19 April 2006

Curious about hunting?

A group of hunters
© Greenpeace/ Behring

Food in the forests is a little different and, in my opinion, it’s much better – no suspicions about pollution or anything to consider. Every day we have a different fresh meat or fish, and Susan (she’s from tribe Yongom) is a great cook, who even makes us French toast!

Dinnertime is the happiest hour of our day, when we all sit around the fire, talking and laughing.

I’m curious about hunting, but it’s really a difficult thing for me. Some readers who haven’t experienced the lifestyle in a forest like this one may think that hunting is cruel. But here, the landowners live with, by and from the forest – they have to get food from it. Hunting is for survival, not fun.

A landowner hunting
© Greenpeace/ Behring

Boys are trained to hunt from a very young age. They get guidance from the older generation and put it into practice. Everyone has his strong suit – like Daiya, who is good at catching birds. It is often said that Sep, the leader of the Kuni, is one of the best hunters in the region. I've seen with my own eyes that he has brought many different animals and birds to the camp.

Although most hunters use arrows or traps, some are adept at using a shotgun.

In fact, the local people also don’t like sanguinary [bloodshed]. Sometimes when they catch small animals, they like to raise them up. There is a wild pig in the village, lying in the sunshine, being scratched by its master – although its future is uncertain, it seems happy now.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/cgi-bin/mv/mt-tb.cgi/1600