African Study Monographs, 16(2): 73-118, August 1995 73 SEASONAL CHANGES IN THE SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES AND FOOD INTAKE OF THE AKA HUNTER-GATHERERS IN NORTHEASTERN CONGO Koichi KIT AN ISH! Faculry of Science, Kyoto University ABSTRACT In central Africa. a close relationship exists between the cultivators and the hunter-gatherers (Pygmies), who depend on agricultural foods exchanged for forest pro ducts or labor. In northeastern Congo, the Aka hunter-gatherers lead a dual mode of life in the forest and the 'rillage. They mainly depend on wild animal and plant food in the forest. whereas on agricultural food in the "illage. Their subsistence activities are influenced by the fluctuation in the availability of wild food resources that does not fall into a simple annual cycle. but fluctuates from year w year. The subsistence activities of the Aka are more com plex than the other hunter-gatherers, and dependent on the ecology of the tropical rain forest and the local economy in northeastern Congo. Key Words: Aka hunter-gatherers; Tropical rain forest; Wild food resources; Semi nomadic life; Local economy. INTRODUCTION The subsistence activities of the so-called "Pygmy" hunter-gatherers in the Con go basin have been described in detail, in particular. those of the Mbuti in the Ituri Forest of Zaire and the Aka in Lobaye of Central African Republic (Turnbull. 1965: Harako, 1976: Tanno, 1976; Terashima. 1983: Bailey & Peacock. 1988: Bahuchet. 1975, 1985, 1988: Hudson, 1990). These studies have reported a close conomic relationship between hunter-gatherers and cultivators. Agricultural foods from the cultivators. such as cassava and plantain, provide the hunter gatherers with the bulk of their food. The hunter-gathrers obtain those agri cultural foods in exchange for forest products. such as meat, or for agricultural and other manual labor (Hart. 1978: Ichikawa, 1983: Bahuchet. 1985). Based on the quantitative data collected in over a one-year time period, this paper analyzes the subsistence activities and food utilization of the Aka hunter gatherers in northeastern Congo. while in the forest and around a village of cultivators. In previous studies of the hunter-gatherers in the Congo basin. hunt ing activities were studied intensively, whereas collecting activities, especially those of wild plants, were not paid much attention. The reason for this is that most of the hunter-gatherers studied so far depended on agricultural foods as major plant foods. In contrast, the Aka in the northeastern Congo use wild plants more fre quently than agricultural foods in the forest. Unlike the hunter-gatherers who spe cialize in hunting, the Aka in this area procure food from various sources. One purpose of this paper is to describe the life of the hunter-gatherers performing such K. KIT ANISHI generalized subsistence activities. It is reported that subsistence activities of the hunter-gatherers in the Congo basin show a marked seasonality. In order to grasp the range of subsistence activi ties, observation over different seasons is indispensable. There are some studies in which seasonal shifts in the subsistence activities are described (Bahuchet, I 988). Also, recent ecological studies have shown that the phenology of the plants in tropical forest varies from year to year (Mabberley. 1992). There is also a study on the hunter-gatherer subsistence activities that are influenced by the multiple-year fluctuation in the yield of agricultural food (Bailey & Peacock, I 988). However, no study has been made on the relationship between multiple-year fluctuations in wild food resources and hunter-gatherer subsistence activities. In this paper, the multiple-year fluctuation in the food availability is discussed, although the data covers only a part of the long-term fluctuation. Recently. researchers have questioned whether humans have ever Jived in the tropical rain forest independently of domesticated plants and animals (Bailey et al.. 1989; Headland, 1987: Headland & Bailey, 1991). It has been argued that to live in the tropical forest depending solely on wild food is difficult. because there are not enough sources of energy. This idea probably derives from the studies on the hunter-gatherers who depend on agricultural foods for half of their energy in take. However. the full potential of human food in the tropical forest has not been explored. My data obtained from the northeastern Congo may provide a different view of hunter-gatherer subsistence in the tropical forest. THE RESEARCH AREA AND SUBJECTS I. The Study Subjects Field research was conducted from October 1991 to November 1992 in the vicini ty of Linganga-Makaou village. the uppermost village on the Motaba River (Fig. 1) of Dongou District, Likouala Region of Congo (2°55'N Lat. and 17°10' E Long.). Linganga-Makaou village was founded by Kaka slash-and-burn cultiva tors who speak a Bantu language.(!) It consists of two hamlets, Linganga and l'vlakaou, 600 m apart. There are approximately 160 Kakas in Linganga and 60 in Makaou. Hereafter, the Kaka are called "the villagers." Besides cultivation, they practice hunting in the forest with guns. fishing \Vith nets. hooks. traps and poison in the Motaba River and its tributaries. The Aka live in the forest area of northeastern Congo, southern C.A.R. and on the eastern bank of the Oubangui River in Zaire. Their population is estimated to be from 15,000 to 30,000 (Bahuchet, 1985, Bahuchet & Thomas, 1986). They speak a Bantu language belonging to the C 10 group, according to the classification by Guthrie ( 1967). While there are at least 22 different ethnic groups of cultivators belonging to several different linguistic families in the Aka area, none of them speak the same language as the Aka (Bahuchet. 1985). Seasonal Changes in Aka Subsistence Activities 75 Fig. 1. The study area. 2. Economic Background There are paths connecting Linganga-Makaou with other villages along the Motaba. but they do not reach the Oubangui River. There is a small boat (vedette) service from Dongou to Linganga-Makaou village twice a month. This service. however, stops from January to June when the \Vater recedes in the Motaba River. In this period of suspension, the villagers travel mainly by canoe. Most of the villagers have canoes, whereas the Aka do not. Some merchants of Dongou and Impfondo visit the village by out-board motor canoe, but the villagers do not have such equipment. There are no shops in the village, and the villagers buy manufactured goods, such as clothing, salt and cigarettes, from peddlers coming by vedette or canoe. Otherwise, they buy such goods when they visit Dongou or Impfondo. The Aka seldom buy or sell with cash, and seldom directly exchange forest products for manufactured goods with traders in the village (Kitanishi, 1994). It has been reported that hunter-gatherers in the tropical forest of Africa have an interdependent economic relationship with the neighboring cultivators (Turnbull, 1965: Hart. 1978: Bahuchet & Guillaume, 1979: Cavalli-Sforza, !986: Hudson, 1990: Terashima. 1991). The Aka of Linganga-Makaou are no exception. The Aka provide the villagers with forest products and manpower for agricultural work, whereas the villagers supply starchy agricultural food, cigarette, salt, clothes and ironwork (Kitanishi, 1994). In the Ituri Forest of northeastern Zaire and in Lobaye of southern C.A.R .. meat is one of the most important forest product that hunter-gatherers exchange with cultivators (Hart, 1978; Ichikawa, 1983; Bahuchet, 1985). In the northeastern Congo, however, meat hunted by the Aka with their own tools (spears, nets, 76 K. KITANISHI Table 1. l\lonthly rainfall (mm) from January 1980 to December 1990 at lmpfondo. lllonth Jan. Feb. !\tar. Apr. l\lay Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Total 1980 82.8 189.4 162.8 141.0 177.9 356.7 147.0 240.7 270.8 ? 217.9 118.5 ? 1981 0.0 115.8 179.0 97.0 243.0 ? ? ? 155.1 191.5 ? 1982 5.3 42.2 117.3 191.7 318.-t 178.0 ? 142.8 ? ? 86.4 ? 1983 0.0 43.1 87.9 58.4 ? 2i3.7 133.1 123.2 163.2 175.0 75.0 124.3 ? 1984 74.8 152.4 130.4 201.1 225.2 306.1 114.9 121.2 147.5 198.0 56.0 ? 1985 102.3 45.0 106.2 199.8 126.2 110.0 121.8 124.6 363.8 250.7 126.5 1986 0.0 51.4 206.3 98.0 92.2 81.6 52.5 119.2 231.2 236.7 ? 30.5 ? 1987 26.1 63.8 78.4 25.5 24.3 I 16.5 101.2 372.5 122.3 173.2 150.9 95.2 1349.9 1988 59.3 51.1 153.4 223.4 176.5 134.8 119.5 227.1 160.1 232.7 181.5 37.1 1756.5 1990 22.8 34.0 97.4 185.5 I 17.3 204.3 89.6 210.4 ? 191.9 85.6 127.4 ? !\lean 33.2 71.1 134.1 135.1 164.1 18i.9 138.8 191.6 196.9 201.1 148.8 96.3 1698.9 Note: Underlined characters show the months in the dry season. crossbows. and traps) is rarely exchanged with cultivators for crops, cigarette, clothes and other manufactured goods. The introduction of guns to the cultivators may be one of the reasons for the lack of meat exchange (Tanno. 1991: Takeuchi. 1991. in prep. a). The villagers provide guns and ammunition to the Aka for hunt ing, and. thus, have come to obtain a greater part of the meat. The meat has be come an important source of cash income for the villagers as well as being an im portant food. The newly introduced gun hunting has had a profound impact on the Aka life. which will be examined later in this paper. 3. Climate and Vegetation The mean annual rainfall at lmpfondo, the capital of Likouala Region, about 145 km south-east of Linganga-l'vlakaou village. is 1.698.9 mm (Table 1). The mean monthly rainfall in the dry season from December to February is less than 100 mm. whereas that in the rainy season from March to November is more than 100 mm.(2) The rainfall is heaviest in September and October with approximately 200 mm. Monthly rainfall. however, varies considerably from year to year. Cultivation and wild food production in the forest are particularly influenced by the onset and duration of the dry season (Bailey & Peacock. 1988: Dove. 1993). which also varies from year to year. While there was only one month from 1980 to 1981 with rainfall less than 100 mm, there were as many as 6 months with less than 100 mm from 1986 to 1987. While I have no direct record of rainfall in the study area. the percen tage of rainy days for each month at Linganga-Makaou was not different from that of mean percentage at lmpfondo (Fig. 2). Another factor influencing both agricultural and forest food production is temperature. However, it tends to be relatively constant and, therefore. imposes minimal effect on the tropical forest in the Congo basin (Bailey & Peacock, 1988). oc. The mean annual temperature at lmpfondo is 25.4 relatively constant throughout the year. with little fluctuation from year to year. The land around the village is mostly flat with the altitude of 300m above sea- Seasonal Changes in Aka Subsistence Activities 77 60 40 20 <Xt. '>ov. Dec Jan. Feh. \tar. Apr. ~lay Jun. Jul. Aug. Scp. Oct. Nov. 1991 1992 Fig. 2. Percent of rainy days to total days from Oct. 1991 to Nov. 1992 around Linganga-t-.Iakaou village. level. The vegetation of the study area is classified by the Aka as follows: (1) Thick growth of Raphia sp. (mo.sende(3l). PAL.MAE. along the rvlotaba River and its tributaries. (2) Swamp forest (bo.jamba) several kilometers wide, beyond the thick growth of Raphia sp. along the Motaba River. (3) Dry land primary forest (terra firma) further inland (ndima). a. Semi-deciduous forest of Celtis sp. (ULMACEAE), Manilkara sp. (SA POTA CEAE). Petersianthus macrocarpus (LECYTHIDACEAE), Entan drophragma cylindricum (tvlELIACEAE) etc. b. Single-species dominant evergreen forest of Gilbertiodendron dewevrei (CAESALPINIACEAE) scattered in the primary forest, mosrly along the water courses. (4) Grassland patches (e.jaba) on sandy soil scattered near the •vatercourses. (5) Secondary forest (njuku) on the northern side of the Motaba River within a radius of 3-4 km from the village. The classification of vegetation in Lob aye by Bahuchet (I 985) and that around Moumpoutou village at the middle of the Ibenga River by Takeuchi (in prep. a) is similar to that of this area. The grassland patches in northeastern Congo is note worthy. Although the Aka burn the grassland several times a year to make walk ing easy, the grassland does not seem to have originated artificially as abandoned village or cultivation sites. The importance of this grassland to the Aka life is dis cussed later. THE RESEARCH PERIOD AND METHOD The Aka of Linganga-Makaou spend four to eight months a year in the forest, 78 K. KIT ANISHI Table 2. The village camp size. married unmarried kombeti' place male female male female Total Babala Linganga 9 14 10 5 38 Bebanga Linganga 10 12 13 6 41 Boanga Linganga 5 6 7 4 22 Basongo Linganga 9 15 9 3 36 Boat a Lin ganga 5 5 6 17 Mataka Linganga I 4 0 6 Boka Linganga 15 16 10 9 50 Kondoki Linganga 6 8 9 7 30 Botima Makaou 4 4 5 5 18 Molongo Makaou 17 21 23 20 81 Total 81 102 91 65 339 Note: Researched in July 1992. *: Central person in a camp (see text notes). while staying around the village during the remaining months. There are two kinds of settlements around the village. A semi-sedentary settlement is used whenever the Aka return from the forest, and a mobile, temporary settlement (camp) is newly made whenever they return from the forest. In this paper, both the semi-sedentary and temporary settlements are called the ~village camps,~ whereas camps made deep in the forest are called the ''forest camps.~ The village camps are located behind villager houses, near fields or in the secondary forest within 30 minutes' walk from the village. There are 9 village camps around Linganga-Makaou village with a total Aka pop ulation of approximately 340 (Table 2). The village camps around Linganga are semi-sedentary, except for one Boata camp(4l whose members came in October. 1991 from Bangui-Motaba village in the upper Motaba. These Boata Aka first made their own camp around Linganga, then joined with the Basongo group in January, 1992, and moved to the forest on the southern side of Motaba River in April. They did not return to the village until the end of the study period in November 1992. The members of two Makaou camps made new temporary camps whenever returning from the forest. They had, until September 1991, a semi sedentary camp around Makaou, \vhich was abandoned because several camp members died at this camp. Besides these, two groups from other village stayed for several weeks in Linganga. I conducted field research mainly among the Molongo group (hereafter. called M group), who had a village camp around Makaou. It consisted of 81 members, the largest among the camps in the Linganga-l\1akaou. M group members moved between the forest and village, sometimes splitting into small groups and sometimes merging into a large group.r5J The data for this study were collected from the M group, except for those of food intake in the village which were ob tained also from several other village camps. Continuous observation was made for theM group from October 1991 to November 1992, except for March and from July to August, when I was away from the field site. The Aka life can be roughly divided into three dimensions; life at the forest Seasonal Changes in Aka Subsistence Activities 79 Table 3. Study periods in the forest camp. Period I Period 2 Period 3 Period 4 Period 5 Period 6 Total location of camp Camp 2 Camp 3 Camp 5 Camp 6 Camp 6 Camp 6 period from II Nov. 91 15 Dec. 10 Feb. 29 Jun. 25 Aug. 10 Oct. to 16 Nov. 10 Jan. 9,_2 22 Feb. 9 Jul. 13 Sep. 24 Oct. _, days 6 13 II 20 15 92 camp size 74 39-85 19-22 15-18 24-62 57-61 average camp size 74.0 66.6 20.6 15.8 41.7 59.5 total man-days 444 1,798 268 174 834 892 4,410 total man-days 312 1,251.5 189 130 610.5 667 3,160 energy intake· *:An adult over 12 years old is calculated as one person, an infant or juvenile from 2 to 12 as half an adult, and a baby under 2 as 0. camp. life at the village camp and life during the gun hunting expedition with villagers. The Aka themselves clearly distinguish the life in the forest (ndima) from that in the village (mboka). Life during the gun hunting expedition is differ ent from that of forest camp in that the Aka stay with villagers to hunt the game with guns, led by the villagers. Field research with M group in the forest camp was conducted in six periods (Table 3). Period 1 just before the end of rainy season: Period 2. early dry season; Period 3. late dry season; Period 4, early rainy season; Period 5 and Period 6, late rainy season with the heaviest rain in a year. These six periods covered almost all the seasons of the year. Field research on the foods in the village camp was conducted from November 1991 to November 1992. That on the subsistence activities in the village camp was conducted from January 1992 to November 1992. I recorded the followings at the forest camps: (I) Names of individuals staying at each forest camp and the duration of their stays. (2) Everyday subsistence activities of adults.<6l The subsistence activities of the Aka were divided into five types: hunting. the collecting of invertebrates. the collecting of wild plants, fishing, and trans portation of village food. The frequency of each subsistence activity was calcu lated. If a person engaged in only one type of subsistence activity in a day. this was given one point. For engagement in two types of subsistence activities, each activity was given a half point: i.e. a half work-day. The total number of work-days for each activity was divided by the total man-days of stay. provid ing the rate of each subsistence activity during their stay. (3) The kinds of food and their quantities consumed at the forest camps. All food brought into the forest camps were weighed with either of two hand held spring balances: a two kg balance (50 g scale) or a 20 kg balance (I kg scale). The value was then converted into the weight per man-day of stay and the energy per man-day of consumption, analyzed in this paper. The consump tion for babies less than two years of age was counted as zero. The consump tion for children from two to twelve years of age was counted as a half man-day (Hart. 1978: Ichikawa, 1986). 80 K. KIT ANISHI (4) The food prepared for the meal (except Period I and Period 2). The major Aka meal is served in the style of "pot-au-feu," a stew of animal foods (meat, fish, caterpillar), edible leaves, and oil. Wild tuber is also boiled in a pot-au-feu, while cassava is steamed separately, and served with the pot-au feu. l\lushrooms can also be added. Red pepper is usually used at the village camp, but not at the forest camp. Salt is precious for the Aka, and rarely used (see Bahuchet, 1972, 1985). A comparison was made among the three pairs of wild vs. cultivated food to analyze the relative importance of wild food in Aka diet. Similar investigations were also made at the village camps. I spent a few hours in the village camp every morning. and inquired about the subsistence acti-vities, which included clearing the fields. planting fields, fishing. and hunting \Vith spears, nets, and guns. The frequencies of other activities may be underestimated, particularly for those practiced before my arrival to the camp or after my departure from the camp, hence those activities were excluded from the analysis. Also recorded was the food observed at the village camp in Linganga-Makaou. The frequency and ratio of each food item at the village camp was calculated. If a certain food was observed at a village camp in a day. it was counted as one camp day. To calculate the ratio, the total camp-days on \vhich each food was observed were divided by the total number of camp-days observed. With these data, this paper compares the life of the Aka in the forest and in the village, and describes the seasonal changes observed over one year period. SUBSISTENCE ACTIVITIES 1. Hunting of Larger Animals (I) Spear hunting The subsistence activities of the Aka are comprised of hunting, the collecting of invertebrate animals and wild plants, fishing, and agricultural work. As each of these has been described in detail by Demesse (1980) and Bahuchet ( 1985). a brief account of the characteristics of each activity is given in this chapter. The Aka have several methods of hunting: spear. net, trap, crossbow. gun. and capture with bare hands. The Aka capture with hands land tortoises. immature birds and eggs in the nests. They also capture pangolins and other small animals by hitting them with machetes or sticks. Meat obtained through these methods ac counts only a small part of Aka diet. hence omitted in the following description. Spear hunting is practiced by a group consisting of adolescent and adult men. There are two types of Aka spear hunting: one-day hunting (e.sondo) and expedi tion hunting over several days (njango). The group sizes for e.sondo observed at forest camps were from three to thirteen men (mean= 5.8, a=3.3, n=24). Njango was once observed with a group of 8 men for three days and another of 10 men for four days. In aM group camp. 15 adult men among the 16 possessed their own spears (ngongo and ndaba). Seasonal Changes in Aka Subsisrence Activities 81 In spear hunting, the Aka first trace animal footprints, then they find the animal. and spear it. The major game is bush pig (ngua). Gorillas (e.bobo) arc also hunted with spears, but only occasionally. The Aka had once hunted elephants with spears, though not at present. (2) Net hunting Net hunting (bo.kia) is practiced by a group of young and old men as well as women. The hunters set the nets. beat the bush and kill the entangled animals, and rewind the nets, then move on to the next site. After several hunting attempts. they return to the camp. Generally, adult and adolescent men set the nets and beat the bush, whereas women capture the animals caught in the net, waiting around the nets (Bahuchet, 1985; Takeuchi, in prep. a). In the study area. women also handle the nets and beat the bush, when there are not enough adult and adolescent men. Occasionally, women lead net hunting when no adult man participates in the hunt. M group had a total of 6 nets, with an average length of 30m. The net owners were adult men. A third of the adult men (6 men among 18) owned nets. In other groups, however. only a quarter of the adult men (II men among 43) owned nets. The first hunting attempt was made 20 to 40 minmes walk from the camp. The number of net hunting attempts in a day was from 6 to 10 (average=7.7, n=9). Major game were small- or medium-sized duikers, such as blue duiker (mbo/oko). Peters' duiker (mo.some), and bay duiker (ngbomu). The group size of net hunters upon setting out from the forest camp was from 21 to 31 (mean=25.4, a=3.0, n= 11). Net hunting with other camp members was ob served once in Period 5. The size of net hunting groups from the village camp was from 7 to 41 (mean=26.1. a= 10.7. n=8). As each camp (except M group) did not have enough nets to perform hunting independently, hunting groups from the village camp were often formed of members from several camps. (3) Trapping The Aka use several kinds of traps (e.sombo), but mainly the spring trap in the study area. Only men set the traps and patrol them. When an animal is too large to carry alone, women are called from the camp for help. Steel wires (waya, kabule) are mainly used for loops of the spring trap at pre sent. However, strings twisted from the fiber of Raphia sp. (uondo) or Man niophywn fulvum (mo.kosa) are also used for loops when wire is not available. A half of the adult men of M group (9 out of 18) owned trapping wires (the average, 17). The spring traps were set within 10 to 40 minutes· walk from the camp. Patroll ing the traps took I to 1.5 hours a day, which was quite short. compared with the time needed for spear hunting or net hunting. Major game are duikers. such as yellow-backed duiker (bemba) and Peters' duiker, bush pigs and giant forest hogs (mbiya). (4) Crossbow hunting Crossbow (mbano) hunting is usually performed by a lone hunter. The major targets are arboreal monkeys hunted with a poisoned arrO\v. Eighty-five percent of 82 K. KITANISHI Table 4. Gun hunting expeditions by M group members. No. of adult child period from to Total size days male female male female 29 Jan. 14 1\.lar. 46 4 5 7 3 23 3 !Vlar.-29 Mar.? 23 Apr. 26--51 4 5 8 6 19 20 l'vlar. 10 Apr. 21 2 0 0 2 Apr. 8 May 37 ? ? ? 11\fay 8 !\lay 9 2 0 0 0 2 8 May 4 Jun. 27 3 0 0 0 3 4 Sep. 12 Sep. 9 ? ? ? 11 Jul.-17 Aug.? ? 3> 4> 2> 6> 15> II Jul.-17 Aug.? ? ? I> 1> 1> ? 3> adult men of M group owned crossbows. However, the skill of each hunter varied, and only 6 men practiced crossbow hunting frequently. (5) Gun hunting No Aka had a gun, while most of the villagers had shotguns. A few villagers also owned rifles to hunt large-sized mammals. There are two types of gun hunt ing: one-day hunting with a shotgun, gun hunting expedition led by the villagers over several weeks. In one-day hunting, the villagers ask Aka men sta;ing in the village camp to hunt, giving them a shotgun and bullets. The gun owner claims the ownership of the game, which he or his family butcher. The Aka hunter is given its head, neck, internal organs and two cigarettes. When a villager asks Aka men stay ing in the forest camp to hunt, the Aka lop off the head, neck and internal organs of the game and bring the rest to the owner. Gun hunting expeditions by the villagers were practiced in the upper Motaba area or lpenja area (midway between Linganga-Makaou village and Berandjoko village, Fig. 1) at location farther away than two days walk or canoe paddling from the village. The villagers usually go hunting expedition with a rifle and shotgun, because their target includes large-sized mammals. Gun hunting expeditions in which M group members participated were observed 9 times in the study period (Table 4). Hunts usually continue until the bullets are gone. The duration of each gun hunting expedition varies depending on the number of bullets and the chance of encountering game. There is no seasonality in gun hunting. The villagers practice gun hunting when bullets are obtained. Although shotgun bullets are easy to obtain, rifle bullets are difficult to obtain. Rifle bullets are sometimes brought into the village by the mer chants from lmpfondo and Dongou or even from Brazzaville. Therefore, the tim ing of gun hunting expeditions is influenced by the external factors. According to the information obtained from interviews, while men hunted with guns, women collect wild food resources during the expedition. The majority of food is. however, comprised of the hunted meat and agricultural foods transported from the village.