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Ekila By Jerome Lewis Analysis

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Jerome Lewis provides us with a first hand insight into the understanding of Ekila in his Ethnographic article ‘ Ekila; blood, bodies and egalitarian societies’. Lewis examines such an ambivalent concept with the help of the Mbendjele forest hunter-gatherers from northern Congo as he documents their ‘movement through life and the way physique and understanding grow together’ (Lewis, 2008, p297). Lewis highlights the scarcity and polysemic nature of Ekila and how practices and beliefs are incorporated into all aspects of a hunter gathers life. Lewis emphasizes that Ekila provides the very mechanism that give societies their cohesion. Systems like Ekila are immensely resilient, surviving many generations of being embedded by spontaneous ‘inevitable …show more content…

Jerome Lewis incorporates Nurit Bird-David ideas from the “Cosmos Of Sharing” to provide this condensation of ideology of sharing in an egalitarianism community. Consequently, to the Mbendjele Hunter gatherers sharing is valued over the accumulation of material possession. Western cultures view the Hunter Gatherers as poor, however Lewis highlights that they are affluent in all aspects of their life, with wealth measured in freedom, abundance of forest resources and their Knowledge of nature. Kenrick recounts a time when he witnessed a woman from a tribe asking for money, tourists would see this as begging, however to the tribe this is ‘demand sharing’. She is extending the equality of her community and consequently believes she has the right to what they have, as everyone is …show more content…

An Elder named Bokongo states the importance of sharing laughter in society, “people of before asked the children of today to laugh a lot…this pleases the forest….” (Lewis, 2009, p8) this consequently causes the “camps to remain open for food”(Lewis, 2009, p17). Adversely, the Mbendjele word ‘Motoko’ refers to negative noises such as shouting which lead to the “camp closing to food”. Furthermore if a married couple inappropriately Share sexuality with others outside of their marriage, this will ruin their Ekila. Menstruating women are known as ‘Ekila’ and share their menstrual blood with spirits of the forest, pregnant women share their blood with the hunters to increase the likelihood of

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