Be Part Of The Tribe

The most important part of any adventure are the people. There is so much to learn from the indigenous people of the areas you visit. Their knowledge is invaluable, like places to visit which may not be in your guidebook such as information on local fauna and flora and what animals are in the area. The more you get involved with the locals the more you get out of your trip. It's a great way to get to know people through eating at local restaurants or having a home cooked meal. You will find people are as interested in you as you are in them. Try to find out a little about local traditions and religions as you don't want to offend people; for example covering the legs and shoulders in some religious buildings. Another way of meeting people is through helping on projects in underdeveloped areas, as well as helping communities it can be so rewarding and gives you a real insight into peoples lives that live under the poverty line. If possible meet people who create local crafts, people are normally pleased to show off their skills and for you to have a go. You will find children are often the most inquisitive as they don't seem to have the same boundaries that children have in the west. Don't let language be a barrier, learning some common phrases will help people to help you. If you try and speak their language, even if it's just hello or thank you it can go a long way. Some of the people you meet on your adventure will become friends for life which is an added bonus to your trip.

Kenya 

 The Maasai Tribe

 Kenya has a population of 53.77 million people. there are a total of 44 tribes in Kenya. The main Tribal groups are the Kikuyu which are the largest and make up 22% of the population, other tribes like the Luhya 14%, Luo 13%, Kalenjin 12%, Akamba 11%, Kisii 6%, Meru 6%, Maasai 2%, Samburu 0.5% and the Taita 0.1%. The most famous Tribe internationally are the Maasai, well known because of their links to the national parks and reserves. The Maasai are a semi nomadic Tribe and pastoral. They make their living by herding cattle and goats. The Maasai are also well known as being fearsome hunters and warriors. As an adolescent their rite of passage used to consist of spending three months in the forest, learning how to herd cows and kill a predator. Due to new conservation laws it's prohibited to kill Lions but the other traditions still exist. Cattle herding is still the most important part of  the Maasai people as cattle is central to their lifestyle due to the Maasai diet that consists mainly of raw meat, raw blood, and milk. These fearsome warriors dressed in a Shúkà which is a checked cloth with a combination of red, black, blue, and green, They carry a spear, a hide shield and a Rungu which is a throwing club. Maasai women play just as an important role as men, they are responsible for building their homes, cooking, milking, collecting firewood and raising children. The houses are called Inkajijik are round and constructed from timber poles, interwoven branches and then a mix of mud, sticks, grass, cow dung and human urine. The floors of the huts are ash and left as bare ground. The Maasai live in a Kraal which is village surrounded by an enkang, a fence made from thorned acacia. This fence protects their families and cattle at night from wild animals. Maasai society is  patriarchal with a council of respected elders (Orkila Oorok) the council oversee the daily running of the village. They have an oral body of law and the elders will deal with any disputes within the village. The Maasai beliefs are monotheistic with a sky God called Engai or Enkai. These beliefs are slowly eroding due to the wave of Christianity that has engulfed Kenya and now being the predominant religion.  The Maasai don't have funeral ceremonies, instead they smear the body with fat and lay it in the bush for scavengers and predators. The only exception to this is they bury their chiefs as a sign of respect. The Maasai way is changing dramatically due to a new modern Africa and climate change with the Maasai being kicked off their lands for private farms, ranches, government projects, wildlife parks and private hunting. They are left with the driest and least fertile areas.  You will find the Maasai live in and around the National parks and work within them as guides. You will also find the Maasai selling their weaving, wooden and stone carved crafts and jewellery outside the parks, towns and beaches. They have had to adept to a new way of life with most of them living below the poverty line. The Maasai are some of the friendliest people you will find in Africa, always welcoming you into their society even though their traditions are being eroded by these modern times.

 Tanzania 

 Hadza Tribe

 There are more than 100 ethnic groups and Tribes in Tanzania with a population of 59.73 million. Some of the Tribal groups that are found in Tanzania are,  the Sukuma 16.74 %, the Chagga 10 %, the Maasai 1.51 %, the Iraqw 1.01 %, the Datoga 0.15 %, the Sonjo 0.03 %, the Nyamwezi 1.17 % and the Hadza of which there are approximately 1200 left in Tanzaniaa with only around 300 Hadza still living the hunter gatherer and foraging way of life. The Hazda descend from Tanzania’s aboriginal hunter-gatherers who have been here for thousands of years, living around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighbouring Serengeti Plateau. Hadza language (Hadzane) is made is made up of three different types of clicks, dental, alveopalatal, and lateral. The Hadza men's role in this unique community is hunting and to collect honey. The woman's role is to gather berries, fruit and dig for edible tubers as well as looking after the young children and building small huts which entails felling saplings then digging small holes and bending the branches over, lashing them together by using strips of bark then interweaving long grass to cover the dome. They never use more than they need.

