In his book, The Forest People, Colin Turnbull achieves the taste and feel of life inside a Mbuti community, but in doing so offers a skewed anthropological look at the peoples of the African Congo. When reading the book, I did truly feel a part of the Mbuti world, but I also noticed a lack of anthropological accuracy when it came to portraying effect had on Pygmies by the lives and cultures of surrounding natives. …
showed first 75 words of 587 total

showed last 75 words of 587 total
…way of life, because that is what they have always done and what is right for them. Herein lies the biggest error made by Turnbull in The Forest People: he doesn't give the Pygmy culture enough credit for what it is. The Mbutis are changing, dynamic piece of humanity being fueled by not only age-old traditions and customs, but also the very real beliefs and values of the tribes that they share the Congo with.