contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

Yacouba YeoYACOUBA YEO Passing Down38The Huntiwas born in a small village in the northern Ivory Coast. All my life I have admiredmy father. Although they were poor, my parents were highly respected by manyin the community. Moreover, my parents loved and respected each other, and I wasproud of them.In the rainy season, we used to go to the farm. We grew yams, cassavasand many other tropical root vegetables. When the dry season came, the farm workwas over; the men went hunting, while the women, like a never-drying spring, tookcare of the children, took water from the well or at the river, washed the dishes, andcarried wood like donkeys to cook the food. When I was young, I was not allowedto go into the forest to hunt. My brothers would go into and come back from theforest with their hunt, and I was impatient to be on this dream team one day.Then, the day after I turned 14, my father came to me and said, “You arenow a young man and you need to know certain things. Today, you will take animportant step toward adulthood. We will go hunting together, but just do what Itell you to do.” I was to be in charge of carrying animals that were killed. I was veryhappy to hear that and began to dream about my first day of hunting.At dawn, we checked our guns, spears, knives, clubs, water bottles andtraps. When all were ready, my father conducted a ceremony as head of the clan; heprayed to our ancestors to protect us against the bad spirits of the forest and fromevery kind of danger. After that, my father ordered us to move. We were 10 peopleand I was the youngest. We walked in single file for five hours through the forest.When we stopped talking, we could hear the birds’ and monkeys’ songs and otheranimals’ footsteps and cries.Suddenly, my father ordered everybody to shut up. He told each personwhat to do. I was exhausted after several hours of walking, but now we had to runafter the animals. The dogs barked and tracked down the animals. Sometimes, themen caught them by hand; sometimes, by guns or cudgels. It was hard work, andthe sun beat down on us. Several hours later, I was carrying on my back 10 fresh