Honey is a favourite food source for the Hadza due to its sweet taste and gives them the extra energy they need. The task of collecting the honey is methodical, only taking what the bees don’t need to keep their hives going. The collection isn’t done during the dry season. They also collect the larvae and pollen to boost their nutritional needs. The Hadza live their lives not taking more than they need, living in harmony with their environment as they know it has to be sustainable. It’s a gentle way of living as they coexist with nature as it provides their ancient way of life. It’s not a hierarchical society, there are no councils or elders making the decisions, everybody in the community takes part in the decision making as they believe in equality. There is no form of religion. The Hadza cosmology consists of the sun, the moon, the stars and their ancestors. They are great story tellers and most evenings sit around the camp fire telling stories of mythological man eating giants. The Hadza get a small income from eco tourism and selling handmade jewellery. Recently the Hadza have received a certificate of customary rights of occupancy (CCRO) on 140 square miles of ancestral land  which they fought for 50 years to obtain. This will help in preserving there ancient culture.

 Uganda   

 Ik People Tribe

 Uganda has a population of 45.4 million, has 56 Tribes and about 9 indigenous communities. Some of the Tribal groups that are found in Uganda are the Baganda 16.7%, the Iteso 8.1,%, the Banyankore 8%, the Basoga 7.7 %, the Bakiga 7.1%, the Lango 5.6%, the Acholi 4.4%, the Lugbara 3.6%, and the Ik People 0.02 %. There are approximately 10,000 people living in the north-eastern mountains of Uganda. Ik means 'head', as they believe they were the head of the migration to reach Uganda. The Ik people are hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers and are renowned for their bee keeping skills. The Ik People live in small villages called an Aodok which are found in small clusters. Each small village is surrounded by an Odok, a fence made of thorny branches, and then separated into family plots called Asaks. The Ik people live in small circular thatched grass huts with a large yard with an area for cooking, granary and a livestock area. The Ik people are polygamists and have many wives and dowries are paid in goats, sheep, chickens and beehives and sometimes money is exchanged. Children from the age of three are expelled to live in groups of children in the junior group. The children are aged between three and eight and the senior group of children range from eight to thirteen. The children teach each other how to survive. Farming here is difficult with land that is not very fertile and hard to irrigate. The main crops are maize, pumpkins, beans, sorghum, millet, watermelon, cowpeas, grain and tobacco. This community has been hit hard in the past with drought which in turn creates famine with many young and old starving to death. The Ik people have a strong sense of community where in tough times of crisis the different family groups will help each other. The men of the village were once revered as fierce warriers and they would go out on raids to other villages killing people and stealing their cattle as they believed they had a god given right to the cattle. This practice no longer happens as they get their food from their own reared animals and from hunting wild animals. The Ik people have intimate knowledge of plants and their medicinal properties. They believe in Akuj, a sky God who can be channelled through a diviner and they believe the diviner has the power to interpret dreams that will predict the future, heal the sick and summon the rains. The Ik people have strong beliefs in myths like Badi-am a sorcerer who is a mysterious figure who comes out at night haunting the village transforming themselves into Hyenas and birds like the Owl. The Ik people even in this modern evolving Uganda still live a traditional way of life and are proud of their ancient culture.

