Gender Roles
The Baka are extremely coexisting. The male-female relationships are completely egalitarian where sex role flexibility is a norm and language is genderless. Husbands and wives participate in a wide range of activities and nothing is singled out to be meant for a male or female. Women are just as essential to the work team as men and share responsibilities evenly. Women contribute to the diet among the people and are involved in the exchange of food as much as men. Both genders take on a role in hunting which is also usually done together. It is not uncommon to see the men gathering food and firewood, fetching water, cooking, cleaning, and tending to babies. It is equally common to see a women taking on heavy work and taking part in discussions with men. Unlike many African cultures, child bearing is not just the mother’s role. Fathers are actively involved in the caring of their infants. The Bake men engage in more infant caregiving than fathers in any other known society spending almost fifty percent of their day holding or within arm's reach of their infants. (Cervantes, Quixote).
Some of the small differences found in research was on an occasion where an anthropologist named Paul Raffaele arrived at a Baka village by the name of Mossapola, he described the women to be wearing tattered sarongs while squatting around several fires as they warmed water and cooked their cassava. The men were said to be uncoiling large nets by the beehive huts. The night that he left the village, the women were said to be singing a chant of welcome to the great rain forest spirit while the men danced wildly to the music of drums (Raffaele). Another situation where differences among men and women are seen is during marital conflicts. Though these conflicts are rare, they do sometimes occur. Quarrels between men and women are commonly carried out by the women tearing down the man’s house to reveal their displeasure. The women tend to be more skilled at house building therefore the huts in which the Baka’s live are seen as a woman’s property. Normally the woman is stopped halfway through by the man and the conflict is settled through some sort of discussion. If the woman is not pleased with what the man has to say, she will continue to tear down the house which is when the rest of the village people with usually get involved to resolve the dispute (Cervantes, Quixote).
Morals and Values
The Baka’s value several characteristics including positivity, trust, respect, cooperation, and empathy. They possess an enlightened moral code that has been in place long before the missionaries attempted to impose their world view on them. Under this code are rules against killing, violence towards women, adultery, lying, theft, blaspherry, devil worship and sorcery, lack of love for children, disrespect for elders, and other forms of misbehavior. They also have never engaged in cannibalism, human sacrifice, mutilation, sorcery, ritual murder, intertribal war, debilitating initiation issues, and other cruel customs. (Cervantes, Quixote).
Another value that is embraced as a norm is the lack of privacy among tribe members. The Baka’s are rarely ever alone. All activities including eating, drinking, bathing, and even sexual intercourse all take place within close proximity. (Cervantes, Quixote).
Family is a highly valued aspect of life for the Baka. Parents are expected to respond to the needs of children with warmth and calming attitudes in order to raise them into a positive world image. Child neglect and abuse are almost unknown in the Baka society; cruelty to children is the most serious violation under the Baka laws and commandments. (Cervantes, Quixote).
Another extreme value in the Baka culture is the strong faith and worship they have toward the forest. They reflect this appreciation by carrying out positive attitudes toward the world, maintaining feelings of independence, and a sense of basic trust. They express this faith through their great molimo songs which is another reason why music is such an important aspect to their lives. (Cervantes, Quixote).
The Baka Society as Seven Lessons for Effective Teamwork
Lesson 1: Members respect and trust each other.
Given the potential hardships of the forest, survival depends on interdependence for the Baka. Food is not always plentiful and hunting can be dangerous therefore there must be instructions that everyone must follow in order to overcome such threats. Trust and mutual dependency play a crucial role here. Without trust, the hazard of these existing dangers would multiply so each person needs to be depended upon. If the trust is not present, other factors that affect team behavior become irrelevant because when there is no sense of understanding and togetherness among the members of a team, the group soon becomes dysfunctional. However, trust does not occur automatically. Trust grows best if the basics were met for each team member in childhood and delicately taught through life.
The entire camp of any village is consistently supporting one another in any issues and always stands together as one. The peace among the tribe is a majorly emphasized factor and will take whatever measures to maintain that such as gathering around a marital conflict among two members of the tribe to help resolve the issue.
Everyone in the Baka society possesses the right to expect, demand, and give participation in all events. Obedience to authority figures is minimal among the Baka due to the idea that no single member has the right to force someone to do something against his or her will. No one is ever afraid to speak his or her mind resulting in a minimal power gulf between the group members. Interaction and involvement is encouraged of all members. Disputes are settled in by conflictive construct and he or she in questions always has the right to get others involved in the matter until a resolution is found.
To give team members a sense of purpose and focus, team goals and methodologies need to be distributed very clearly. If a goal is ambiguous or ill-defined, the group can potentially lack motivation and commitment to the task. Although goals have to be within realistic boundaries, group members are encouraged to "stretch." When one’s stretch goals are achieved, it gives the individual a sense of pride in their work.
Baka elders want their youngsters to share a common heritage with them. To reinforce the behaviors of the heritage, rewards and punishments are handed out when necessary. Sharing, cooperation, independence, and autonomy are among the basic values in the Baka society.
Teamwork is a balancing act. It is a form of participation that can flourish only in an environment that encourages individual freedom and creative opportunity all the while following the overall organizational goals. Teamwork possesses an interdependent balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of the organization. However, to make such a balance work each member of the team needs to recognize the limitations on his or her freedom.
The Baka society is characterized by a disarming informality. It is difficult to talk about a single leader. Unlike other African societies, the Baka groups have no "big men" among them due to their view that leadership is not a monopoly of one glorious leader. No single person has an ultimate authority leading them not to be intimidated by rank, seniority, or status. Respect may be given to elders, but it is based not on wealth or status but simply on knowledge and expertise.
(Cervantes, Quixote).
The Pygmies Plight
2008 Academic Search Premier, Electronic document, http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.usf.edu/eds/detail?sid=8cc9fbd8-8c6e-4111-bc4e-276434a424ef%40sessionmgr104&vid=16&hid=2&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=aph&AN=35392238 , accessed November 27, 2012.
High-Performance Teams: Lessons of the Pygmies
1999 Business Search Premier, Electronic document,
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