!Kung people
Encyclopedia
The ǃKung, also spelled ǃXun, are a Bushman
people living in the Kalahari Desert
in Namibia
, Botswana
and in Angola
. They speak the ǃKung language, noted for using click consonant
s, generally classified as part of the Khoisan
language family
. To pronounce "ǃKung" one must make a click sound before the 'k' sound, often represented in texts as an exclamation mark
.
Historically, the ǃKung lived in semi-permanent camps of about 10-30 people usually located around a system of water. Once the water and resources around the village were depleted, the band
would relocate to a more resource-rich area. They lived a hunting and gathering
lifestyle with the men responsible for providing meat, making tools, and maintaining a supply of poison-tipped arrow
s and spear
s. The women provided most of the food by spending between two and three days per week foraging for roots, nuts and berries in the Kalahari Desert
.
are both animistic
and animatistic
, which means they believe in both personifications and impersonal forces. They believe in a god named Prishiboro who had a wife that was an elephant
. Prishiboro's older brother tricked him into killing his wife and, later, into eating her flesh. Her herd tried to kill Prishiboro in revenge, but his brother defeated them.
ǃKung people also have many taboo
s concerning the dead, as they believe that the ghost
s (ǁgangwasi) of the deceased would cause them injury or death. It is against the rules to even say the name of someone dead, once an annual ceremony to release the spirits of the dead has been performed.
The ǃKung practice shamanism
in order to communicate with the spirit world
, and to cure what they call Star Sickness. The communication with the spirit world is done by a natural healer entering a trance state
and running through a fire, thereby chasing away bad spirits. Star Sickness is cured by laying hands
on the diseased.
ǃKung women give birth with the earth as primary midwife (a form of unassisted childbirth
) walking away from the village camp as far as a mile during labor
and birthing the child alone, delivering it into a small leaf-lined hole dug into the warm sand. The child's cord
is not clamped or cut (a form of Lotus birth
or umbilical
nonseverance), and the placenta
is delivered and put next to the child, as guardian. Shortly thereafter, the baby-placenta is lightly covered with another large leaf, and the new mother walks a short way to verbally alert the older women of the completed birth, at which time they join the mother and child in a ritual welcoming. If a laboring woman is delayed in returning a sign to the village that she has given birth, the older women will come looking for her to assist; however, it is said to be a rare occurrence.
Time between the births of children was traditionally about 3-5 years. Because there weren't cereal grains to feed children before they could eat adult food, children nursed for 3-5 years. This ended when a mother was pregnant with another child. This made traveling long distances on foot, like to a gathering site or new settlement easier, since fewer children required carrying and population numbers remained controlled.
Children would be raised in village groups of other children of a wide age range. Sexual activities amongst children were seen as natural play for both sexes.
Marriage was generally between a man in his twenties and a girl in her teens. Newlyweds lived in the same village as the wife's family so that she had family support during her new life. Often, young wives would return to their parents' houses to sleep until they become comfortable with their husbands. During this time, the husband would hunt for his wife's family (bridewealth). If the couple never became comfortable, divorce was acceptable, prompted by either gender. If they did become a stable couple, they could reside with either family, settling with which ever was beneficial at a time. Divorce remained possible throughout marriage. Extramarital sex wasn't condoned, but was equally acceptable for each spouse. Domestic violence was prevented because villages were small and close and houses were open so that neighbors and relatives could intervene as needed.
ǃKung women often share an intimate sociability and spend many hours together discussing their lives, enjoying each other's company and children. In the short documentary film "A Group of Women" ǃKung women rest, talk and nurse their babies while lying in the shade of a baobab tree
. This film is a good illustration of "collective mothering" in which several women support each other and share the nurturing role.
Hunting could take days of tracking, attacking, and following a wounded animal.
. Millet is a much harder plant to process than traditional foods, leaving women more "stuck" to food prep too. Sharing water with cows and European and state government encouragement of permanent settlements and European style houses has contributed to disease, as infected areas aren't moved away from periodically. With more material goods to carry and jobs, people are more invested in staying in more populated villages where diseases stay and spread. This also contributes to more domestic violence as women are more dependent on men and are more restricted from outside intervention (they now have closed doors). Less open houses and wealth collection also challenges traditional sharing ideology and people become aggressive in feeling as their neighbors are hoarding.
They also face problems are traditional lands are valued by cattle ranching peoples, European settlers and wildlife reservers, and state governments.
in the 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy
, is an inaccurate caricature of a !Kung man.
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
people living in the Kalahari Desert
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
in Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
, Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
and in Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
. They speak the ǃKung language, noted for using click consonant
Click consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
s, generally classified as part of the Khoisan
Khoisan
Khoisan is a unifying name for two ethnic groups of Southern Africa, who share physical and putative linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally, the Khoisan are divided into the foraging San and the pastoral Khoi...
language family
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
. To pronounce "ǃKung" one must make a click sound before the 'k' sound, often represented in texts as an exclamation mark
Exclamation mark
The exclamation mark, exclamation point, or bang, or "dembanger" is a punctuation mark usually used after an interjection or exclamation to indicate strong feelings or high volume , and often marks the end of a sentence. Example: “Watch out!” The character is encoded in Unicode at...
