Bushmen Kalahari. The Bushmen are a mysterious tribe. General information about the Bushmen

Bushmen

A group of peoples of the Kaisan ethno-linguistic family, the oldest indigenous population of South and East Africa.

representatives of these peoples.

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

Bushmen

BUSHMEN (from the Netherlands. bosjesman, letters. - forest man) people, the indigenous population of the South. and Vost. Africa. Displaced in the 16th-19th centuries. Bantu peoples in the desert regions of Namibia (85 thousand people, 1992), Botswana (35 thousand people), Angola (8 thousand people) and Zimbabwe (1 thousand people). They belong to the Bushmen race. Bushman languages. Preserve traditional beliefs.

Bushmen

(English bushman, from Dutch bosjesman, literally ≈ forest man), the oldest indigenous population of South and East Africa. They live in the Kalahari and Namib deserts, in the vicinity of the Etosha depression in Namibia, in adjacent areas of Botswana, Angola and South Africa; a small number in Tanzania. The total number is about 50 thousand people. (1967, estimate). Bushman languages ​​are spoken as well as Bantu languages. Once the B. were settled throughout South Africa, but were pushed back by the Bantu peoples who migrated with the S. and the European colonialists (from the South); the latter systematically exterminated B. They lead the life of wandering hunters and gatherers of wild fruits. Known as skilled craftsmen of expressive rock paintings. These paintings, made with mineral and earth paints, as well as lime and soot, diluted with water and animal fat, have been preserved in South Africa, Lesotho, Rhodesia and Namibia. The dating of the oldest of them is associated with various theories of the origin of the art of Byzantium and ranges from millennia to several hundred years BC. e. The motifs of the paintings are realistically depicted animals, dynamic, full of expression scenes of hunting and fighting, human figures, strongly elongated in proportions, fantastic creatures. The oldest layers are made in one color (red or brown), the latest (late 19th century) are polychrome with soft transitions of tones.

Lit .: Ellenberger V., The tragic end of the Bushmen, trans. from French, Moscow, 1956; Tonque H., Bushmen paintings, Oxf., 1909.

Wikipedia

Bushmen

Bushmen (san, sa, sonqua, masarwa, basarwa, kua listen)) is a collective name applied to several indigenous South African hunter-gatherer peoples who speak the Khoisan languages ​​and are attributed to the capoid race. The total number is about 100 thousand people. According to the latest data, they have the most ancient ethnotype, carriers of the most ancient Y-chromosomal haplogroup A.

Examples of the use of the word Bushmen in the literature.

It is known that Bushmen in the Kalahari desert, on occasion, they decide to approach the feeding pride in order to drive the lions away from their prey with screams and threatening gestures.

In the same mountainous area once sheltered Bushmen, which were later ousted from here by white settlers.

Ruthlessly persecuted and exterminated, Bushmen began to move west, to areas where nature itself could protect them from invaders - far into the sands and thorny thickets of the Kalahari desert.

Cecil John Rode, the founder of Rhodesia, who was at one time the most powerful man in South Africa, passed a law according to which Bushmen and hyena dogs had to shoot back at the first meeting with them, and a cash prize was paid for both the human scalp and the dog's tail.

Peacefully and with understanding of natural laws Bushmen mastered the ecological niche allotted to them by nature.

When Bushmen disappear completely, they will carry with them many secrets of the origin of man.

There is a belief that Bushmen have the ability to transform into a lion.

In this regard, they are especially famous Bushmen makaukau clan, inhabiting the Ghanzi region in Botswana and causing universal superstitious fear for their ability to effect such a transformation.

Then Bushmen, Flettery's companions, drew his attention to the inhabitants of the huts: two men, two women and several children.

Until recently, its own population here was not numerous, but along with the army came Bushmen from Angola, who settled here due to certain circumstances.

As I mentioned, the gift of rangers, which is possessed by Bushmen, turned out to be a true gift for the military, and they began to consider the Bushmen themselves as a wonderful find.

In the seventies, the indigenous inhabitants of these areas - Bushmen Juvasi - gradually left the virgin bush and moved closer to the administrative center of Bushmanland - the town of Tsumkwe.

Then it canceled a proposal to create a wildlife refuge here - and very unfortunate, because otherwise Bushmen could, as before the invasion of strangers, become a natural and integral part of the natural ecosystem.

After all, as I mentioned, Bushmen often they robbed lions, taking part of the prey from them - a practice that still persists today in some remote areas of Africa.

