He stands quietly, erect, framed by a
burgeoning, golden glow, the sun a new orb on the night sky. Guinea fowl
cluck a sudden strident call in an early morning song, then silence. His
hunting bow whispers as he draws the arrow smoothly backwards, the bow string
taut in his brown, wrinkled hand. He sights along the quivering shaft of the
arrow, and then releases it to flight. His empty bow dips, and swings loosely
from his hand. Twang! His target jumps sideways, up, momentarily surprised,
then collapses into the softly swaying, knee-length grass, heads ripe with
seed. He gives a small dance of delight, then rushes forward to claim his prey,
the springbuck a warm, limp carcass on the evening-cool, red Kalahari sands. He
talks softly to himself in the melodic clicking tongue of the San language as
he works on the carcass. His creased face crumples into a smile as he thinks of
how happy his family will be tonight, when they dance and rejoice around the
communal fire in anticipation of a coming feast, hard to come by in this arid
environment.
The San people, often also known as Bushmen, once used to live widely over
Southern Africa. San rock art sketches are testimony to this people’s once
widespread habitation. San artwork can be found in caves in the Drakensberg
Mountains, that great Barrier of Spears rising majestically in the Natal
Midlands, South Africa, or the Cederberg Mountains in the Western Cape
Province, South Africa, a rugged, arid, mountainous region of craggy cliffs and
enormous boulders. San people are no longer found in the Drakensberg. Remnants
of the San people remain in the Cederberg Mountains, and many of these people
earn a living from the attention of tourists, for example, at Kagga Kamma
Private Game Reserve. A few San grass huts can sometimes be found on the side
of the road leading to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, a wildlife park in the
very northern tip of South Africa, which lies in the rolling red sand dunes and
arid plains of the Kalahari Desert, and is adjoined with a game reserve on the
Botswana side of the border. These grass huts are mostly a shell to provide
some shelter whilst attracting the attention of tourists, perhaps to buy San artefacts.
Traditionally
the
San have a largely egalitarian society, with women’s rights well
entrenched. Limited authority is held by the hereditary chief, and most
decisions are made by consensus of the group. It is wonderful that, as a
people,
they have a collaborative culture! The San’s economy is one of gift
giving,
where no immediate reward is expected or necessarily given, and not that
expected of the modern world where services are traded, or items are
purchased.
What an incredible concept! And so close to the Biblical concept of
“give and it shall be given unto you”. Their culture is one of respect,
openness, caring for their children, and for each other.
It is my assumption, which may be wrong of
course, that culturally you will not find manipulation and hidden tactics
amongst the San, just wonderful innocence, and perhaps also some confusion in
the world they now find themselves in, where they are not always accepted for
who they are. My
understanding is that the San no longer follow their cultural inheritance of a
traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and they have not fully adopted a more
modern way of life.
The
land the San inhabited was colonised about 1000 years ago from the north by
different groups of African people, for example, Zulus. White colonists then
arrived from the mid-1600s onwards, and claimed countries like South Africa as
their own, decimating existing populations of indigenous people. The San
population dwindled as they were killed by settlers, and as a result of
intermarriage, and now only remnants remain of the original San people. San
people today have been forced into a sedentary way of life, a modern way of
life. The San today are unrecognisable from the San of the past. They no longer
live in small groups, where they used to travel around as seasonal food needs
change, at one with nature. Sedentary village life means their small groups no
longer exist, as they now live together in much larger groups, and many have
become farmers due to mandated modernisation programs. They have lost much of
their rich cultural heritage: they wear modern clothes and have modern
belongings, and many San people now own small livestock, yet they have not
embraced a new world totally. San people used to be found all over Southern
Africa, and many of them now cry out to be allowed into areas they, together
with other people, were asked to vacate to create game reserves, the only place
where nature has a semblance of what she once used to be. This request comes
into conflict with conservation of wildlife and what little natural areas
remain. Governments are being asked to allow a large group of people to remain
in areas that are a mainstay of their tourism industry. African countries may rely
heavily on tourism to provide money to care for all their citizens, consisting
largely of many different African tribes who have lived in the area for
hundreds of years. People who now live in countries and territories where the
San used to live have nowhere else to go. There is no other home. Where would
home be? Nigeria? Egypt? Should white people go back to England? How does the
world make space for all her people? How do we celebrate diversity as well as
oneness?
