MYTHOLOGIES OF the PYGMY TRIBES
In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a population) for populations in which adult men are on average less than 150 cm (4 ft 11 in) tall. The term is primarily associated with the African Pygmies, the hunter-gatherers of the Congo Basin (comprising the Bambenga, Bambuti and Batwa). The terms “Asiatic Pygmies” and “Oceanian pygmies” have been used to describe the Negrito populations of Southeast Asia and Australo-Melanesian peoples of short stature. The Taron people of Myanmar are an exceptional case of a “pygmy” population of East Asian phenotype.
You may have heard this myth before that there was a race of pygmy people who had been on the land that is now called Australia, who were here for several millennia before Aboriginal people, only to have their land stolen and be completely wiped out by Aboriginal people. There is a problem with this story, namely that there is no evidence from the archaeological and biological records that a pygmy population ever existed in Australia or any people prior to Aboriginal people. So then why does this myth exist and persist? The myth is said to come from an outdated theory stemming from the 1930s where a handful of anthropologists said that there were three separate migrations of people onto the Australian continent, with each one eradicating the other, before European people came. Later, some researchers changed the theory and stated that there were two migrations instead of three. More recently, researchers have checked the earlier work and declared that there is only one source population of all known skeletal remains in Australia prior to invasion, and it is Aboriginal people.
African ‘Pygmy’ Tribe, the First Inhabitants of Ireland?
A long-standing theory of ancient Irish history describes the genocide of the Twa pygmies, purportedly the original source of the “leprechaun” myth. St. Patrick led the genocide of a contingent of Twa ‘pygmies’ from Central Africa, who were the original inhabitants of Ireland. Unusual interpretation of the legacy of St. Patrick, one that claimed the patron saint of Ireland was responsible for the genocide of an African tribe who were purportedly the original inhabitants of that island. “The Twa pygmies of Ireland, the original inhabitants. The source of [the] leprechaun legend. When you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day that’s the celebration of their genocide.”
“Some years ago Eugène Dubois discovered in the island of Java some bones from a prehistoric animal, which might have formed the so-called missing link in the chain of descent of man from monkey. Julius Kollman is rather of the opinion that the direct antecedents of man should not be sought among the species of anthropoid apes of great height and with flat skulls, but much further back in the zoological scale, among the small monkeys with pointed skulls; from these he believes were developed the human pygmy races of prehistoric ages, with pointed skulls. Thus may be explained the persistency with which mythology and folk lore allude to pygmy people.”
Where Did the Pygmy Phenotype Come From?
THE PYGMAIOI (Pygmies) were a tribe of diminutive African men who lived on the southernmost shores of the great earth-encircling river Okeanos (Oceanus) where they were engaged in an endless war with flocks migrating cranes. The Pygmaioi were described as tiny, black-skinned men who grew to a height of one “pygme”–a “pygme” being the length from a man’s elbow to his nuckle-bone (approximately 1 1/2 foot). The Pygmies were located by ancient geographers in India (eastern “Aithiopia”) and Sub-Saharan Africa (western “Aithiopia”) at the southernmost reaches of the world.
Committee for the Advancement of the Pygmy People
In Teutonic and especially Scandinavian mythology and folklore, the term dwarf (Old Norse: dvergr) denoted a species of fairy inhabiting the interiors of mountains and the lower levels of mines. Dwarfs were of various types, all of small stature, some being no more than 18 inches (45 cm) high and others about the height of a two-year-old child. In appearance they were sometimes beautiful, but more usually they resembled grave old men with long beards and, in some cases, humped backs. The mountain dwarfs were organized in kingdoms or tribes, with their own kings, chieftains, and armies. They lived in subterranean halls, believed to be full of gold and precious stones. They were principally famous for their skill in all kinds of metalwork and the forging of magical swords and rings, but they were also credited with profound Committee for the Advancement of the Pygmy Peoplewisdom and secret knowledge, having power to foresee the future, assume other forms, and make themselves invisible.
