A very ancient people: the !Kung San (Bushmen)
The! Kung San, who inhabit the deserts of the Kalahari and Namib in southwestern Africa, are currently a human remnant cornered in marginal locations. They are part of the first and oldest civilization in southern Africa, probably dating back more than 100,000 years.
The! Kung San are the true First Nations of the African continent (and perhaps of the planet).
This surviving culture is organized in small communities of about twenty or thirty people during the rainy season, concentrating in greater numbers in the dry season. They feed on small animals and collect plants, particularly the nuts of the "mongongo" tree (Schinziophyton rautanenii) that provide most of their food. This plant of arboreal bearing, deep roots and resistant to the drought, that can reach a height of 15 to 20 meters, grows in the sandy soils of the Kalahari or the Namib.Its fruits have a hard crust and can be stored and consumed after several months.
!Kung san gives a deep spiritual sense to the natural elements, individual freedom and solidarity with the other members of their group. They are not hierarchical societies and therefore do not have bosses or subordinates. These characteristics are not exclusive to this Kalahari nation.
They existed and there are many others with similar attributes on all continents.Humans in small groups and in close dependence on nature tend to develop the best gregarious traits of the species: the coordination of individuals to obtain sustenance for all, respect for the freedom of group members, solidarity withweaker.
The invasion of South Africa first by the Bantu advance, and later European colonization, resulted in the expulsion of the !Kung San from their ancestral lands and their economic and social marginalization.
Today the !Kung San are limited to the Kalahari and Namib deserts and their territorial and cultural rights are unrecognized by the governments of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. They may be visited by anthropologists for their studies and by filmmakers to show the interesting curiosity they mean for the urban cultures of the world. Those who migrate to the cities become part of the poorest and most excluded sectors of the societies where they live.
From "Chronicles of Human Peripecy", Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones.
The! Kung San, who inhabit the deserts of the Kalahari and Namib in southwestern Africa, are currently a human remnant cornered in marginal locations. They are part of the first and oldest civilization in southern Africa, probably dating back more than 100,000 years.
The! Kung San are the true First Nations of the African continent (and perhaps of the planet).
This surviving culture is organized in small communities of about twenty or thirty people during the rainy season, concentrating in greater numbers in the dry season. They feed on small animals and collect plants, particularly the nuts of the "mongongo" tree (Schinziophyton rautanenii) that provide most of their food. This plant of arboreal bearing, deep roots and resistant to the drought, that can reach a height of 15 to 20 meters, grows in the sandy soils of the Kalahari or the Namib.Its fruits have a hard crust and can be stored and consumed after several months.
!Kung san gives a deep spiritual sense to the natural elements, individual freedom and solidarity with the other members of their group. They are not hierarchical societies and therefore do not have bosses or subordinates. These characteristics are not exclusive to this Kalahari nation.
They existed and there are many others with similar attributes on all continents.Humans in small groups and in close dependence on nature tend to develop the best gregarious traits of the species: the coordination of individuals to obtain sustenance for all, respect for the freedom of group members, solidarity withweaker.
The invasion of South Africa first by the Bantu advance, and later European colonization, resulted in the expulsion of the !Kung San from their ancestral lands and their economic and social marginalization.
Today the !Kung San are limited to the Kalahari and Namib deserts and their territorial and cultural rights are unrecognized by the governments of South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. They may be visited by anthropologists for their studies and by filmmakers to show the interesting curiosity they mean for the urban cultures of the world. Those who migrate to the cities become part of the poorest and most excluded sectors of the societies where they live.
From "Chronicles of Human Peripecy", Danilo Antón, Piriguazú Ediciones.
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