The Hadzabe people are nomadic hunter-gatherers that reside mostly in the Eyasi Basin area of Tanzania. They live in small camps of about 30 individuals each and sustain themselves through foraging and hunting for food. While most caretaking is provided by mothers, family members, such as fathers and grandmothers, and other community members also provide a fair amount of help.
Researchers have studied Hadza parenting styles and patterns to determine how much caretaking is provided by “allomothers” (other helpers) and who these allomothers are, as well as, how much parenting is done by fathers and what motivations are behind why they parent which children. Research has shown that 31% of the time that Hadza children are held, they are held by allomothers. Specifically, allomothers are more often female than male, mostly less than 18 years of age and are more often kin than unrelated community members. Allomothers help in order to learn how to mother and to recieve reciprocal care. A sense of community and kinship are important qualities that define the Hadzabe – these characteristics permeate ever aspect of their lifestyle from foraging for food to caretaking their young. (Crittenden & Marlowe, 2008)
Researchers have also studied parenting patterns of fathers by comparing efforts of fathers between biological children and stepchildren. Studies have found that fathers spent more time near, communicated more with and nurtured more biological children than stepchildren. Biological fathers were also better hunters and brought more meat back to camp than stepfathers. These results show that parenting for fathers are just as much about mating efforts (gaining sexual access) as about parenting efforts (enhancing the fitness of their offspring). (Marlowe, 1999)
Bibliography
Crittenden, Alyssa, Frank W. Marlowe. “Allomaternal care among the Hadza of Tanzania.” Human Nature 19(3)(2008): 249-262. Print.
Hawkes, K., O’Connoell, J. F., Blurton Jones, N. G. “Hadza Women’s Time Allocation, Offspring Provisioning, and the Evolution of Long Postmenopausal Life Spans.” Current Anthropology, 38(4)(1997): 560-565. Print.
Marlowe, Frank. “Male care and mating effort among Hadza foragers.” Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 46(1)(1999): 57-64. Print.
Marlowe, Frank. “Showoffs or providers? The parenting effort of hadza men.” Evolution and Human Behavior 20(6)(1999): 391-404. Print.
By Michelle Choi