Have
you ever met a San person? I remember attending an Eisteddfod music festival in
South Africa, probably about twenty-five years ago, and someone on stage
introduced a few San children to the audience, and said what a wonderful people
they are. The person commented that the San children were surprised initially
when a light was switched on, as they had no concept of electricity. Where did
the light come from? How was it that the sun was captured into the light?
Thinking back, that moment must be one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed.
These people had been uprooted from all they knew, and thrust into the
limelight of an Eisteddfod to dance, and sing, and were not yet making sense of
the strange world they were in, a world they had not been taught to deal with.
During the filming of “The God’s Must Be Crazy”,
Bushmen actors were apparently confused by the instructions given to exaggerate
certain hunting sequences, as they had lost some of their hunter-gatherer
memory. The actors came from the !Kung tribe, who had only recently been forced
into sedentary villages. How sad it is when people no longer celebrate that
which is normally inherited knowledge, like cultural and ancestral memories. Cultural
heritage is something passed on from generation to generation, and teaching our
children is all important. If we do not teach our children the traditions we
cherish, these may be lost forever to passing history.
Some land has been set aside for the San in countries
like South Africa and Botswana, but a great deal of progress still needs to be
made in ensuring they have space of their own, in protecting their human
rights, and in protecting their cultural heritage and identity. How wondrous
would it be for the San to have a vast territory in which to live, wandering at
will should they choose. To go back to their roots, to feel the sun beating
down as they journey in their march for food and water, to hike over vast
African plains and red sand dunes, to run with loping steps over the veld
(grassland), to dance around a roaring fire at night, to laugh with their
children and babies, to practice a forgotten way of life, to reclaim their lost
cultural heritage. The elderly may long for the way things used to be, and
children will have no concept of what they have lost, but might find it
difficult to fit into a new world. Would you be comfortable if you were taken
out of the world of all you knew, and all that was familiar to you, and asked
to live in totally foreign surroundings without being given much assistance? There
is a whole new set of complex societal and coping skills to learn. In the
chapter called “Identity and
Purpose”, I included a section
called “Everyone Has Purpose”, which shows that we are all
experts in our own worlds when we are using our strengths. Previously San people
were at one with their world, existing in perfect harmony with animals and the
environment and managing it well. Would they ever be able to go back to a previous
cultural time and become as they once were? Would they want to?
What Is Lost Is Difficult to Reclaim
Is
there a place for the San in the modern world? A place to celebrate their
unique cultural individuality and throw off modern ways should they choose to?
There must be a way to honour the San and people like them. What would they
say? San people often have a tremendous love of nature and animals, and I
suspect that, as a people, they understand conservation dynamics. Would a
workable model perhaps be for many San people to become game reserve
custodians, to live on the outside of a game reserve and practice a traditional
way of life again should they choose to, to take part in managing the reserve
and the wildlife, applying conservation principles, working to restore land
areas where needed, and also acting as tourist guides?
I do not have the answers, I only know my
heart bleeds for the San.
Reclaim Purpose
The story of the San is not unique. There are
many tribal people lost and adrift in this different world we now live in, the
Information Age. This story is an analogy that shows you must hold on to your
culture and heritage if you truly value it, and claim your purpose. Once lost,
it is exceedingly difficult to reclaim something, especially oral knowledge
handed down from parent to child through the generations. In generational
poverty (see section below), knowledge is lost somewhere along the way, and
children drift into adults who have lost their purpose. Knowledge must be
reclaimed. The San people were rich once! They had the environment around them
as an unending resource, satisfying all their wants. They had a place to stay,
bountiful food, resources to find water. They had a rich cultural heritage of
fireside tales, rock art, a deep spiritual knowledge, a unique language. Money
was of no use to the San, as they gave each other gifts in appreciation. They
rejoiced in living. They had purpose. Make sure you teach your children what
you know. Make sure you do not lose your purpose. Discover your purpose if you need to. I am sure the San will
reclaim their purpose themselves, as they are a resourceful people. I hope they
have already done so.
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushmen
I hope this article helps the Bushmen in some way.
Links to more information and ways to help the San
- This YouTube movie clip shows the first 15 minutes of "The Gods Must be Crazy" movie, and contains an idea of the San's traditional way of life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66pTPWg_wUw
- Survival International has a website where you can find ways to support tribal people, including the San (Bushmen): http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/bushmen
- Some Bushmen are finding a voice in their own website, and have made some progress in Botswana in having water holes re-established (Note: it is the 24/12/2012, and the link to the San's website was removed earlier this year and they are no longer using it--I hope this does not mean the San are falling on more hard times)
- Context Behind the San / Bushmen's Situation Makes a Comedy Sad
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