Yao people and the Greater Honeyguide

ANER-ETXEBARRIA-YAO
In the Niassa National Reserve of northern Mozambique, the Yao are facing a summer of intense drought after a period of rains that has decimated their harvests. Raimundo, Mussa and Caido go deep into the forest, in search of a nutritious and highly energising food to feed their families with and rendezvous with a unique bird: the Greater Honeyguide. It’s a small bird that the Yao have maintained a system of oral communication with for hundreds of years, enabling them to find the trees containing the beehives. It’s team work and always ends with a generous distribution of the plunder.

Raimundo

“Indicator bird is our friend. We can’t damaged him. We must respect him. If I don’t share the honey with him, how will he guide me to the hive the next time?”