 Nepal 

 Tamang Tribe

 Nepal has 126 castes and ethnic groups speaking as many as 123 languages with a Population 29.01 Million. Some of the tribal groups that are found in Nepal are the Kshetri 16.6%,  the Brahman-Hill 12.2%, the Magar 7.1%, the Tharu 6.6%, the Tamang 5.8%,  the Newar 5%, the Kami 4.8%, the Nepalese Muslims 4.4%,  the Yadav 4%, and the Rai 2.3%. The Tamang ethnic group live in districts of Kavrepalanchowk, Makwanpur, Ramechhap, Dhading, Nuwakot, Rasuwa, Sindupalchowk, Dolakha, Rasuwa, Makwanpur, Kathmandu valley, Sindhuli and in the middle hilly regions of the Himalayan range. Tamang is made up of two words Ta which means horse and Mang, which means rider or trader. Originally they were connected to horse trading and riding. They are even believed to have been residents of the Himalayan zone longer than any other ethnic group of Nepal. The Tamangs didn't have much of a formal education but were renowned for their knowledge of  plants for medicinal use. This knowledge was acquired orally passed down through families as it wasn't written down. The Tamangs are one of the major Tibeto-Burmese speaking communities in Nepal and believe that they originally came from Tibet. The Tamangs are traditionally Bon Lamaism, a fusion of Shamanism and Buddhism. It's system of shamanistic and animistic practices performed by priests called Shen (gshen) or Bonpo (bon po). These shamanistic and animistic practices predate Buddhism. The Tamangs are mainly farmers and their farms are mainly at high altitude which limits what crops they can grow. The main crops are corn, millet, wheat, barley, and potatoes. Other work that the Tamangs are engaged in is the trekking industry as porters and guides and they also work within the Tibetan weaving industry making carpets and the Buddhist tradition of Thanka painting. The Tamangs are part of the Shudra caste which is the second lowest caste in the hierarchical system in Nepal. They have been exploited in the past and were enslaved and killed by those with a higher caste even though there was a new civil code formulated in 1962. Much of their land was redistributed and poverty and lack of a voice within Nepal remains a serious issue in the modern day. The Tamangs traditional dress comprises of a lungi, jewellery, patuka, cholo, Tamang mala, and Tamang ghalek. They wear their traditional dress on special occasions such as weddings and festivals. The Tamangs are known for their folk music which is called the Tamang Selo. The instruments used are a Tungna which is a plucked string instrument which is made from a single piece of heavily carved wood with a goat skin cover and gut strings, normally accompanied by a Damphu which is a percussion instrument similar to a large tambourine and a Madal, a hand drum consisting of a wooden cylindrical body with a slight bulge at its centre and skin stretched at both ends made of wood. Although the Tamangs have a tough life they are some of the nicest people you can meet and they are proud of their mystical and ancient way of life.

 India  

 Konyak Naga Tribe

India has a population of 1.3 billion people with over two thousand ethnic groups. There are 645 distinct Tribes and every major religion is represented with 23 constitutionally recognized official languages. The two main languages are Hindi and English. Some of the Tribal groups that are found in India are: the Bhil 37.7%, the Gond 35.6%, the Malayali 2.53%, the Kol 0.29 %, the Santal 0.17 %, the Pardhan 0.16 %, the Saur 0.16 %, the Munda 0.16 %, the Korku 0.07 % and the Konyak Naga 0.02 %. The Konyak are found in the Tirap, Longding and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, the Sibsagar District of Assam and in Myanmar. The Konyak  Naga language is Sino-Tibetan with over 40 dialects. The Konyak were renowned as fiece warriors with a practice of head hunting where they would cut the heads of their enemies and would bring them back to the village as trophies. The heads were displayed on the doorways and walls of the warriors houses. This practice only stopped as recently as the 1960's, although beheading was banned in the 1930's. The Konyak villages are normally built on ridge tops in the hilly areas so they are able to see an enemy attack, with tribal houses predominantly built of wood, bamboo and thatch with a central hearth fire. There is a central communal house in the vilage called a Morong where the Konyak have meetings and where they teach the next generation their customs and traditions. The Konyaks are famous for there facial and chest tattoos which they used to get after cutting off the heads of their enemies and also as rights of passage. The different tattoo patterns represent different meanings and traditions, and can reflect folktales, songs, poems and sayings.  Men and women have these tattoosbut mainly the older generation. The Konyaks have headdress and arm jewellery made from the bones and horns of animals they have slaughtered. A Konyak Naga warrior also have boar tusks in their ear lobes. Opium smoking became a huge problem in the  Konyak communty which was first brought here by the British to subdue the Konyaks and their fierce warrior ways. Addiction to opuim is still rife within the community with around 50% still using it. Most of the opium fields have been destroyed in the area but it still comes accross the border from Myanmar. The Konyaks are mainly farmers and sell crafts like pottery, weaving and baskets but they are most addept blacksmiths, gunsmiths, iron-smelters, brass workers and tool makers. The traditional Tribal belief is a mix of Theism, Animism, Supematuralism and Shamanism. Nowadays they are mainly Christain, brought to the villages by missionaries in the 20th century. Their cultural, traditional way of life hangs in the balance due to the next generation and their appetite for western fashion and music. The old traditional ways don't seem to fit with their modern way thinking. 

