Akie Tribe

'This programme contains some strong language and some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.'

On these plains, some of Africa's last hunter-gatherers survive.

They're living a way of life that's continued since the dawn of mankind.

I'm always in awe of anyone who can track like this.

They're being edged out of their traditional hunting grounds

by farmers, big-game hunters and neighbouring tribes.

It's quite a tense time. Who knows what might be there?

I'll be living in the bush with them,

stalking big game and learning how they eke out a living from the land.

And I'll be facing one of my greatest fears, as I go with them to gather wild honey.

This is my big moment.

And I'm properly scared!

My name's Bruce Parry.

I've been travelling to some of the world's most remote places

to see how people there live, and how they're adjusting to a rapidly changing world.

I believe there's only one way to really understand another culture,

and that's to experience it - to become, for a short while, one of the tribe.

I'm in Tanzania, in an area know as the Maasai Steppe.

As the name suggests, the majority of the people who live here are in fact the Maasai.

But before they arrived, there were a number of other tribal communities living here,

and one of them, and the one that I want to go and visit, call themselves the Akie.

Akie territory is south of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The Akie used to hunt freely throughout this region,

but the population of Tanzania has doubled in the last 20 years.

The few thousand remaining Akie are now squeezed into a handful

of scattered settlements, and I'm on my way to one of those.

But first I have to stop at a Maasai village on the edge of traditional Akie territory.

This is where I've arranged to meet my guide and my translator.

They suggest we buy tobacco and snuff as presents for the Akie.

This is the place I've come to buy the tobacco and the snuff.

But the Maasai lady inside is a little bit worried about me and the camera,

so I'm going to leave these guys to it and I think we'll back off.

The Maasai are cattle owners, and many of them look down on the Akie and other hunter-gatherers.

They regard them as primitive and call them Ndorobo, a derogatory word meaning "poor"

or "people without cattle".

Good morning. What do we have?

My God! Now, that's what I call a pot of snuff!

And three of these? And is this enough for me as gifts?

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

Thank you. Thank you.

Lemelale, our Akie guide, is taking me into his traditional clan land.

We left before first light

and he's been setting quite a fast pace.

We haven't said a word all day - not because I don't want to,

but because he's also looking for game.

The Akie are opportunistic hunters, and Lemelale always has his bow at the ready.

There's something else about the Akie which intrigues me.

As well as being hunters, they're known for their skill at gathering wild honey.

There's a beautiful baobab here and it's riddled with these pock marks on the front.

I think he's seen bees going in and out of it.

And I'm staying back here.

I've had an allergic reaction to being stung in the past,

so I'm nervous about getting too close to the hive.

HE LAUGHS

African bees are notoriously aggressive.

They are known to chase a potential enemy for up to a mile.

And they definitely say Lemelale as an enemy.

This is my first experience of the Akie at honey-collecting.

Wasn't particularly fruitful!

They climbed the tree, a couple of stings, came back down again and we bomb-burst!

This way? Come on, guys.

After a 30-kilometre trek, we're nearing the remote heart of Akie territory.

An hour ago we were in blistering heat - my neck is on fire from the sun.

But it seems that here there's been a massive downpour, because suddenly it's wet everywhere.

And I think we're really close to our village now.

Lemelale knows the village we're going to well, and he's warned the people there to expect me.

One friendly face.

Aqua mo!

Aqua mo! Nice to meet you.

ALL GREET EACH OTHER

Lonyokie, the village headman, knows I want to try and live exactly like an Akie for the next month.

I have one experience so far, and it's Lemelale - he had ten bites on his head!

So now I am double scared!

WOMAN SINGS

ALL CLAP IN RHYTHM

SHE SINGS

Lonyokie has invited me to stay in his house.

He lives here with his wife, Ana,

and their only son, Elias.

And if I snore in the night, you punch me!

THEY LAUGH

While Ana prepares supper, our guide, Lemelale, tries some of the snuff we brought.

Lemelale, I'm going to try it, look.

In the finger in the nose, yes?

Slowly!

I had quite a lot then.

Oh, that was so different to what I was expecting.

That really is like just... I did a big chunk.

That's really like just doing pepper. Ahh!

-HE COUGHS

-I'm going outside.

The village is called Olmuti.

It consists of three enclosures like this one.

The population varies, but at the moment there are about 25 people living here.

Because the territory where the Akie can hunt and gather is shrinking,

they have to rely more and more on the few crops they can grow.

The staple here is maize and they keep a few chickens.

Apart from that, the Akie have nothing and everyone is hungry.

