Last of the First

They grow no food, they raise no livestock, and basically live without rules or taxes. They live a life that hasn't really changed much in the past 10,000 years. I wonder, what they know that we have forgotten?

Hadzabe men hunting

Tuber

Last nights hunt

The Hadzabe people are Africa's last hunter-gatherers and on Monday I shook their hands and was welcomed into their culture and shown a place I never dreamed still existed. Less than 1,000 Hadzabe remain in Africa and 300-400 of them currently live around Lake Eyasi near the Ngorongoro conservation area. Before that day the only exposure I had to the Hadzabe people was through a piece in National Geographic on the evolution of diet in which they were featured. I wasn't sure what to expect, especially after our professor told us that this group of Hadzabe in fact has a lot of visitors who come to see how they live. Part of me was reserved and felt like I might be gypped out of a true cultural experience. The other part of me was just excited to see a group of people who, for tourist sake or not, relied on their hunting and gathering skills to survive. When we first arrived our translator tried to teach us how to say hello in the Hadza language, which was pretty hard considering they have a click language, but it was fun to try anyways. We then started the day by going out on a hunt with the young men of the group. They hunt with bows and arrows and are the only people in Tanzania allowed to hunt without a permit. I believe they’re also the only people in Tanzania who are legally allowed to smoke marijuana, which they did before we went out on the hunt. We ate baobab fruit and dug up tubers, which were these giant potato looking things that when cracked open had watery/slimy fibers inside. On our way back one of the men shot a bat with his bow and arrow, which was pretty impressive (but I also couldn't help thinking, isn't that how you get ebola? too soon to joke?). When we got back to their main camp we practiced shooting a couple arrows ourselves and then they showed us one of their traditional dances.

Hadzabe boy and his bat

Cave paintings

Passing the pipe before the hunt

I'm not sure where the future of the Hadzabe people is heading. Traditionally they don't stay in one spot, but now since the land around them has changed into agriculture, national parks and conservation areas, they seem to be trapped. At the end of the day I was very glad that I had the opportunity to see and experience the Hadzabe people; the last of the first.