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Smoking out the porcupine. A hunting party between brothers. Chronicle Baka, District of Messok, East Cameroon, June 2013

Durée : 00:11:35 -Réalisation : 13 juin 2013 -Mise en ligne : 13 juin 2013
Logo Santé, maladie, malheur (SMM) : centre de productions multimédias Éco-anthropologie (UMR 7206 CNRS, MNHN, Université de Paris), Musée de l'Homme, Paris
Santé, maladie, malheur (SMM) : centre de productions multimédias anthropologiques, CNRS-MNHN-Musée de l'Homme, Paris
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Descriptif

Camera, sound, editing : Romain Duda

Hunting strategies among the Baka are multiple, their choice is based on different incentives and preferences : daily and seasonal needs, mobility, human and financial resources, or involvement in the bushmeat trade.

Although they are known to be traditionally spear hunters, shotgun and snare trap made with a metallic wire are nowadays the most widely used hunting techniques. However, other methods exist, highlighting ecological knowledge and practices adapted to forest species ecology. The practice of rodent smoking out is one of those. It offers the possibility of acquiring game with reduced technical means, and often opportunistically during fortuitous encounters while traveling in the forest.

 That day, Kanja, 17 years old, borrows his father's hunting dog to reach the burrow of a porcupine (Atherurus africanus), which he spotted during a previous outing in forest. He leaves with two of his brothers and a cousin. 

While hunting birds (with slingshot, bow or trap) and mice (with snare trap or small spears) are child-specific "hunting games", rodent hunting is in fact an adult practice that teenagers will learn very quickly, either by accompanying their parents, or, as here, leaving between young people.

 Before departure, Kanja ties at the dog’s neck a bell (gala in Baka) made from a hollow kernel, allowing to follow the animal during a tracking. 

 In recent decades, the Baka have increasingly used the dog as a hunting assistant, an animal previously owned only by their farming neighbors.If the children remain vigilant with their spear and machete in front of the burrow, that is the dog who plays here a key role in the capture. 

 About butchering and cooking a brush-tailed porcupine see the video « Forest camp cooking : a meal of porcupine »

Intervenant
Thème
Disciplines :
Notice
Lieu de réalisation
Mombokola, Messok district, East Cameroon
Langue :
Baka (Cameroun)
Crédits
Romain Duda (Réalisation), Romain Duda (Intervenant)
Conditions d'utilisation
© 2018 Romain Duda ICTA-UAB Barcelone & SMM CNRS-MNHN Paris
Citer cette ressource :
Romain Duda. SMM. (2013, 13 juin). Smoking out the porcupine. A hunting party between brothers. Chronicle Baka, District of Messok, East Cameroon, June 2013. [Vidéo]. Canal-U. https://www.canal-u.tv/99817. (Consultée le 1 avril 2023)
Logo Santé, maladie, malheur (SMM) : centre de productions multimédias Éco-anthropologie (UMR 7206 CNRS, MNHN, Université de Paris), Musée de l'Homme, Paris
Santé, maladie, malheur (SMM) : centre de productions multimédias anthropologiques, CNRS-MNHN-Musée de l'Homme, Paris
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Forest camp cooking : a meal of porcupine. Baka chronicles. Messok district

The brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus) is one of the most appreciated and hunted game species in Central Africa. Abundant near the villages

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