A Study of Multi-ethnic Societies in the African Evergreen Forest

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The coexistence of various different ethnic groups characterizes the tropical rainforest of Africa. Intensive field survey was conducted among the Baka hunter-gatherers and neighboring slash-and-burn agriculturalists such as the Njem and the Kaka in the south-eastern part of the Republic of Cameroon to gather ecological and ethnological data on the basic potentiality of tropical rainforest as human environment and the adapatation to it. Then the social relationships among various ethnic groups including the Baka were investigated intensively to understand the structure of coexistence of various ethnic gr6ups in the same forest enviromnent. The main research items were as follows :(1)Subsistence activities in the forest : a) soil structures and slash-and-burn agriculture in the forest, b) cultivation of cash crops such as cacao and influence of cash economy, c) para-cultivation of wild yams, d) hunting and gathering of wild resources in the forest, e) health condition of forest dwellers, f) daily life of the Baka Pygmies (diet, activities of children, ritual performances, and so on)(2)Forest resources : a) ecological and taxonomic survey, b) ethnobotanical survey, c) estimation of biomass of wild yams and carrying capacity, d)utilization of non-timber products(3) Local community and inter-ethnic relationships : a) ethnohistory, b)interrelationship between the Baka and neighboring farmers (patron-client relationship, fictive kinship relationship), c) connection to the outside world through local markets, d) public education and its influences As the results of those research, data have been gathered on 1) the natural resources of the forest, 2) the mlti-dimentional use of the forest resources, 3) the coexistence and inter-dependence of various ethnic groups, and 4) the influence of modernization such as education and cash economy on the local community and ethnic relationship.