The Mbuti are one of many indigenous groups of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Between 30,000 and 40,000 members live in the Ituri Rainforest, in northeast DRC. The Mbuti consider the forest a living entity: they refer to it as the providing “mother” or “father.” A hunter-gatherer people, the entire community participates in obtaining food. Though only men wield bows and arrows, women and children play a crucial role when net-hunting by herding prey toward the nets. Women and children do much of the gathering though men participate as well. A non-violent and democratic people, they prefer to resolve conflicts quickly and often under the authority of the women. Contact with rebel groups operating in the region, decreased hunting populations and other complications have resulted in many Mbuti relocating to refugee camps and Congolese Bantu villages, where they often experience persecution.
Indigenous communities in the Congo have harvested marijuana as long as they can remember. Now, with no land to call their own, they turn to selling—with dire consequences.
