults came running to learn what had happened. They quickly guessed that the forest specialist had come to steal fire, so they ran after him. But by the time they reached the human village, it was already too late. He had already distributed his prize among other households. The Chimpanzees reproached the humans for stealing the gift of fire rather than paying honestly for it but the humans were indifferent. So the Chimpanzees returned to the force, they gave up all the practice of the art that they possessed and lived like animals.

    This appears to be a very simple story but it may have some deeper meanings. Perhaps, the Bambuti are telling a very ancient story of how the four specialist groups learned how to make fire from their encounter with other African people or perhaps observing the Chimpanzee behaviour gave them an idea of how to start a fire. However, it is not an easy task to unravel the mystery of a story like this.