warning the men away

One evening guest at the Lodge mentioned in passing the ‘water-drumming’ of the Ba’aka women.  Following up, I discovered that this is traditionally what the women do to inform the men that they are bathing in that part of the river, and that the men should therefore stay away.

I spoke to one of the Ba’aka staff at the Lodge, and he was more than happy to arrange for me to go and see a ‘performance’ of this that the women would put on for me in his village (Mossapoula).

On the appointed day I got to the village and found him, but was a little surprised to find women waiting for me with rafia decorations around their waist – and a man near them banging a saucepan with a drumbeat.  I asked why they were there, as I’d asked to see women water-drumming, not dancing in a village clearing.  He pointed to a seated man and said he would be drumming on the water container in front of him.  No …  So I tried again, and when I said the word ‘river’ he finally understood.

So we made our way down to the river with a few of the women, who waded into the water.  Then they started drumming.  I cannot really explain the movement (big kind of circular arm movements underwater with the arms bent and elbows out to the side), nor understand how they manage to make different tones, but it was wonderful to watch.  & they clearly enjoyed it, as did the watching kids.