Page 26 - Local Voices, Local Choices Excerpt

24 local voices, local choices
Not only that, but he is a natural storyteller, with a wealth of observations and anecdotes from his decades among the chimps.
“It felt like I was at school,” he explains, beginning his long story with an animated expression, “like trying to remember all the knowledge and information about chimps, learning chimpanzee behavior, but also learn- ing human behavior as well. I was so fascinated by the nature of the chim- panzee, the behavioral similarities between chimps and humans. There’s only a slight difference between us. I don’t know how much exactly, but because we spent so much time with them, we came to know each other like family. They know, this is our friend. Then when a chimpanzee loves me, when walking with him in the wild, he is like a brother. Yes, he’s an animal, he’s a chimpanzee, and you’re human, but he is a brother.”
Mzee Yahaya says that, while he was grateful to be taught by his elders, the chimps were also his teachers. “First, I was taught to observe, so that I could see the lessons the chimps were teaching me. So human and chimp lessons, they go together. For example, I used to watch the chimps medicate themselves, by choosing certain plants in the forest. They would go and pick the leaves from a fig tree, and roll it with their tongue, chew- ing on it little by little. After they had swallowed it, I would follow them and later see they have defecated worms. Then I realized this was medi- cine. If you follow chimpanzees, you can see they know their medicine, they know medicine very well. All you have to do is watch their actions carefully, and soon you’ll know what lesson they’re teaching. But there are some things you can’t see. For example, there was one chimpanzee, Hum- phrey, he did not know me well, and I did not see his dislike. I learned the hard way, because he took a stone in each hand, and threw them at me.” Mzee Yahaya stands up at this point, throwing two imaginary rocks in an uncanny imitation of chimp movement and mannerisms. “Doctor Jane said they might do this, but I did not see the signs.”
On the other hand, Mzee Yahaya says fondly, chimps like Freud and Prof were his brothers. Those two were fond of playing games, to trick each other. “I remember one day, Prof was hiding in the bushes, making