Digging Roots with Hadza Women and Callie Russell

To help the Hadza continue their way of life visit https://www.dorobofund.org

The Hadzabe love meat, but an animal harvest is never gaurenteed, especially a larger animal that can feed the whole family. The Hadzabe rely on a variety of starchy tuberous roots as a staple and reliable food source. The Women are the primary root harvesters.

I was incredibly lucky to spend a lot of time with the women this trip. In addition to collecting water (   • Collecting Water with Hadza Women  ), collecting fire wood, tending the children, and many other camp activites, the Women also set out on daily forgaging expeditions to harveste starchy roots, berries, fruits and other wild foods that provide substantial calories to the community.

The act of root digging may be seen as just “gathering”, but I was amazed at how the women were able determine where to dig to find the roots. It is not just a matter of finding a particular plant and digging underneath it, not all instances of a particular plant yield roots. There are subtle differences in the plant and the soil and the older women show great skill in scouting and hunting out the most fertile areas from which to gather roots.

I tried myself to choose some spots and failed much to the amusement of the women. I asked, but was unable to figure out the keys to finding the right locations to dig. I hope that in future trips I will get to learn more from their amazing knowledge and skill.

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