  Uganda 

  Ik People Tribe

 Uganda has a population of 45.4 million, has 56 Tribes and about 9 indigenous communities. Some of the Tribal groups that are found in Uganda are the Baganda 16.7%, the Iteso 8.1,%, the Banyankore 8%, the Basoga 7.7 %, the Bakiga 7.1%, the Lango 5.6%, the Acholi 4.4%, the Lugbara 3.6%, and the Ik People 0.02 %. There are approximately 10,000 people living in the north-eastern mountains of  Uganda. Ik means 'head', as they believe they were the head of the migration to reach Uganda. The Ik people are hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers and are renowned for their bee keeping skills. The Ik People live in small villages called an Aodok which are found in small clusters. Each small village is surrounded by an Odok, a fence made of thorny branches, and then separated into family plots called Asaks. The Ik people live in small circular thatched grass huts with a large yard with an area for cooking, granary and a livestock area. The Ik people are polygamists and have many wives and dowries are paid in goats, sheep, chickens and beehives and sometimes money is exchanged. Children from the age of three are expelled to live in groups of children in the junior group. The children are aged between three and eight and the senior group of children range from eight to thirteen. The children teach each other how to survive. Farming here is difficult with land that is not very fertile and hard to irrigate. The main crops are maize, pumpkins, beans, sorghum, millet, watermelon, cowpeas, grain and tobacco. This community has been hit hard in the past with drought which in turn creates famine with many young and old starving to death. The Ik people have a strong sense of community where in tough times of crisis the different family groups will help each other. The men of the village were once revered as fierce warriers and they would go out on raids to other villages killing people and stealing their cattle as they believed they had a god given right to the cattle. This practice no longer happens as they get their food from their own reared animals and from hunting wild animals. The Ik people have intimate knowledge of plants and their medicinal properties. They believe in Akuj, a sky God who can be channelled through a diviner and they believe the diviner has the power to interpret dreams that will predict the future, heal the sick and summon the rains. The Ik people have strong beliefs in myths like Badi-am a sorcerer who is a mysterious figure who comes out at night haunting the village transforming themselves into Hyenas and birds like the Owl.  The Ik people even in this modern evolving Uganda still  live a traditional way of life and are proud of their ancient culture.

Laos

The Khmu Tribe

Laos has a population of around 7.4 million people with 50 ethnic groups and approximately150 subgroups one of these is the Khmu tribe an indigenous ethnic group that primarily inhabits the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia, including parts of Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, and China. The Khmu people have a rich cultural heritage dating back centuries and have managed to preserve their unique traditions and beliefs despite facing challenges from modernization and outside influences. The Khmu tribe's belief system is deeply rooted in animism, which is the belief that all living and non-living things possess a spiritual essence. They believe that spirits, or "phi," inhabit every aspect of the natural world, including animals, plants, rivers, mountains, and even objects. These spirits are thought to influence the daily lives of the Khmu people, and maintaining harmony with them is essential for the well-being and prosperity of the tribe. The Khmu's animistic practices are intertwined with their daily activities, rituals, and ceremonies. For instance, before embarking on a hunting expedition or agricultural activities, they perform rituals to seek permission from the spirits and ask for their blessings. Offerings are made to appease the spirits, and the tribe's shaman, known as the "mhong," plays a vital role in mediating between the human and spirit realms. The shaman is a revered figure within the Khmu community, possessing knowledge and expertise in communicating with the spirits. They perform ceremonies to heal the sick, protect the tribe from malevolent spirits, and offer guidance during times of crisis. The shaman is believed to enter a trance-like state during rituals, allowing them to channel the spirits and gain insights from the spiritual realm. Festivals are significant occasions for the Khmu tribe to express their devotion to the spirits and celebrate their cultural identity. These festivals often involve elaborate ceremonies, music, dance, and feasting. The Boun Khao Padap Din festival, for instance, is a harvest festival where the Khmu express gratitude to the spirits for a bountiful harvest, and the Boun Khao Salak festival is dedicated to the rice spirits to ensure future prosperity in agriculture. Throughout their lives, the Khmu people maintain a strong connection with nature and their environment. They believe in the interconnectedness of all living beings and the land they inhabit. This spiritual bond instills a deep sense of responsibility for environmental conservation and sustainable practices. While animism is at the core of the Khmu belief system, influences from Buddhism, Christianity, and other religions have also made their way into their culture over time. Nonetheless, animism remains a resilient and integral aspect of their identity and continues to shape their worldview and interactions with the world around them. In conclusion, the Khmu tribe is a fascinating indigenous community with a rich cultural heritage deeply rooted in animism. Their beliefs in the spiritual essence of all things and their strong connection to the natural world define their way of life. Despite the challenges of the modern world, the Khmu people continue to uphold their traditions and maintain a harmonious relationship with the spirits that have guided them for generations.