Introducing 

Prezi AI.

Your new presentation assistant.

Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.

Loading…
Transcript

Bayaka traditonal dancing:

How the Bayaka have changed over the years

Conclusion

Types of ways Bayaka children typically learn:

In conclusion, The Bayaka tribe represnt a traditonal culture because they are very connected to the land they live on and don't want to interact with foreign cultures. The Bayka are still hunter gatherers and want to continue to stay close to their traditons and customs for years to come. The Bayaka are in danger of straying from their traditonal ways because of outside, foreign forces but hopefully they can continue to stay connected with one another and carry out their traditons for years to come.

The Bayaka have been influenced tremendously by the spread of European colonialism throughout the 18th century. The slave trade caused many tribes to move to Bayaka lands and these tribes became affiliated with the Bayaka as a result. The Bayaka becamse the main tusk producers for Europeans invested in the Ivory trade. In the early 1900s tribes in the Bayaka region ere forced to work in rubber production by colonialists and when they escaped into Bayka occupied forests more bushmeat was required which forced Bayakan hunters to switch from spear hunting to net hunting which made it much more efficent to catch bigger animals. This also caused women to become more involved in hunting since net hunting was less physically challenging then spear hunting. In the 1930s when the French pressured the Bayaka to move into roadside villages they resisted and moved even deeper into the forests. Currently the Bayaka are facing economic pressures that are causing them to deviate away from their traditional customs. Many Bakyaka are being forced to work in the ivory or lumber buisnesses and/or coffee plantations of neighboring tribes during dry seasons when they usually would have been hunting instead.

Challenges of the Bayaka

The Bayaka Tribe

The biggest challenge the Bayaka are facing is the increased economic pressures influencing the Bayaka. More European and African countries are arriving in Bayakan territory to aquire wood, gold and diamonds, and are trying to establish national parks. This means the Bayaka are losing more and more of their land and the Bayaka are being taken advantage of by the farmers of Africa and European investors. The Bayaka are struggling because they don't have the political organization or literacy skills to deal with these issues so they're responding by running further into the forest losing more and more land to foreign groups. These problems are causing the Bayaka to deviate from their traditonal customs and are forcing them to apply for jobs they have no knowledge about just to survive. The way for the Bayaka to tackle these issues would be for them to form a political organization amongst themselves and organize peaceful protests to stop these outside groups from interfering with their daily lives and traditions. They should try and learn the languages and customs of the groups around them so they can read and communicate their wants to be isolated and safe from these issues. Finally, they should work towards strong partnerships with these other groups so they can hopefully retain their traditional ways of life that they hold dear to them

Example of what a usual Bayaka settlement looks like:

The Bayaka

The Bayaka or Aka tribe are a people that live in the Northern Congo and southern Central African Republic. There are almost 30,000 people in the Bayaka tribe. The Bayaka are referred to as pygmies because most of them are under 5 feet tall in height. The Bayaka are actually the first people ever to live in the Congo and Central African Republic which is why these people have such a strong tie to the land. The Bayaka are a traditional culture in my eyes because they are very attached to the land, they have very strong interpersonal relationgships with each other, they are very dependent on local resources, and are losing ground to economic pressures.

More Cultural Traits of the Bayaka

The Bayaka's cultural traits

Another cultural trait of the Bayaka would be their rites of passage. When a baby is born the parents place protective cords made from vines around a baby's neck, wrists, and ankles to protect it from bad spirits. Teenagers also get their teeth filed because it makes them more attractive. Another cultural trait would be the Bayaka's clothing. Men and women in Bayaka tribes typically wear loinclothes made of fabric obtained through trade, They wear loinclothes because the temperature never drops below 21 degrees celsius during the day. A seventh cultural trait would be the food of the Bayaka. The Bayaka know hundreds of animals and plants, they live primarily on 63 plant species, twenty insect speices, honey from eight species of bees, and 28 species of game animals. Their favorite game animal to eat is by far the Porcupine. Another cultural trait would be Sports. Most Bayaka children play mock hunts and other games. Adult Bayaka play a tug of war style game with the men usually going against the women. The goal of these games are to remind the community that cooperation can solve conflicts between the sexes. A 9th cultural trait of the Bayaka would be the education young children recieve. Young children of the Bayaka don't actually go to a formal school and instead learn about hunting and gathering growing up. The parents teach them how to use weapons to hunt and how to identify plants and animals to eat by the age of ten. One last cultural trait of the Bayaka tribe would be the jobs they perform. The Bayaka are some of the last hunter gatherers on earth and are very good at living off the land that anyone else would see as unresourceful. The Bayaka hunt at night using nets to catch their prey and while men make noises to attract antelopes the women kill the animals that are trapped in the nets.

What a typical Bayaka home looks like

The Bayaka have many different cultural traits that make them a traditonal culture. The music of the Bayka is very important to them and many artists from the tribe have went on to create songs about their culture. They typically all sing and dance together with the rest of their tribe. Another cultural trait of the Bayaka would be their religion. The Bayaka tribes either believe in Bembe the creator of all living things and/or Djengi who is a powerful and helpful forest spirit. The tribe typically doesn't believe in an afterlife and actually believe that a person's soul stays around and visits their family from time to time. A third cultural trait would be the housing of the Bayaka tribes. Bayaka typically live in camps with five to seven dome shaped houses. The houses are typically very close together and occupy an area the size of a living room. Every family has their own house and typically all sleep in one bed together. The Language of the Bayaka is another cultural trait, the Bayaka's official language is Diaka and its characterized by three tones and the language often sounds musical. Different tones can change meanings of the words and most Bayaka speak two other languages so they can trade with other cultures.

Bayaka music cover

Works Cited:

“AKA.” Countries and Their Cultures, www.everyculture.com/wc/Brazil-to-Congo-Republic-of/Aka.html. Accessed 26 Nov. 2023.

“Aka People.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 8 Aug. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aka_people#Music.

Project, Joshua. “Pygmy, Bayaka in Central African Republic.” Joshua Project, joshuaproject.net/people_groups/10859/CT. Accessed 26 Nov. 2023.

Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi