Bambuti

or Mbuti

A number of Pygmy peoples of the Ituri Forest of eastern Congo (Kinshasa). Bambuti is a collective name for four populations of Ituri Pygmies—the Sua (Asua), Aka, Efe, and Mbuti—each of which has formed a loose economic and cultural interdependency with an agricultural group. They average under 4 ft 6 in. (137 cm) in height. Probably the earliest inhabitants of the region, they are nomadic hunters and gatherers living in small groups of from 10 to 100. They have no chiefs or formal councils of elders and believe in a benevolent forest deity. Their music, complex in rhythm and harmony, is often accompanied by dance or mime. Today they number in the tens of thousands.

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