People & Culture

  Printable version        Email to a friend

Hadza go ‘invisible’ to avert extinction

Posted: Sunday August 17, 2008 4:03 PM BT

By Valentine Marc Nkwame

Feel like being a ghost? There is allegedly a potion for that. The bush people residing in Yaeda Chini valley of Mbulu claim to have just invented a tonic to render one invisible.

The magic mixture which according to the bush dwellers of Mbulu, can transform a human being into an apparition not seen by the naked eye has a rather long history but was recently revived after it became apparent that the endangered Hadza people were becoming even more threatened by forces of invasion from the modernized world.

Magandula Ezali, a Hadzabe man, rising in Mongo-wa-Mono area stated recently that the secret mixture is rare and can only be issued under great supervision from elders but even then all the clan members must be in agreement.

Naftal Gonga a learned Hadzabe who conducts research in Yaeda agrees that the potion indeed exists, but rarely used. "I personally applied it once and it worked, I was being hunted by some people during the recently ended conflicts between us and an nvestor ," he claimed.

A local evangelist who identified himself simply as Petro, also admitted that the Hadza people kept such a stealth potion in their 'secret vault,' "I know it is there and have heard the potion works though I haven't experienced it myself," he said.

Petro who resides in Haydom area but has relatives in Yaeda added that the Hadza people had huge stock of traditional remedies.

"They have a cure for almost all types of ailments, including snake bites, hypertension, diabetes, cancers, tumors, stomach problems and even pregnancy related ailments but surprisingly the Hadzabe people are still not able to cure malaria, a disease which takes great toll on them," he added.

Which just explained why Petro had gone down the valley to take his sick sister for treatment at Haydom Lutheran Hospital, apparently she was suffering from severe fever which appeared like malaria.

Conditions have been getting tough for the highly endangered hunters and gatherers, the only ones remaining in East Africa and whose population has r shrunk to just about 5000 and falling.

Invasion by cattle herders and farmers from as far as Mwanza region in Lake Victoria zone, Arusha and other parts of Manyara region has of late been turning the formerly untamed valley into a hustle-bustle area full of human activities.

As more aliens expand into Yaeda, wild animals have been disappearing from the vicinity while farming activities, backed with bush fires being started by peasants to clear their lands have been reducing trees, bushes and other natural vegetations in the area causing the bush people to move further away.

"We do not eat meat from domestic animals such as goats and cows, we only rely on wild animals, roots and fruits for food," said an old man known as Shambura Kalaghanga. As far as he is concerned, domesticated animals are 'spiked' with chemicals which could be harmful to them.

"Monkeys are our best delicacy, if one offers you a baboon then that person is regarding you with high respect," said the old man. But monkeys, together with other animals such as squirrels, deer and antelopes are disappearing from Yaeda due to increased human activities there. As the result, the Hadza community is suffering hunger and famine.

  Printable version        Email to a friend

Advertising

Your ultimate web and safari website and graphics in your safari or others business...

www.mephics.co.tz

Advertising