Cecilia Padilla-Iglesias in Sapiens:
If you ask a BaYaka Forager in the Central African rainforest, “Where do you live?,” they often reply with a question of their own: “Mouanga or Pela?”
You’ll get the same response for nearly any question about their lives: Who do you live with? Who is this camp’s leader? How do you mourn the dead?
“Mouanga or Pela?”—meaning, “dry or wet season?” The BaYaka’s social world shifts throughout the year. The location and size of their homes, the materials used to build them, leadership, funerals—all transform depending on the season.
As an evolutionary anthropologist working with the BaYaka, I initially presumed people simply adjusted because of the seasonal availability of different foods. But their changes extended way beyond sustenance into the realms of politics, economics, rituals, and relationships.
More here.
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