Human to Human

We had the privilege of visiting three different tribal villages around Lake Elaysi-real villages not for tourists.

The first was the most ancient tribe in Africa, WaHadzabe who speak click language,better known as Bushman. They have retained their hunting and gathering lifestyle over thousands of years, and are only 2000 remaining in Tanzania with some additional in South Africa. They are a matriarchal society with woman making the decisions, marrying multiple males and reserving intimacy for those who have a successful hunt.

They need arrows to hunt and don't make them themselves, so they depend on the nearby WaDatoga who are herders and farmers (corn/maize) and blacksmiths. They are a patriarchal society and we visited a relatively wealthy clan with four wives (50 head of cattle for each wife) The women were beautiful and delightful and the younger males who were not out tending the herd, demonstrated their arrow and spearhead making process, using recycled aluminum, brass and copper from pieces bought at market. They have bellows made from cowhide that heats the ash rapidly to melt down the metal for reshaping and honing into fine hunting instruments.The women asked me to try my hand at grinding the maze between two stones with a rhythmic motion while they sang in the background. Musical rhythm made the labor much easier, more enjoyable and higher quality.

Our last stop was WaMasaai, the warrior tribe you have probably heard about. They are nomadic herders with a diet consisting totally of meat, milk and blood (taken from the carotid artery with no damage to the animal). They are known as warriors because they used to aggressively take land from other tribes. The government has put a stop to the aggression, encouraged settlement, schooling and farming, so their way of life is slowly changing. A very warm welcome here but more for opportunistic reasons. We had a wonderful tour of the village by the elder's son who had been away at school and learned business strategies-heavy selling of the beautiful beaded handicrafts that WaMasaai are known for. My future doc students will reap the benefit of an amazing beaded talking stick, that was just too tempting to pass up. The Masaai trade for the beads and the beautiful fabric they wear at local village markets, again depending on the talents of others in return for the meat and milk that they can provide. Mutual benefit, mutual gain. What we witnessed were the most fundamental human capacities for creativity and collaboration, service to others and satisfaction for and survival of self.