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THE HISTORY
The term San is commonly used by scholars to refer to a diverse group of foragers living in southern Africa who share historical and linguistic connections. This same group of people was formerly referred to as "Bushmen," but this term has since been abandoned because it is considered racist and sexist. However, unless properly defined, the term San may elicit the same responses. It is believed that San have lived in the area of the Kalahari desert for thousands of years and may be the first humans to have occupied this region. There are numerous subgroups of San who live in small groups among their sedentary Bantu neighbors. They speak numerous dialects of a group of languages known for the characteristic "clicks" that can be heard in their pronunciation.

San are generally defined as a hunter and gatherer society or as foragers. As such, they live in small family groups and move about the land in search of food sources. In recent years, many San have begun to settle into larger groups around water sources, and many have also settled into the communities of their neighbors. This term was given to the San during their long battle against the colonists. The San interpreted this as a proud and respected reference to their brave fight for freedom from domination and colonization. Many now accept the terms Bushmen or San. Yet, the San have also received the attention of anthropologists and the media with their survival and hunting skills, wealth of indigenous knowledge of the flora and fauna of Southern Africa, and their rich cultural traditions. Thus, when the white settlers arrived in the mid 17th century the whole country was inhabited by 3 different groups - the hunter-gatherers San, the pastoralists Khoikhoi and the farmers BaNtu. Contact with Nguni and Sotho-Tswana farmers is depicted in the San rock art. The artists started including representations of cattle and sheep as well as of people with shields and spears, in their paintings.

THE ECONOMY
San are generally defined as a hunter and gatherer society or as foragers. As such, they live in small family groups and move about the land in search of food sources. In recent years, many San have begun to settle into larger groups around water sources, and many have also settled into the communities of their neighbors. In a hunting and gathering society, the women are usually responsible for procuring most of the food. They collect nuts and berries and dig for roots. They also capture small animals, which provide most of the protein for the family. Men usually hunt in small groups, but the food they provide is minimal. Surviving for thousands of years in the Kalahari, San peoples have had to develop a keen awareness of their surroundings and have learned to benefit from a seemingly harsh environment.

THE POLITICAL SYSTEM
Leadership among the San is reserved for those who have lived within that group for a considerable time, who have achieved a respectable age, and who have desirable personal qualities. San are largely egalitarian, sharing such things as meat and tobacco. Land is usually owned by a group, and rights to land are usually inherited bilaterally. Kinship bonds provide the basic framework for political models. Membership in a group is determined by residency. As long as a person lives on the land of his group he maintains his membership. It is possible to hunt on lands not owned by the group, but permission must first be obtained by the owners. The San have no formal authority figure or chief, but govern themselves by group consensus. Disputes are resolved through lengthy discussions where all involved have a chance to make their thoughts heard until some agreement is reached.

Leadership among the San is kept for those who have lived within that group for a long time, who have achieved a respectable age, and good character. San are largely egalitarian, sharing such things as meat and tobacco. Land is usually owned by a group, and rights to land are usually inherited bilaterally.

Kinship bonds provide the basic framework for political models. Membership in a group is determined by residency. As long as a person lives on the land of his group he maintains his membership. It is possible to hunt on land not owned by the group, but permission must be obtained from the owners.

life style of the san
The San will eat anything available, both animal and vegetable. Their selection of food ranges from antelope, Zebra, porcupine, wild hare, Lion, Giraffe, fish, insects, tortoise, flying ants, snakes (venomous and non-venomous), Hyena, eggs and wild honey.

The meat is boiled or roasted on a fire. The San are not wasteful and every part of the animal is used. The hides are tanned for blankets and the bones are cracked for the marrow.

Water is hard to come by, as the San are constantly on the move. Usually during the dry season, these migrants collect their moisture by scraping and squeezing roots. If they are out hunting or travelling they would dig holes in the sand to find water. They also carry water in an ostrich eggshell.

Hunting Methods:
The San are excellent hunters. Although they do a fair amount of trapping, the best method of hunting is with bow and arrow. The San arrow does not kill the animal straight away. It is the deadly poison, which eventually causes the death. In the case of small antelope such as (Duiker or Steenbok), a couple of hours may elapse before death.

