San Bushmen
The Bushmen/San were the original
inhabitants of Southern Africa and are commonly known as Bushmen
or San.
They were hunter-gatherers, hunting with bows and arrows,
trapping small animals and eating edible roots and berries. They
lived in rock shelters, in the open or in crude shelters of
twigs and grass or animal skins. They made no pottery, rather
using ostrich eggshells or animal parts for storing and holding
liquids. For these reasons, animals and nature are central
features in the Bushmen's religious tradition, folklore, art and
rituals.
Because the Bushmen lived entirely of the land, they had to be
nomadic. The groups, however did not wander aimlessly or
relentlessly to pursue herds of antelope. Instead, they followed
a carefully planned annual route that took them to different
areas of plant food, as season by season, these foods ripened.
These small mobile groups comprised of up to about 25 men, women
and children. Certain times of the year groups joined together
for exchange of news and gifts, for marriage arrangements and
for social occasions.
There are many different Bushman peoples - they have no
collective name for themselves, and the terms 'Bushman', 'San',
'Basarwa' (in Botswana) are used. The term, 'bushman', came from
the Dutch term, 'bossiesman', which means 'bandit' or 'outlaw'.
It was given to the Bushmen during their long fight against
colonial powers.
The Bushmen interpreted this as a proud and respected reference
to their valiant fight for freedom from domination and
colonization. Many now accept the terms Bushmen or San. The San
or Bushmen people of today are those that speak San languages.
The principal San-speaking groups remaining today live in
Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and Angola. The South African
San are refugees from the Angolan and Namibian wars. Their
languages, although fundamentally similar, vary considerably
from place to place. San is primarily a linguistic label,
adopted by anthropologists to describe people speaking these
related but distinct languages.
These languages, all of which incorporate 'click' sounds are
represented in writing by symbols such as !, /, //, ‡, |.
They have been oppressed and dispossessed by both Bantu and
European immigrant groups. The Bushmen were regarded as not just
animals, but as vermin, and history even documents hunting of
them for sport.
This has lead to the total population of the Bushmen dropping to
100 000 throughout southern Africa.
The Bushmen of today are in a desperate struggle to change
from their existing way of life into a more westernized
lifestyle. Some of them have stock (cattle and goats) and have
started farming their lands rather than hunting and gathering.
Schools have been set up where the children are taught in their
own languages as well as in local languages.
There is however a huge number who have little hope or
opportunities.
As they attempt to move into the twenty first century, efforts
are being made to re-establish their cultural heritage.
Art centers have been established where their traditional arts
are being produced. These works (paintings, linocuts, ceramics,
textiles, jewelry) are increasing in value daily due to their
international acclaim. Their art is a key to our understanding
of the complex symbolic rituals and ceremonies and although at
first glance many paintings may be seen simply as records of
everyday occurrences, further study will reveal deeper meanings.
Organizations have been founded to help them with the
problems they are facing. This has to do with claiming their
land rights, language preservation, job creation and education.
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