.
Historically, the ǃKung lived in semi-permanent camps of about 10-30 people usually located around a system of water. Once the water and resources around the village were depleted, the band
Band society
A band society is the simplest form of human society. A band generally consists of a small kin group, no larger than an extended family or clan; it has been defined as consisting of no more than 30 to 50 individuals.Bands have a loose organization...
would relocate to a more resource-rich area. They lived a hunting and gathering
Hunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
lifestyle with the men responsible for providing meat, making tools, and maintaining a supply of poison-tipped arrow
Arrow
An arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.- History:...
s and spear
Spear
A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...
s. The women provided most of the food by spending between two and three days per week foraging for roots, nuts and berries in the Kalahari Desert
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
.
Mythology
The ǃKung people of southern AfricaAfrica
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
are both animistic
Animism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
and animatistic
Animatism
Animatism is a term coined by British anthropologist Robert Marett to refer to "a belief in a generalized, impersonal power over which people have some measure of control"...
, which means they believe in both personifications and impersonal forces. They believe in a god named Prishiboro who had a wife that was an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
. Prishiboro's older brother tricked him into killing his wife and, later, into eating her flesh. Her herd tried to kill Prishiboro in revenge, but his brother defeated them.
ǃKung people also have many taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
s concerning the dead, as they believe that the ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
s (ǁgangwasi) of the deceased would cause them injury or death. It is against the rules to even say the name of someone dead, once an annual ceremony to release the spirits of the dead has been performed.
The ǃKung practice shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
in order to communicate with the spirit world
Spirit
The English word spirit has many differing meanings and connotations, most of them relating to a non-corporeal substance contrasted with the material body.The spirit of a living thing usually refers to or explains its consciousness.The notions of a person's "spirit" and "soul" often also overlap,...
, and to cure what they call Star Sickness. The communication with the spirit world is done by a natural healer entering a trance state
Altered state of consciousness
An altered state of consciousness , also named altered state of mind, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state. The expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart: it describes induced...
and running through a fire, thereby chasing away bad spirits. Star Sickness is cured by laying hands
Laying on of hands
The laying on of hands is a religious ritual that accompanies certain religious practices, which are found throughout the world in varying forms....
on the diseased.
Child Birth
The ǃKung consider the earth the first mother of all people in the tribe.ǃKung women give birth with the earth as primary midwife (a form of unassisted childbirth
Unassisted childbirth
Unassisted childbirth refers to the process of intentionally giving birth without the assistance of a medical or professional birth attendant...
) walking away from the village camp as far as a mile during labor
Childbirth
Childbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
and birthing the child alone, delivering it into a small leaf-lined hole dug into the warm sand. The child's cord
Umbilical cord
In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
is not clamped or cut (a form of Lotus birth
Lotus Birth
Lotus birth, or umbilical nonseverance, is the practice of leaving the umbilical cord attached to both the baby and the placenta following birth, without clamping or severing, and allowing the cord the time to detach from the baby naturally...
or umbilical
Umbilical cord
In placental mammals, the umbilical cord is the connecting cord from the developing embryo or fetus to the placenta...
nonseverance), and the placenta
Placenta
The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall to allow nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. "True" placentas are a defining characteristic of eutherian or "placental" mammals, but are also found in some snakes and...
is delivered and put next to the child, as guardian. Shortly thereafter, the baby-placenta is lightly covered with another large leaf, and the new mother walks a short way to verbally alert the older women of the completed birth, at which time they join the mother and child in a ritual welcoming. If a laboring woman is delayed in returning a sign to the village that she has given birth, the older women will come looking for her to assist; however, it is said to be a rare occurrence.
Time between the births of children was traditionally about 3-5 years. Because there weren't cereal grains to feed children before they could eat adult food, children nursed for 3-5 years. This ended when a mother was pregnant with another child. This made traveling long distances on foot, like to a gathering site or new settlement easier, since fewer children required carrying and population numbers remained controlled.
Gender Roles and Regulations
Traditionally, especially among Ju/'hoansi !Kung, women generally collected plant foods and water, providing 60-80% of sustenance to the group, while men hunted. However, these were not strict and people do jobs as needed with little or no shame. So women could grow up hunting and men could do gathering. Women generally took care of children and preparing of food, however, this didn't restrict them to homes, because these activities were generally done with, or close to, others, so women can socialize and help each other. Men also engaged in these activities.Children would be raised in village groups of other children of a wide age range. Sexual activities amongst children were seen as natural play for both sexes.
