Leaving A Mark

Ever seen the movie, The Gods Must Be Crazy? It’s a South African film, released in 1980, about a man from an African hunting-gathering tribe who meets modern, western culture in the form of a Coke bottle. The star of the film, N!xau, is from the San tribe in southern Africa.

The San are the indigenous people of Southern African whose territory once spanned South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola. They are often referred to as the “Bushmen” (although that word has negative connotations). The San are often credited by linguists with the creation of language! Traditionally (evidence goes as far back as 30,000 years ago), the San were hunters and gatherers and roamed freely throughout southern Africa. Although as the area was more and more modernized, their lifestyle was less and less possible.

The San traditionally hunted various antelope and buffalo using poison arrows and spears. After the animal was killed, the San offered thanks for the animal’s spirit. Although this lifestyle is rarely practiced anymore, the San left information on how they lived their life in the form of rock paintings.

Painting from Nsangwini, Swaziland

The paintings they left behind give us a snapshot of how the San lived and hunted. And the paintings remain in the place where they were created -- so we are able to see their inspiration.

Mountains near Nsangwini Cave Paintings

Rock Overhang in Lipohofung, Lesotho With Cave Paintings

The San painted in various colors: red, yellow, brown, black, and ochre.

Lipohofung, Lesotho

Motopos, Zimbabwe

Spitzkoppe, Namibia

Nsangwini, Swaziland

Nsangwini, Swaziland

The paints were created from silica, powdered, quartz, clays, and various minerals, ground into powders and mixed with animal fat to form an adhesive paste. Some colors were more adhesive than others – the most adhesive being the red pigment, made from iron oxides. The iron oxides were “mined” by the San starting 45,000 years ago and used for cave painting as well as makeup and other decorative uses.

San Mining Site Near Mbabane, Swaziland

These paintings are believed to have a variety of meanings. For example, to show hunting locations and local wildlife:

Rhino in Namibia

Eland in Lesotho

Lions in Zimbabwe

Paintings show hunting parties:

Zimbabwe

Swaziland

San paintings also show trance dances, where healers force themselves into a trance in order to connect with the spirit world. While in a trance, the healers often visions and take on attributes of animals. These visions are sometimes portrayed in the rock paintings.

Trance Dance in Lesotho

Trance Dance in Swaziland

Rock paintings also show us how the San lost their territory. The San lived in family groups of 25-35 people. Each of these groups roamed a territory of up to 350 square miles. However, once Bantu (taller, darker skinned people from central Africa) cattle farmers moved into Southern Africa, they wanted the land for cattle grazing. Fights over land caused battles between the San (lighter skinned) and the Bantu. The arrival of the Bantu with their cattle and subsequent skirmishes are memorialized in San cave paintings.Interestingly, in various countries, the San are portrayed in red, and the Bantu in black. 

Over the last 150 years, the San population has decreased considerably, primarily through war or interbreeding. Sadly, their population also decreased due to hunting. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, many Europeans were traveling to southern Africa on game hunting trips. I was appalled to learn that Europeans could purchase permits to hunt the San in the same way they would buy a permit to hunt an elephant. The local farming population was happy to have found an easy way to both make money and eliminate their competition for land. I can never truly grasp how humans can do this to each other.

Today, fewer than 100,000 San remain, the majority of which are on government settlements in Botswana and Namibia. The San, and their role, have been the subject of ongoing political debates and court cases in these countries. In 2006, the San in Botswana won a historic ruling granting them the right to live nomadically and hunt in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. However, their relocation back to their traditional homeland has not been smooth. 

Sadly, the San are one of many examples of the traditional world and the modern world trying to figure out how to coexist. I truly hope that they succeed.

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