The closest relatives of the stone age people in Uganda can be said to be the pygmoid Batwa and the Bambuti. They do not have permanent dwellings and they live by hunting and gathering. They tend to be semi-sedimentary, camping for a time when food can be obtained. The Batwa, for example, live by begging from and working for the Bahutu and Batutsi. probably this is so because there is no longer much scope for survival by hunting and gathering because of increased populations and encroachments on gathering grounds. However, they still eke a bare subsistence, The pygmies are ethnically related to the pygmies of the Congo, the ndorobo of Kenya (now diminishing), and the koikoi and San(bushmen and Hottentots) of South Africa.
The Bambuti can be traced to the present districts of Bundibugyo and Kasese. They conquer the tropical forests of the Congo river basin. They are found on the western Uganda-Zaire border particularly in the parts adjoining the Ituri forest the Ituri river which has its source in the bulega hills overlooking lake Albert and river semuliki. They are often referred to as the Pygmies and they are believed to have been the original inhabitants of the Rwenzori Mountains before the coming of the Bantu people. Congo forest is said to have been their original home speaking the Bambuti language which is said to be very complex and difficult to learn.
The Bambuti’s economy is just as simple as generalizing their way of life. by nature, they are wanderers with no fixed place to inhabit. Their main means of subsistence is meat and blood plus the forests where they live abound with elephants, monkeys, lizards, buffalos, antelopes, and birds. They prey on these animals and several others that the forest contains and are seemingly content with what they have . the Bambuti aren’t troubled at comfort homes, provided they can drink and eat.
On normal travels, the women carry all the family property and are entitled to do all the work including the construction of the huts. The men only carry their spears and arrows. They are experienced hunters and it's what they are entitled to do for the families to have what to eat.
The Pygmies and Bambuti are nomads always on the move from place to place, hunting and gathering. They are said to be cannibals and they average under 4 feet 6 inches (137) in height. Having a light bronze color and beautiful complexion with the same curly, woolly hair as their Bantu neighbors. Their faces are broad thick lips and wide nostrils. They have temporary huts due to their nomadic lifestyle.
Their dressing is composed of a belt wound around the waist, with a piece of bark cloth attached to the belt in the middle of the back, brought down between the legs, and fixed against the belt in front. This type of cloth suits both men and women, though it's unusual for the Bambuti to put on clothes. They usually go half naked though, occasionally, some of them may be found with a brass-wire bangle.
