View source for Ekila



'''= a theory to maintain abundance, amongst the Yaka in Congo'''

=Description=

Jerome Lewis:

"For Yaka, people should be successful
in their activities because nature is
abundant. If they are not, it is because
they, or somebody else, has ruined
their ekila by sharing inappropriately.
Sharing is fundamental to sociality.
Yaka share even when there would
seem to be no need to share, for
instance, when huge amounts of fish
are captured by everyone in the dry
season; and they still share even if this
means the producer remains with
almost nothing. They explain that if
they didn’t share, their ekila would be
ruined and they would no longer catch
fish or find food.

Ekila regulates Yaka environmental
relations by defining what constitutes
proper sharing. For example, by not
sharing food, especially meat, properly
among all present, a hunter’s ekila may
be ruined so that he is unsuccessful in
future. A hunter who is too often
successful may stop hunting for a while
for fear that his successes will attract
envy and ruin his ekila. If either a
husband or wife inappropriately shares
their sexuality with others outside their
marriage, it is said that both partners
have had their ekila ruined. A
menstruating woman is said to be ekila
and her smell will anger dangerous
forest animals. She must share part of
her menstrual blood with forest spirits
in order that her male relatives
continue to find food. Even laughter, a
highly valued activity, should be
properly shared. Whereas laughter
shared between people in camp during
the evening makes the forest rejoice,
laughing at hunted animals ruins the
ekila of the hunter.

If ekila has been ruined it causes men to
miss when they shoot at animals, and
for women it causes them to have
difficulties in childbirth. If parents eat
certain ekila animals when their
children are still infants, this can
provoke illness in their children and
even death. Failure or difficulties in the
food-quest or procreation are discussed
in relation to ekila rather than to
inadequacies in human skill or the
environment’s ability to provide. People
recognise each other’s skills, but in this
egalitarian society it is impolite to refer
to them. Rather, success or failure may
be discussed in terms of ekila.

A whole area of forest may become
ekila. This becomes apparent when
hunting is consistently unsuccessful,
and successive misfortunes befall those
who camp in or pass through a certain
area. Yaka hunters from the clan
responsible for that area will place leaf
cones stuffed with earth on all foot
paths leading into the ekila forest. This
warns other Yaka that the forest is
dangerous, and that they should not
attempt to find food but turn back or
simply pass through quickly. Despite a
non-scientific reasoning, the effect of
this allows degraded areas of forest to
be left in order that their resources
increase to sustainable levels again.

Although couched in unfamiliar
idioms, ekila is a theory for
maintaining abundance. Adherence to
these practices, and their explanation,
has established a relationship with
resources that has assured Yaka people
have experienced the forest as a place
of abundance for the entirety of their
cultural memory. Ekila teaches that by
not sharing properly resources become
scarce. By sharing properly, resources
will be experienced as abundant."
(http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/new/Journal_files/journal_02.pdf)


[[Category:Economics]]

[[Category:Sharing]]