The Nomadic Alternative – Page 148

The Nomadi

The Nemadi have virtually no material equipment. Yet their training of dogs is one of the miracles of animal domestication and their name, Nemadi, means "Master of Dogs". They prefer to hunt addax antelopes, because the oryx is dangerous when wounded. A hunter with five dogs on a leash stalks the herd over the sand dunes. He can tell at a glance the degree of attachment of a faun to its mother and consequently how the mother will react. He has classifications for the size and age of every animal, the condition of their skins and the condition of their flesh. He can train his dogs to attack the particular animal of his choice in the herd.

Within a hundred yards of the antelopes, he unleashes them. The first dog, or 'King of the Pack', streaks for the antelope's muzzle and hangs on, the other four go for each of the legs; they cripple the animal until the hunter catches up. He even has time to perform a short ritual of appeasement before lancing the animal. If he has no lance, he crosses his arms, takes a horn in each hand, and with an almighty twist turns them upside down and rams them in the sand, thus immobilizing the animal.

Hunting requires great concentration and nerve and fully satiates man's need for danger. Colin Turnbull has described how the Mbuti Pygmies of Equatoria tackle an African elephant. One blocks the animal's path through the jungle, and makes it halt in its tracks. Another jumps out from behind and cuts the tendon of its back leg. The animal wheels round. A third hunter hacks at the other tendon - and down it goes. Not an occupation for every day! And hardly surprising that the hunting of large mammals is a sporadic occupation - a burst of energy, daring and expertise to be followed by a long and well-deserved bout of idleness. James Woodburn has found that the Hadza hunters in Tanzania rely on meat for only twenty per cent of their diet by weight. The remaining eighty per cent is vegetable food collected by women.

In the lean dry season lack of water drives the Hadza to huddle round a permanent water hole. At this time of enforced torpor, men and women segregate themselves into rival camps. Antagonism between