The Baka

The Baka and us Americans both adapt to our environments in ways unique to our culture/location. Both us and the Baka adapt similarly by moderating the amounts of clothing we wear, depending on the seasons. The Baka have only dry and wet seasons, therefore do not have to change clothes as much as we do. We change clothes depending on the season as well, but our changes are much more drastic. We wear sleeveless shirt in the summer, long and short sleeved shirts in the fall and spring and coats and sweaters in the winter. We also both build shelters specific to our environment. The Baka build their shelters out of leaves and wood, while we use less primitive materials such as concrete and steel. This shows adaptation because we both have to use the best resources available to us, therefore adapting to whatever there is available.

The US and the Baka both modify their environments on a daily basis. Here, we pollute by driving our cars, thereby modifying the atmospheric content of pollutants, while in Bakaland (the Baka tribes), they modify the water content of certain chemicals that deprive fish of oxygen, helping them find fish to eat. We both modify certain materials (as discussed above) in order to construct shelters. In addition, we are both materialistic. The Baka modify trees in order to find valuable honey, while we modify the earth in order to get valuable gold and oil.

The US and the Baka are both highly dependant on their environments for resources. We both consume fish, and are therefore dependant on rivers and oceans to supply us with the fish we eat. Similarly, we both are quite dependant on trees for both food and materials to construct things out of. We depend on our environment by using solar panels to get electricity, while the Baka also depend on the sun to grow plants.

Baka: People of the Forest National Geographic, 1990

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