Smoke-cooking of an antelope among the Mbuti people, Epulu, Ituri Forest, Congo (Democratic Republic)

"Mbuti people go net hunting, not only to provide meat for themselves to eat, but to acquire their main trade item to exchange for Bira commodities and cultivated food. The Mbuti have invested all their energies into satisfying their exchange partners' demands for meat and are now dependant on this system for nearly all their carbohydrate calories in their diet.." [Wilkie, D. S., 1988: Hunters and Farmers of the African Forest. University of California Press, Berkeley]. During his trip to Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo), Elisofon visited the Mbuti people at Epulu, South East Ituri Forest region. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for National Geographic Film and traveled to Africa from January 19, 1972 to mid April 1972.