For meat, the men must head into the bush to hunt.

Lonyokie needs to go out hunting but says that before he'll take me,

I need to have some practice with a bow and arrow.

Ooh!

I nearly hit one.

Everyone who's still in the village has turned up for my lesson.

Everyone's got so carried away I haven't even had a shot yet.

They're all loving it. All these grown kids just having some fun.

Finally it's my turn.

Sure.

Ooops.

Glad I don't live here.

Trashing...

Trashing my neighbour's house.

When he's out hunting for real, Lonyokie uses poisoned arrows.

Akie arrows are works of art.

The metal tips are forged from old car springs and detach from the shaft once they've hit an animal.

The poison is extracted from the roots of the desert rose.

There is no known antidote, so every strike is fatal.

With the arrows prepared, Lonyokie is ready for tomorrow's hunt.

INSECTS CHIRP, BIRDSONG

It's before dawn and I'm out with Lonyokie on a hunting trip.

It's been a really clear, starlit night.

We got up really early, quite a long way from the village,

which means we just have a much better chance of getting anything.

Until recently, the Akie faced prison for hunting with bows,

whereas anyone who had enough money for a licence could hunt with a gun.

Thankfully those laws have been relaxed, but the Akie

are still in direct competition with hunting companies.

Lonyokie shows me evidence of a recent big-game hunt.

This is a hide I've just had pointed out to me there,

where the hunter with his high-powered rifle would lie.

And then literally ten yards away, there'd be a bait

of a gazelle or something, and it's such an easy shot.

And then the car's just here on the road and then they go.

A few yards down the road and we see something.

It's a diptych.

But it didn't hang around long enough for Lonyokie to take a shot.

The hunting companies say they bring in millions of dollars to Tanzania

every year and control the poachers,

but Lonyokie believes they have made the game scarcer and more skittish.

We've been out hunting for hours and we've hardly seen an animal.

We're all hungry because we haven't eaten anything

since last night, and we don't want to go back empty-handed.

Lonyokie knows this area like the back of his hand and he's taking us

to a place where he hopes there will be honey.

First of all, we gather a few essential materials which will help us when we get to the hive.

I was wondering what we were cutting these sticks for. I've sussed it.

Hanging off the ground, weaver bird nests stay dry even at the wettest times of year.

They're perfect for making a fire, which we'll need once we get to the hive.

ANGRY BUZZING

Where's the hive?

There. OK.

I wasn't going to get too close on my first one!

The hive's just in there.

Before they can get any honey they have to pacify the bees with smoke.

I'm just scared that during my time here I'm going to have to do this.

And, um, I'm really...

I don't mind snakes, I don't mind lions, but these bees they really do scare me quite a bit.

And I have an allergy to wasps as well.

Wow!

That's sweet! Sweet, sweet!

After years of collecting honey, Lonyokie has become desensitised

to bee venom, but that doesn't stop him getting stung.

This is a real test of my nerve.

The secret, not that I've had much of a briefing, but apparently the secret is just not to kill any.

As soon as you kill one...

It stings you and you kill it and just, all hell lets loose, and they're just all over you.

He's getting stung again and again.

I so hope they don't want me to do this.

Well, I'm taking this opportunity to get out of here.

The stuff with the larvae's slightly different. It's sweet but it's...

It's kind of got like a milky edge to it. It's really nice, that.

Honey makes up a large proportion of the Akie diet.

It offers massive calorific value for relatively little work,

and if there's a surplus it can be sold.

And they have another important use for honey.

Ana, Lonyokie's wife, is using it to make beer.

This is the inner pith of a tree and they use that as a filter,

but also it's used for the fermenting process.

Amazingly, the brew can ferment and become alcoholic in less than a day.

Twice a day Ana and Elias have to collect water for drinking and cooking.

This muddy pool provides the only surface water for miles around.

Tadpoles and all!

This is the water we've been drinking the last week.

I'm used to drinking untreated water, but this looks pretty bad.

Because the water's stagnant, it's probably full of parasites and bacteria.

Back at the village, Ana offers to give me a shave.

I didn't realise it was going to be a cold water shave!

With an old-fashioned razor, so I think it's gonna hurt.

That's trust!

ALL LAUGH

Do I look a little bit younger? Little bit?

Young again? No, you're just saying that - cos I asked you!

While the razors are still out, Ana decides that she and Lonyokie should smarten up too.

Here comes Lonyokie to join his family.

So, we've got some maize.

Ooh, which is piping hot!

It's really nice.

In the five days I've been here we've hardly eaten anything

but maize and honey, and tonight is no different.

