Batwa “Pygmies” are one of the oldest peoples in Africa, and their origin is unknown. For centuries they roamed the forests in bands foraging for honey, wild yams, fruit, stems and tubers, and hunted small game with trained dogs. Over time, the forests disappeared under the tools of the Bantu — newcomers from western Africa — and the Batwa numbers dwindled. They bartered hides, meat, honey and yams for arrowheads, salt and crops. The Batwa were feared as raiders but also famous as dancers and singers.
They were monogamous, except when a woman was barren. Prospective husbands were often asked to provide the feathers of a Ruwenzori turaco or a flying squirrel to the future father in law as a test of their hunting skills. Bride purchase was believed to promote discord between families, though gifts of honey and wild animal meat were expected.
In the 1980s and 1990s the Batwa were evicted from national parks without compensation. Today they are marginalised and suffer from landlessness, poverty, lack of education and health care. However, in recent years the authorities have shown more understanding and some promising progress has been made.
Our Stories About the Batwa:
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Have You Heard?! We Won a Global Responsible Tourism Award!
Gorilla Highlands was among the winners at the 2022 WTM Responsible Tourism Awards celebrated in London on Monday. We took the global “Contributing to Cultural Heritage” category and also won gold in the “Rest of the World” competition. After a decade of revealing natural and cultural landscapes of our region to discerning travellers, we were…
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Trouble for Batwa “Pygmy” Communities: Echuya Forest
This week we accompanied the last group of tourists into the wilderness of Echuya Forest and to the famed ritual tree of the Batwa “Pygmies”. From now on we are going to be charged USD 30 per person to enter this nature reserve, and we are simply not ready to pay this exorbitant fee. We…
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SABA Episode #10 — How to Be Good Partners to Batwa ‘Pygmies’?
For the tenth episode of SEE AFRICA BREATHE AFRICA (we are now in the double digits!) I was sent on a mission to visit the Batwa “Pygmy” people of Echuya Forest on the Uganda-Rwanda border. Miha was attempting to kill two birds with one stone — introducing me to the realities of the Batwa and…
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Tracking Time
38mm, 1/250s, f/5,6, ISO400 The Batwa are in many ways the Gorilla Highlands region’s forgotten people. The original inhabitants of this part of Africa, the Batwa are — or at least were — traditional hunter-gatherers, living in and off what used to be extensive forests. Marginalised by later arrivals, they were ousted from their final…
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Were Batwa Really Dangerous to Gorillas?
The sad story of the Batwa “Pygmies” of the Gorilla Highlands reached its dramatic peak when they were kicked out of national parks. This was in line with the traditional view of conservation — nature can only be protected in strict separation from indigenous peoples — but was that actually needed? Were they truly dangerous to gorillas?Dian Fossey, the…
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Batwa “Pygmies”: History and Present
The Batwa “Pygmies” are one of the oldest peoples in Africa and their origin is unknown. They were hunter-gatherers, roaming the forests in bands foraging for honey, wild yams, fruit, stems and tubers, and hunting small game with trained dogs. They were highly skilled bowmen. Today, the Batwa live as a unified group mainly in people’s imagination. In all the three countries of our region,…
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Walk-In Theatre
24mm, 30s, f/4, ISO2500 Back in early 2016 we spent a night camping with our Batwa friends at the outskirts of Echuya forest. The highlight was undoubtedly the cinema experience we put on during the evening, sharing a video made by the Gorilla Highlands team about the region and what it had to offer, including…
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King Kong vs. Gentle Gorilla
As the Godzilla vs. Kong movie opens globally tomorrow, let us investigate why people got gorillas so wrong initially, and how they started to realise the mistake. History of Gorilla Fantasies While Batwa “Pygmies” had coexisted with mountain gorillas in the rainforests of central Africa since time immemorial, the rest of the world took quite a bit longer.…
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Despite Obstacles: Bold Vision for Rwanda, Uganda and Congo
It’s the saddest week of the year in Rwanda, the time when survivors remember the outrageous tragedy that claimed one million lives 25 years ago. The Gorilla Highlands team’s humble contribution to the Remember – Unite – Renew theme of these commemorations is a daily photograph on our social media channels. These images celebrate the…