In the bad old colonial days, the Belgians owned the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, where pygmies were common. For a bit of extra pocket money the Belgians used to export pygmies and install them in zoos to be gawped at. Like the lady in the picture below, some tribes practice teeth sharpening which gives them an extra look of wildness that Europeans would pay top dollar for. Hit the link at the bottom of the page to read about one unlucky pygmy that got exported for whitey’s pleasure.

The pygmies have had a pretty rough ride recently, especially during the Congo civil war in 2003. There are reports that they were hunted and eaten like animals.

Both warring sides looked on the pygmies as being subhuman and many considered their flesh to have magical properties. It was basically a genocide, but because the pygmy people live deep in the jungle and have no real official voice, no one noticed and no one really seemed to care.

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