There hasn't been any meat in the village for nearly two weeks,

so Lonyokie is arranging for a group of us to go on a longer hunting trip.

Before we go, the village gathers for a ceremony which will involve Ana's mead.

Ah, it's for me first!

Asante sana. I drink it all in one?

There are only a few mugs, so etiquette demands you drink fast and pass your mug on.

Ahhh!

I tell you what, though - that tastes amazing!

Beautiful. Really smooth.

You can taste the alcohol so it's got that tang,

but it's not too sweet. God, it's the least sweet thing I've had since I've been here.

That is a good drink. Ah. Asante sana!

There's a celebratory mood, but the ceremony does have a serious side.

The village needs meat and it's important that we have a successful hunt.

Lonyokie invokes the spirits of his ancestors, asking for their help and guidance in the coming days.

ALL SING

We've hardly eaten anything in days and the mead has gone straight to our heads.

If in doubt, join in.

SINGING CONTINUES

SQUEALING AND LAUGHING

I'm loving it here, absolutely loving it here.

Even if something really bad happens, the first, their first reaction,

every time, is just to burst into laughter.

It's such a

wonderful way of living life. It's brilliant, I love it.

CHEERING

Lonyokie doesn't let the dancing go on too long.

We've got an early start tomorrow morning.

By the time the sun comes up,

we're already miles from the village.

Lonyokie has spotted something.

The first thing Akie hunters do when stalking prey is to get rid of any unnecessary clothing.

Clothes make too much noise, and hamper movement.

They want to get the best possible shot at whatever's out there.

WHISPERS: They're asking me whether I want to shoot it, but I'm like, "No, you guys do it."

I'm just going to let them go.

They've been depositing their stuff as they go along,

just to make themselves quieter and quieter.

It's an impala.

But I can also see something else through the bushes.

There's a whole troop of baboons.

I just saw two over there,

I think maybe they saw us, so they might have gone.

The guys have gone ahead now. I'm leaving them to it.

Lonyokie and Leyan get close, but before they can take a shot the baboons scare the impala off.

IMITATES BABOON CALL

I'm worried that I've also been hampering their success.

But it's not unusual for it to take days to get an animal big enough to feed the village.

OK.

Leyan starts making a hunting hide.

We'll make a number of them in the area, carefully placing them upwind of the salt lick.

A hunting hide is a terrible place to spend the night.

You have to keep perfectly still, resisting the urge to shift around and ease your aching limbs.

Lighting a fire is out of the question, so it's pretty cold.

Instead of sleeping, you have to spend hours watching absolutely nothing happen.

But these guys will sit out here for as long as it takes to get meat for the village.

AN ANIMAL GRUNTS

ANIMAL GRUNTING

LOUD GRUNT

Now we have to wait until dawn to find out if the arrow hit home.

Akie are expert trackers and are often hired by the hunting companies.

They never chase down a shot animal immediately in case it runs too far.

They wait for the poison to act and use their tracking skills to find it.

THEY LAUGH

But I'm not going to see any tracking right now.

The arrow didn't hit its mark.

It's an ambitious shot. It's a good 30 yards.

THE HUNTERS CHAT

We're getting desperate for meat now.

Cold after a night in the hide, we huddle round a fire at our camp in the bush.

As we talk, Lonyokie voices some of the Akie's grievances about the hunting companies.

What would you ask for, what would you say is the important thing, the message from you?

Back in the hide, the afternoon goes no better than the night before.

After hours waiting, Lonyokie gets just one shot at a kudu.

It's a good shot, but at the last moment the kudu saw him and bolted.

Oh. That was the closest one yet.

The Akie are renowned for their magic and they have a remedy for this kind of bad luck.

Leyan prepares to perform a ritual.

They believe that our hunting trip has been cursed by the bird they saw.

MAKES BIRD CALL

Of anywhere I've ever been in the world, these guys are the quickest to make fire from nothing.

It's really quite incredible.

Now we have to act out a successful hunt.

The belief is that by doing this our luck will change.

The branches represent meat from the kill.

Finished. Finished. Asante sana.

Well, let's hope. Let's hope next time.

Big one. The Akie find humour in almost everything.

But this situation is really bad.

We've gone days living on virtually nothing.

So, first thing tomorrow we're going to look for some more honey.

Just come across this beautiful baobab and it's got two hives in it at the moment.

And even now, before we've even started, I can hear this tree,

it's like it's alive, it's buzzing, it's actually quite a scary sound.

CONSTANT BUZZING

The trunk is pockmarked with holes which the Akie

have made over hundreds of years of harvesting the tree.

