The Efe

hunters and gatherers of the Ituri rain forest

Karambodu is an Efe pygmy. He, his wife Ima-chabo, and their toddler Chabo (Karambodu's wife's name means mother of Chabo) live with his uncles, cousins, and their families in a camp located in a small gap in the canopy next to a clear, gravel-bottomed stream. The camp includes eight adult men, six adult women, four adolescent girls and boys, one toddler, and one newborn. For most of the year the Andiokbo camp remains within two kilometers (1.2 miles) of the Lese farmers' village; at other times they may settle a day or two days' walk away, deep in the forest in search of food. Karambodu and his family live in a simple but effective hut constructed from saplings imbedded in the ground and bent and woven into a dome. The lattice of saplings is shingled with the ubiquitous and ever-useful tilipi leaves. Each family constructs a hut, and they arrange them in a rough circle with the hut entrances facing inward, thus enclosing a communal social space. If arguments break out in camp a hut entrance can be quickly repositioned, thus effectively separating the antagonists. Arguments are usually short lived, however, and camp life is usually harmonious. Bokbau, the leader of Karambodu's camp, calls me over to show me a new dog bell that he is in the process of carving out of a block of hoye (Alstonia boonei), a semi-softwood. Although all Efe men learn to make bows, arrows, and bowstrings, Bokbau is renowned as a master craftsman. He no doubt adopted this specialization when he lost his left leg below the knee after having been bitten by a Gabon viper and was no longer able to accompany the other men on hunts. The bells are used not only so that the hunters know where their dogs are but also to provide additional noise to help flush hiding game. Pygmy dogs are probably descendants of the basenji and although they are not mute, they do not have a resounding bark. Karambodu, Kebe, and the rest of the men of the band go hunting with their dogs three to four times a week.