Anthropology: the Hadza of Tanzania

The Hadza are a nomadic hunters and gathering community in Tanzania, Africa. Their population numbers to about 1000 but a small percentage og them are the only ones still practicing hunting and gathering. The Hadza live in camps with an average of thirty individuals per camp. These numbers however tend to fluctuate depending on seasons increasing during the dry seasons. This is due to the scarcity of water points and they thus tend to be on the move almost monthly. Within the Hadza, there is a male dominance over the female population. They are also not in to inter marrying with other cultural groups. Marriage occurs at different ages for both sexes. The women get married at a rather tender age than the men. The Hadza reside near lake Eyasi in the Great Rift Valley. The fact that they live near the Laetoli Archeological site suggests that they may have been descendants of the ancestors who lived there. They speak the Hadzane language which is characterized by clicking sounds. Although there is a small similarity between their language and the Khoisan of South Africa they are not related in any way. Thus their language only remains to be unique to them.

The Hadza have lived all their lives as hunters and gatherers. The food that they manage to accumulate is shared equally among the households in the camps. The females spend a large chunk of their time gathering together bao bab fruits, honey found in the Bao-bab trees and dig up for roots and tubers. The men also gather the bao bab fruits, the honey and also hunt for game meat using their bows and arrows. All these tasks are done in groups which suggest that it might be difficult for these people to practice individualism. These traits of hunting and gathering are also introduced to young children at a tender age.

The anthropology theory that would be linked to the Hadza is their hunting and gathering that leads to a food sharing culture that exists amongst them. Above we have seen that the Hadza after recollecting their daily gains, they are shared equally among the people in the residential camp. It might be because they do their hunting and gathering together and also because the returns are not guaranteed and may fluctuate from time to time. To illustrate this we may take an example of where a situation arises and a prey that is in sight cannot be killed by only one person. Instead of letting the animal go and with the help of the others it can be hunted down they result to uniting together to bring down the game animal. This also shows that they tend to believe in the better for many than an individual.

This might also be seen as an exchange between the men and the women. This is so as to get to eat what you did not get in the course of your hunting and gathering. It might also be attributed to the fact that for women to select spouses, they would consider the perfection of a man towards the art of hunting. Another reason for this exchange might have been so as to woo the females so as to receive mating opportunities (Hadza Fund, 2012).

This also brings in the idea of whether they intended to eat balanced diet meals through sharing and exchanging food. They are hunters and gatherers and thus they are always on the move. This means that they may not be in a position to identify specific food points that will guarantee them a balanced or enough meal every day. Thus to be able to get a balanced meal they would have to bring together their gains together so that everyone benefits from the meal.

A critique anthropology theory that may be applied to the Hadza people is the development of agriculture as a means of survival for many people. The Hadza people have consistently stuck to hunting and gathering. This might be attributed to the climatic conditions that they may be exposed to. An example of human reliance on agriculture may be traced to the civilization of agriculture in Egypt. This showed people shift from hunting and gathering to farming so as to maintain food security. In the evolution history, we also get to see that our ancestors also learnt how to make farming tools and embraced agriculture. Thus the hunting and gathering nature of the Hadza largely contradicts the ways of life that other people have chosen to embrace so as to ensure food security.

This thus suggests that this might be the reason that the Hadza of Tanzania have managed to become a subject for anthropological research. They are the only nomadic hunting and gathering ethic group that has remained in Africa. Although they have managed to remain in one geographical location for long they have still been able to embrace their ancestral culture. This is shown by the fact that although only about three hundred to five hundred of them still practice hunting and gathering entirely, the other percentage also does it partially. Their strong attachment to their cultures and ways of life may be the reason they have managed to be taken as a part of research for anthropological studies. Another reason that might have caused the Hadza to become subjects of anthropological research is the uniqueness of their clicking language. The fact that the other ethnic group with the clicking type of dialect in Africa is the Khoisan of South Africa. A need may have risen to identify why there exists the difference in the two dialects. This is to try and understand why these two clicking dialect languages are not in any way compatible and why it is different from the language of other people around them (Apicella, 2012).

Research on the Hadza has contributed a lot in the study of the history of cultural groups and their beliefs and cultures. Through analyzing the background of the Hadza, it brings to our attention the unity that they live in to sustain their population. Through sharing food and leading a consistent life of hunting and gathering, research has been done to try and understand why they still lead this kind of life. Many researchers have tried coming up with reasons that might explain the food sharing culture that exists amongst them. Studies are being done to unearth the reasons that cause these people to depend on food sharing while there is still much outcry over hunger. And why they believe that gathering wild fruits is a way to get a better diet than farming. It has been able to bring out the uniqueness of the Hadza peoples language.

The Hadza constituting of a population of about one thousand seems to be less impacted by modernization. They do not appreciate noisy environments. This is the reason that they keep moving and also to enjoy their own freedom. This might hinder them from experiencing any development. They have also managed to identify means of survival, for example, they herbs as their medicine and thus they would not require the modern health systems so as to ensure that they are free of disease.  We have also seen that all of them still in one way or another practice hunting and gathering and thus no signs of embracing any modern ways of life.