When Leyan gets higher, he stands on wooden pegs, checking that they aren't rotten.

Next he hooks on a sling made from kudu hide to support him while he takes out the honey.

He's a long way up and everyone seems to have a story about falling from a tree.

Papake is preparing the other hive.

He's decided it's time for me to have a go.

It's not as high as the one Leyan's at but it's still going to be a bit

tricky because the tree is leaning out, so I'll be hanging in mid air.

This is my big moment.

And I'm properly scared.

OK, seat first, and then we go.

Fuck, man, this is the scary bit.

Ya-ow!

I'm not quite sure what I can feel in there, but it seems the hive is empty after all.

I can't feel anything at all.

It seems like a set-up to me, but they assure me that

the empty hive is as much a surprise to them as it was to me.

Nothing.

Talk about getting away lightly!

There was definitely bees there

but I didn't get stung and it seems that there's nothing in there.

It's a huge relief.

I was genuinely worried about putting my hand into that hive.

But it does illustrate another problem for the Akie.

They can't even rely on honey as a food source.

After yet another night in the bush, it seems like we might have some good news at last.

DRUM MUSIC PLAYS

Finally we're hoping

that our luck has changed.

These two guys, our master hunters, actually shot and killed and tracked a kudu last night,

but it was too late to actually bring it back to camp.

So we're out there this morning, hoping that it's still there.

And it's quite a tense time because who knows what might be there?

We might come across a possessive wild dog or hyena, leopard

or lion even.

Ah, there she is.

There she is.

Finally these guys have done it, well done to them, well done.

The village is going to be so, so delighted with this.

That's a lot of meat, it's a big animal. Brilliant.

I thought that we were going to butcher it on the spot.

But Leyan and Papake insist that we move it first, all 80 kilos of it.

It's completely open here, and you can see for hundreds of metres.

The Akie are in constant competition with other predators

and they must make sure that nothing creeps up on them.

Leyan's butchery is amazingly skilful.

He keeps the hide intact. He'll dry it and use it as a honey pouch.

The arrowhead broke off somewhere in the kudu, so he's being especially

careful to cut away any meat that may have been tainted by the poison.

Where's the arrow?

I was beginning to wonder where the deadly poisoned arrow head was in our dinner.

Now they've found the arrow, we can be sure which bits of the kudu are safe to eat.

Leyan wastes no time tucking into the liver.

Yeah? Good? Can I try some?

Yes?

Wow, that's nice.

With the animal completely cut up, the hunters break into their favourite part,

the bone marrow.

It's mainly fat and blood and it's a real delicacy.

Asante sana - now that,

that is a real treat.

He's just given me that and I know that's a favourite bit of theirs.

Asante sana. It's so, so, so delicate.

It melts in the mouth and it's creamy and it's got a lovely

milky taste to it. Really nice.

Akie, yes.

Papake and Leyan wrap the meat into packages which we'll be able to carry home between us.

Wow, three parcels of butchered meat

and the only stuff that we've left behind is the tiny morsels of meat

where the arrow actually struck the animal.

That obviously has been tainted and we can't use.

Other than that it's all coming back to the village.

It's good to see you.

Looks like the news has spread.

I think we're going to be heading back to a really, very delighted village indeed.

Brilliant news.

The only sad thing is that it's going to pretty much mark the end of my time here with the Akie.

SHE SHOUTS AND CHANTS

Asante sana.

Finally we brought something back.

I'm sure the main reason they haven't been more successful is because of me.

I've jinxed them and been smelly and made it all difficult.

Either way, to finally come back to the village

after having been in our hunting camp and bring some meat back

for the community is a real relief.

It's fantastic, and I'm pleased to be home.

It's taken us ten days to get this kudu.

The meat is shared between the whole village but it won't last long

and they'll have to go out again soon.

The whole community, all the family, is here to say goodbye to me, and it's really touching.

And we're going to celebrate with honey mead, which I've got to drink all of this in a oner.

For a second, I thought I had to put that on top of my head upside down, forgot where I was.

People have hunted and gathered on the plains of East Africa since the dawn of mankind.

But this may be one of the last generations to live that way.

Everyone here knows that the Akie will have to change if they are

to survive and Lonyokie reminds me just why that is.

That's true.

EVERYONE STARTS TALKING

In keeping with tradition, Ana gets my bag from the house.

It's time to leave.

THEY SING

I have to say a lot of goodbyes on my travels, but I don't think

I've ever had a send-off as joyful and as touching as this one.

-Oh, my God.

-HE SIGHS

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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