Efe people

The Efé are a group of part-time hunter-gatherer people living in the Ituri Rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the depths of the forest they do not wear much clothing, using only leaf huts as shelter for their bodies in the intense heat. The Efé are Pygmies, and one of the shortest peoples in the world. The men grow to an average height of 142 cm (4 ft. 8 in.), and women tend to be about 5 cm (2 in.) shorter.

Dr. Jean-Pierre Hallet was very involved with the Efé, from raising awareness to the plight of the tribe, to the introduction of new foods and methods previously unknown (such as a legume called the "winged bean" of New Guinea). He also introduced new methods of farming to the Efé, who likely had been a hunter-gatherer society for many thousands of years.

The Efe pygmies are considered by mitochondrial Dtah hnb haplotype analysis to be one of the oldest races on earth. The Semliki harpoon, 90,000 years old, is one of the oldest tools known to mankind and occurs in the natural range of the Efe pygmies. This suggests an initial aquatic civilisation based on fishing. Jean-Pierre Hallet promoted the establishment of a sanctuary for the Efe along the Semliki River near Virunga National Park, and also lobbied heavily for the rights of the semi-nomadic pygmies to continue living in the protected Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Ituri Forest.

The Efe are one of three groups of pygmies, collectively named BaMbuti, of the Ituri forest of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The other groups are the Sua, and the Aka. Of these, the Efe occupy the most land, from the north to the southeast of the forest. One of the main ways in which these groups are distinguished is by the neighboring non-pygmy tribes with whom they cooperate. The Efe, who differ from other pygmy groups in that they hunt with bows and arrows instead of nets, are associated with the Lese people. The Efe language is related to that of the Lese, and is Central Sudanic in origin. (The pygmy groups in the region generally speak the language of the tribes with whom they associate.)

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