Marriage was generally between a man in his twenties and a girl in her teens. Newlyweds lived in the same village as the wife's family so that she had family support during her new life. Often, young wives would return to their parents' houses to sleep until they become comfortable with their husbands. During this time, the husband would hunt for his wife's family (bridewealth). If the couple never became comfortable, divorce was acceptable, prompted by either gender. If they did become a stable couple, they could reside with either family, settling with which ever was beneficial at a time. Divorce remained possible throughout marriage. Extramarital sex wasn't condoned, but was equally acceptable for each spouse. Domestic violence was prevented because villages were small and close and houses were open so that neighbors and relatives could intervene as needed.
ǃKung women often share an intimate sociability and spend many hours together discussing their lives, enjoying each other's company and children. In the short documentary film "A Group of Women" ǃKung women rest, talk and nurse their babies while lying in the shade of a baobab tree
Adansonia
Adansonia is a genus of eight species of tree, six native to Madagascar, one native to mainland Africa and the Arabian Peninsula and one to Australia. The mainland African species also occurs on Madagascar, but it is not a native of that island....
. This film is a good illustration of "collective mothering" in which several women support each other and share the nurturing role.
Use of kinship terms
The ǃKung classify everyone who bears the same name as close kinsmen as if they were relatives proper. If a ǃKung man's sister is called Kxaru (a female name), then all women named Kxaru are his "sisters." A ǃKung man may not sit too close to his sisters or tell sexual jokes in their presence, and he cannot marry them. The same rules apply to his sisters' namesakes. To the ǃKung, such customs identify "true" and not merely metaphorical kinship. The ǃKung believe that all namesakes are descended from the same original namesake ancestor, and in effect they treat the status of namesake as a genealogical position, like father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter.Hunting Rituals
The Ju/'hoansi had rituals to prevent arrogance amongst male hunters. When a man killed an animal, he wouldn't take it directly into the settlement, but would leave the body and return as if he was unsuccessful. An older man would inquire about his hunt and remark upon his failure, at which the hunter must avoid credit and accept humility. Through a long process, eventually, likely the next day, a group would go "see if some small animal was knicked by an arrow." Upon finding the hunter would be reassured of the little value of the kill which is finally returned. Additionally, the kill may belong not to him, but to the person who gave him arrows (a man or woman), who then followed rules on how to distribute the meat to everyone in the group.Hunting could take days of tracking, attacking, and following a wounded animal.
Recent History
Within the past few decades: since the 1950s, Ju/'hoansi has changed much. increased populations of neighboring groups, living off of cattle ranching, have brought cows. Cows eat the sparse vegetation which the Ju/'hoansi and their game animals needed to eat as well as dirtied water holes. This increases access to disease too. European descended settlers have encouraged wage paid agricultural labor, especially to men. This means men have more access to wealth and are more depended on, and so are more valued. Women, traditional food preparers, took up the preparing of milletMillet
The millets are a group of small-seeded species of cereal crops or grains, widely grown around the world for food and fodder. They do not form a taxonomic group, but rather a functional or agronomic one. Their essential similarities are that they are small-seeded grasses grown in difficult...
. Millet is a much harder plant to process than traditional foods, leaving women more "stuck" to food prep too. Sharing water with cows and European and state government encouragement of permanent settlements and European style houses has contributed to disease, as infected areas aren't moved away from periodically. With more material goods to carry and jobs, people are more invested in staying in more populated villages where diseases stay and spread. This also contributes to more domestic violence as women are more dependent on men and are more restricted from outside intervention (they now have closed doors). Less open houses and wealth collection also challenges traditional sharing ideology and people become aggressive in feeling as their neighbors are hoarding.
They also face problems are traditional lands are valued by cattle ranching peoples, European settlers and wildlife reservers, and state governments.
In popular culture
The protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
in the 1980 film, The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980 film, written and directed by Jamie Uys. The film is the first in The Gods Must Be Crazy series of films. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi, a Sho of the Kalahari Desert whose band has no knowledge of the world beyond...
, is an inaccurate caricature of a !Kung man.
Further reading
- Katz, Richard: Boiling Energy, Community Healing among the Kalahari Kung (1982). Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press.
- Lee, Richard B.: Subsistence Ecology of ǃKung Bushmen (1965), PhD Dissertation, University of California, Berkeley.
- Lee, Richard B.: The ǃKung San: Men, Women and Work in a Foraging Society (1979), Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. (Chapter 9 available here)
- Lee, Richard B.: Politics, sexual and non-sexual, in an egalitarian society (1982). In E. Leacock & R. B. Lee (Eds.), Politics and History in Band Societies (pp. 37-59). New York: Cambridge University Press.
- Lee, Richard B.: Art, science, or politics? The crisis in hunter-gatherer studies (March 1992). American Anthropologist 94(1), 31-54.
- Lee, Richard B.: The Dobe Juǀʼhoansi (2003), 3rd ed., Thomson Learning/Wadsworth.
- Sahlins, Marshall: "The Original Affluent Society"
- Shostak, Marjorie: Nisa The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman, (2006 special edition) Boston: Harvard University Press.
- Thomas, Elizabeth Marshall: The Old Way, A Story of the First People (2006), New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
External links
- Documentary Educational Resources film library
- A Cultural Profile