Ntandi Batwa in Semuliki National Park: The Ntandi pygmies are part of the pygmies that were evacuated from Semuliki National Park. Semuliki National Park is found in the western section of Uganda in Bundibugyo near the DR Congo and Uganda borders. Semuliki National Park is one of the national parks found in Uganda and protected by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. When this national park was gazetted in 1993, all occupants had to leave the forest in order to allow the animals to live freely.
Batwa pygmies are the people that inhabited in Semuliki National Park. While gazetting the region, the Uganda Wildlife Authority urged the people who were living in the forest, including the Batwa people, to relocate out so that animals would be given their freedom inside the jungle. When the Batwa fled the jungle, they had to hunt for locations around the park for habitation.
The Batwa pygmies in Ntandi village used to remain inside Semuliki National Park until 1993, when the government began gazetting the region to construct a national park. In the past, the Batwa pygmies coexisted with wild creatures in the bush, but things have changed since then. Yes, they are allowed to visit the forest for medicine, firewood, and food, but they are not allowed to stay in the forest, which is a habitat for so many wild species.
The best method for animals to freely roam the forest in search of food, water, and shelter was to drive the Batwa pygmies out. Ever since they were driven out of the jungle, the population of animals has increased, and this is because these creatures are no longer hunted for meat and skin. Batwa pygmies were skilled hunters who could kill animals for their flesh and skin using bows and arrows.
In Ntandi village, a few kilometers from Semuliki National Park, is where tourists can meet the Ntandi batwa. These pygmies were used to forest life before they settled around the park boundaries; they learned new methods of living. The Batwa pygmies stay in huts that are grass-covered and made using mud. When traveling on a safari through Semuliki National Park, guests can visit the village of Ntandi, which is made up of local villages.
Visiting the Batwa community
You can see the Batwa pygmies of Ntandi village on a safari in Semuliki National Park with a guide who speaks English and is a local resident. A short drive from Semuliki National Park will deposit you into any of the communities of the Ntandi pygmies.
Traditional dancers will greet you and amuse you with songs and dances. In the community, you will tour different homes to enable you to understand and have as much knowledge as you can while on a brief visit. You can never learn all about their culture, and this is because they tell you a little information about them and love to protect their culture and not teach it to anybody else.
You will be taken to any of the homes with seniors who have witnessed both life inside and outside the bush by a local English-speaking guide. The guide will help you translate because he knows both languages, and his purpose is to ease conversation by making both sides understand.
The elder Batwa will narrate tales of the past in the Semuliki National Park woodland. They will tell you how they used to survive while in the forest, how they collected food, the animals they killed using bows and arrows, the plants that were used as herbs, and how they built fire using firewood.
You will notice that the Batwa’s way of life has completely changed if you visit them today. Hunting is still practiced by the Batwa pygmies, but it is done outside of the national park and on a small scale. What they do for a living now is grain farming and raising a few livestock. A significant contributing element to the Batwa of Ntandi village’s poverty due to unemployment is their lack of formal education.
The various projects that the Batwa pygmies in Nandi village have started among themselves generate revenue for them. Most of the people were instructed on how to manufacture handicrafts, which they might sell to tourists visiting Semuliki National Park. Baskets, gorillas, masks, mortars, circular bags, regional forks, table mats, and bangles are just a few of the handcrafted goods that some Batwa are skilled at creating.