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JITU

the Fisherman and the Return to the Mountain of Nundulungu

The Language of the Land

Living Among the Hadzabe in Africa

James Stephenson
St. Martins Press
ISBN 0-312-24107-0

Click here to read the New York Times article

In 1997 James Stephenson arranged to have a full year free to spend among the Hadzabe in east Africa. He had visited these people several times previously and with every trip his fascination with them deepened, for the Hadzabe are the last hunters and gathers still living a traditional life in Africa.

At the age of 27, Stephenson intended to spend the year among the Hadzabe: living their life, hunting what they hunted, eating what they ate, participating in their dances and ceremonies, consulting with their medicine men, and learning their myths and dreams.

Armed only with his camera, his art supplies, and the open-hearted courage of youth, he set out to visit with a people whose way of life has changed little since the Stone Age. He wanted to glimpse the world as they perceived it and learn the wisdom they had wrested from the land. The account of his adventure and what he learned is travel writing at its best, reminiscent of the books of Peter Beard and Bruce Chatwin.

Africa in the Unesco Art Collection

African Faces

Cover photo: Makonde mask from private New York collection, James Stephenson, Belgian collection.