Africa has the largest number of primitive tribes in the world. Many tourists’ impression of Africa is that its economic conditions are not good and it is relatively poor. A lack of food and clothing was the norm, but El Molo was a special tribe, because although they spent a lot of time catching food, they could eat delicious fish and even eat crocodiles. The main reason the El Molo can’t worry about food is because they live near a lake, Lake Turkana, which is a large area in Kenya and also rich in fisheries. The lake is rich in bottlenose bass, hippos, crocodiles, and various other bird species. As the saying goes, the El Molo depend on Lake Turkana for survival.

1. The El Molo depend on fishing for their livelihood

Unlike other hunter-gatherer tribes, the El Molo have a sophisticated fishing technique. They catch fish manually, without the help of any modern equipment, so that the lake and the fish are not adversely affected. El Molo people’s favorite fish is the snout bass, because of the large size of the bass, caught a bass can eat for several days, every day, El Molo men will go to the lake in groups to fish, while the women at home to take care of the children, mending some clothes, if lucky, caught a hundred pounds of bass, then the whole family can rest for a few days.

The El Molo not only eat perch, but also sometimes eat crocodiles, which is quite shocking. Crocodiles are natural predators, and ordinary tribes tend to stay away from them so as not to cause casualties, but the El Molo people are more excited to see crocodiles, after all, crocodiles are just a way to improve their diet. The fishing El Molo people are so strong that men must fight a hippopotamus before getting married, or they are seen as failing to protect their family. Every day, when the wife finds that her husband brings home a particularly large fish, she will be very happy and hug her husband frantically to show her happiness, while the man will wait until the fish is almost finished before he goes to fish.

2. The El Molo people advocated monogamy, marriage, and fishing by the lake for a living

Now there are about 400 people in El Molo. To catch fish, the men craft nets, harpoons and other tools, or craft rafts to catch bigger fish in the middle of the lake. The El Molo are a patrilineal society, relying on men for survival and development, but they practice monogamy here. People don’t usually make a living from farming. All their livelihood depends on the lake, where the soil and water support each other. The El Molo people rely on their fishing skills to feed their families. Many of the men also have other surprises in the fishing process, such as small animals, which the women will raise.

But now that the environment is being destroyed, and Lake Turkana is shrinking, it’s getting harder for the El Molo people to fish, so they have to go deeper into the center of the lake, and sometimes when they catch a fish, they’re too far away from home to eat it, or they’ll starve. As sturgeon became increasingly difficult to live with, in order to supplement their food sources, the men began to think of crocodiles. They would kill the crocodiles when they were not looking, then roast them on the spot and eat them, and then bring the rest of the meat home. If they did not eat directly, they would starve to death first.

Most primitive tribes in Africa practice polygamy, but the El Molo people firmly practice monogamy, and they are more suitable for modern society. If the first child is a girl, they can consider having another child, and if the first child is a boy, they must wait for the boy to learn how to fish before they begin to consider having a second child. The modern image of primitive people is stuck with words like “weird”, “strange”, “warlike”, “polygamous”, and “backward”, but in El Molo you can find many advanced ideas. They make their own money, feed themselves, and are very loyal to their families despite their fierce tempers.

Many primitive tribes started to live in primitive forests to escape wars or other dangers, which is also caused by The Times. In El Molo, if a man wants to protect his family, he must kill a hippo himself to prove that he is a warrior worthy to protect his women and children. Otherwise you are not eligible to marry. But now that the hippopotamus is a protected animal, the custom is no longer there, but the practice of killing crocodiles is still there, and has always been in their diet.