Shared Slaughter
As we got closer, I saw one man hacking up some
animal, perhaps a cow. The animal had just been
killed and was being butchered on a pile of leaves. As I
watched, each part of the animal was cut into 5 equal
pieces. Each of 5 men took their piece and put it in a
basket or plastic bag that he had.
Kathy explained that, without a way to store the meat,
large animals were shared between several families, in
this case 5 families. Each family had the right to 1/5th
of every part of the animal. I watched and wondered
what the family would do with 1/5th of the nose or ears.
When they had finished, there was only blood and a
very few scraps, quickly eaten by the dogs. As the
baskets of meat disappeared down different trails I
understood how important it was to the villagers not to
waste anything.