The poison is highly toxic and is greatly feared by the San themselves; the arrow points are therefore reversed so that the poison is safely contained within the reed collar. It is also never smeared on the point but just below it - thus preventing fatal accidents. When catching small animals such as hares, guinea fowls, Steenbok or Duiker, traps made of twisted gut or fibre from plants were used. These had a running noose that strangled the animal when it stepped into the snare to collect the food that had been placed inside it.

Hunters carry a skin bag slung around one shoulder, containing personal belongings, poison, medicine, flywhisks and additional arrows. They may also carry a club to throw at and stun small game, a long probing stick to extract hares from their burrows or a stick to dig out Aardvark or Warthog.

The San make use of over 100edible species of plants. While the men hunt, the women, who are experts in foraging for edible mushrooms, bulbs, berries and melons, gather food for the family. Children stay at home to be watched over by those remaining in camp, but nursing children are carried on these gathering trips, adding to the load the women must carry.

Gender roles are not jealously guarded in the San society. Women sometimes assist in the hunt and the men sometimes help gather plant foods.

Rock Art:
Until recently, most amateur and professional anthropologists looked at a rock painting of the San and believed that they could decipher it without any problems. The pieces that they did not understand were passed off as crude art or that the artist had too much to drink or smoke. This has been found not to be the case, and their work is recognised as holding deep spiritual and religious meaning. Contrary to popular belief, these paintings and engravings of strange human figures and animals, especially the Eland a species of antelope did not depict every day life but had a deeper religious and symbolic meaning. When shaman medicine men painted an Eland, they did not just pay respect to a sacred animal; they also harnessed its essence (N!um). By putting paint to rock, they would be able to open portals to the spirit world. San rock paintings are found in rocky areas of the KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape and the Western Cape provinces. The San mainly used red, ranging from orange to brown, white, black and yellow in their paintings. Blue and green were never used. Red was derived from haematite red ochre, and yellow from limonite yellow ochre.

San Belief System:
The San belief system generally observes the supremacy of one powerful god, while at the same time recognizing the presence of lesser gods along with their wives and children. Homage is also paid to the spirits of the deceased. Among some San, it is believed that working the soil is contrary to the world order established by the god. Some groups also revere the moon. The most important spiritual being to the southern San was /Kaggen, the trickster-deity. He created many things, and appears in numerous myths where he can be foolish or wise, tiresome or helpful.

The word '/Kaggen' can be translated as 'mantis', this led to the belief that the San worshipped the praying mantis. However, /Kaggen is not always a praying mantis, as the mantis is only one of his manifestations. He can also turn into an Eland, a hare, a snake or a vulture - he can assume many forms. When he is not in one of his animal forms, /Kaggen lives his life as an ordinary San.

San Rituals:
TheEland is their most spiritual animal and appears in 4 rituals: A ritual is held where the boy is told how to track an Eland and how the Eland will fall once shot with an arrow. The boy will become an adult when he kills his first large antelope, preferably an Eland. Once caught, the Eland is skinned and the fat from the animal’s throat and collarbone is made into a broth. In the girls' puberty rituals, a young girl is isolated in her hut at her first menstruation. The women of the tribe perform the Eland Bull Dance where they imitate the mating behaviour of the Eland cows.

Music & Dance:
Of prime importance in all San groups is a ritual dance that serves to heal the group. The great 'medicine or healing dance' and the rain dance were rituals in which everyone participated. During these dances, the women usually sat around a central fire as they sang and clapped their hands. The men then first danced around the women in a clockwise direction and then vice versa. As the dance increased in intensity, the dancers reached trance-like, altered, states of consciousness and were transported into the spirit realm where they could plead for the souls of the sick.

Life of the San today:
In conclution would to talk about how the san are living in the moldern world..

Today, the San suffer from a perception that their lifestyle is 'primitive' and that they need to be made to live like the majority cattle-herding tribes. Specific problems vary according to where they live. In South Africa, for example, the !Khomani now have most of their land rights recognised, but many other San tribes have no land rights at all. Few modern San are able to continue as hunter-gatherers, and most live at the very bottom of the social scale, in unacceptable conditions of poverty, leading to alcoholism, violence, prostitution, disease and despair

REFRENCES: 1www.uiowa.edu/~africart/toc/people/San.

2.WWW.SOUTH-AFRICA-TOURRIST AND TRAVEL.COM

3.WWWBRITANNIC.COM

4.WWW.UIOWA.EDU/AFRICA/PEOPLE/SAN

5.NAMIBIAN TOURISIM