African Pygmies comprise a variety of ethnic groups who dwell as hunter-gatherers in the rain forest of central Africa. Because they live as nomads in a demanding and inaccessible environment, few serious studies have been done on them. Most studies of Pygmy life have been concerned with how they relate to the history of religions. According to Wilhelm Schmidt (1868–1954), an ordained priest and ethnologist interested in the origin of religion, the Pygmy peoples represented humanity in its childhood; they were a living equivalent of one of the earliest stages of human culture. Since early evidence seemed to indicate the existence of monotheistic belief in primitive societies, Schmidt engaged his colleagues to explore Pygmy religious life. Hence, for years the Pygmies were studied by Catholic missionaries seeking to support the idea that monotheism (rather than animism or fetishism) was the earliest form of religion.
AKA (BAYAKA/BAAKA)) PEOPLE: AN EGALITARIAN PYGMY
The Aka or Bayaka are a nomadic Mbenga pygmy people who live as foragers of the tropical forest regions of the southwestern Central African Republic (CAR) and northern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Although the Aka people call themselves BiAka, they are also known as Babenzele in Western Central African Republic and Northwest Congo (DRC). The Aka pygmies are considered to be the very first inhabitants of the Central African Republic. They live in a variety of terrains in southwestern Central African Republic and northern Congo (Brazzaville region), in 11 different ecological zones of the Western Congo Basin. They are a related, but distinct, people from the Baka people of Cameroon, Gabon, northern Congo, and southwestern Central African Republic.
The Tellem were the people who inhabited the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali. The Dogon people migrated to the escarpment region around the 14th century. The Tellem were pygmies or “small red people” who built dwellings around the base of the escarpment as well as directly into the cliff-face. Many of these structures are still visible in the area. Some Tellem buildings—most notably the granaries—are still in use by the Dogon, although generally Dogon villages are at the bottom or top of the escarpment, where water gathers and farming is possible. By the remains that were found the Tellem people are believed to have been Hobbit like in appearance and stature and lived in caves and tunnels carved out of the sandstone cliffs also building structures on in the side of the cliffs much like their Native American counterparts the Navaho Pueblos.
The Twa (Batwa, also Cwa IPA /tʃwa/) are a group of indigenous African Pygmy (Central African foragers) tribes. Twa, also called Batwa, one of the best-known of the many Pygmy groups scattered across equatorial Africa. Like all other African Pygmies, the Twa, averaging about 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) in height, are a people of mixed ancestry, probably descendants of the original inhabitants of the equatorial rainforest. They live in the high mountains and plains around Lake Kivu, in Congo (Kinshasa), Rwanda, and Burundi, and function in economic symbiosis with the pastoral Tutsi, the agricultural Hutu, and other peoples. Many specialize in pottery, which they market; others hunt. It is often supposed that the Pygmies were the aboriginal inhabitants of the forest before the advent of agriculture. Vansina argues that the original meaning of the (Proto-Bantu) word *twa was “hunter-gatherer, bushpeople”, alongside yaka used for the western (Mbuti) pygmies (Bayaka). As the Twa developed into full-time hunter-gatherers, the words were conflated, and the ritual role of the absorbed aboriginal peoples was transferred to the Twa. Batwa and Abatwa are Bantu plural forms, translating to “Twa people”.
The Pygmies In Cameroon are one of the oldest inhabitants of Africa. Today, there are about 120,000 Pygmies in the world. Most of them live in a forested area, close to the Atlantic Ocean, in Cameroon, but also in Rwanda, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Gabon and Angola. The word ‘Pygmy’ comes from Greek mythology, which means dwarf. This surname has been given to them due to their height, they are generally between 120 and 150 cm tall. They attract the attention with their lifestyle, which is very traditional and premodern. They gradually started to accept the outside religions and cultures. One of them is Islam.
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