The Mbuti are the people Westerners often refer to as "pygmies." They are diminutive, often standing around 3-4 ft in height when fully grown.

Anthropologist, Colin Turnbull (1924-1994) studied the traditional culture of the Mbuti and published his work, "The Forest People" in 1961 with an update to this research published in 1984 as populations of indigenous peoples were becoming extinct.

The Mbuti have been deeply discriminated against and their traditional ways are largely extinct.

The ills of the community are not conceived of in the usual, Western way (policy, organization, etc.) but physical and societal, emotional illnesses are seen as a "disconnection" between the people and the forest. Or the forest itself is somehow suffering and ill.

How does one heal a forest? And what do they mean by forest?

The cure is singing. Singing and Dance are intertwined, never separated.

The molimo is a flute or trumpet. . . from our perspective it is a hollow tube. And in fact, Turnbull himself was surprised when the hidden molimo turned out to be a 15 ft. drainpipe taken from a local village.

Here is an account of a molimo ceremony.