Now it has become clear that Bushmen the San tribe undertook risky campaigns through the vast expanses of the desert, overcoming a distance of about one hundred and fifty kilometers to the Atlantic coast and, returning home, imprinted on stone what they happened to see during their wanderings.

The Khoisan people are the Bushmen. The Kalahari Desert. The most disadvantaged people in Africa. Hunting and gathering of wild fruits and roots. Throwing spears, a bow, arrows, a leather game bag are the equipment of a man. Iron tools were obtained by exchange from the Hottengots. Skilled and hardy in hunting. The hunter can pursue the antelope for 2-3 days, disguise as an ostrich, use traps. There are no permanent settlements. Temporary camps, wind barriers, huts, hunters could sleep in holes dug in the warm sand. Loin bandages. Almost no household items. Tribes are only ethnic associations, economic associations are local groups headed by the most successful hunter. Industrial cult. Hunters turned to the sun, moon, stars with prayers for the grant of success in fishing. Bright rock art.

Pygmies. In the depths of the tropical forests, the Congo Basin. They did not know agriculture, cattle breeding. Hunting Lifestyle. Small groups in constant wandering in search of food within clear boundaries. Exchange with Bantu: forest products and game for agricultural products and iron knives, arrowheads. The main object of worship is the forest spirit - the owner of the game. Totemism.

Bushmen (English bushman, from Dutch bosjesman, literally - forest man), the oldest indigenous population of South and East Africa. They live in the Kalahari and Namib deserts, in the vicinity of the Etosha depression in Namibia, in adjacent areas of Botswana, Angola and South Africa; a small number in Tanzania. The total number is about 50 thousand people. (1967, estimate). Bushman languages ​​are spoken, as well as Bantu languages. Once the B. were settled throughout South Africa, but were pushed back by the Bantu peoples who migrated with the S. and the European colonialists (from the South); the latter systematically exterminated B. They lead the life of wandering hunters and gatherers of wild fruits. Known as skilled craftsmen of expressive rock paintings. These paintings, made with mineral and earth paints, as well as lime and soot, diluted with water and animal fat, have been preserved in South Africa, Lesotho, Rhodesia and Namibia. The dating of the oldest of them is associated with various theories of the origin of the art of Byzantium and ranges from millennia to several hundred years BC. e. The motives of the paintings are realistically depicted animals, dynamic, full of expression scenes of hunting and fighting, human figures, strongly elongated in proportions, fantastic creatures. The oldest layers are made with one paint (red or brown), the latest (late 19th century) are polychrome with soft transitions of tones.

Mythological representations of the Bushmen of Namibia and adjacent areas of Botswana, Angola and South Africa. The mythology of the Bushmen belongs to the archaic mythologies, it is characterized by the anthropomorphization of nature, totemic representations.

The English "Bushman" means "bush man" and is sometimes considered offensive; however, the Bushmen themselves do not have a common self-name for all tribes, and the alternative name “San” (San), which is widespread in South Africa, is Hottentot (in the Nama language) and has a pejorative connotation in this language (“outsider”, “alien”).

Anthropologically they differ from Negroids because they have lighter skin, thin lips; belong to the so-called capoid race. A feature of languages ​​is the presence of clicking sounds. The peculiarity of the national cuisine is the use of "Bushman rice" - ant larvae - for food.

The time of the settlement of South Africa by the Bushmen is not exactly known. It is assumed that this happened about 10-20 thousand years ago. Beginning in the 15th century AD, they were gradually forced out by Bantu-speaking pastoralists who came from the north deep into the Kalahari Desert. They suffered greatly from the European colonialists in the period from the middle of the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th, during which about 200,000 people of the aboriginal population were destroyed. The survivors either went deep into the desert or became slaves on farms. Systematic persecution of the Bushmen did not occur only in Botswana.

Bushmen do not have leaders, as in others African tribes. Being in conditions of constant half-starved vagrancy in the desert, they could not allow themselves such a luxury as the existence of leaders, sorcerers and healers living at the expense of society. Instead of leaders, the Bushmen have elders. They are chosen from among the most authoritative, intelligent, experienced members of the family, and they do not enjoy any material advantages.

The Bushmen believe in an afterlife and are very afraid of the dead. They have special rituals for burying the dead in the ground, but they do not have the ancestral cult that prevails among the more developed African tribes.

At present, few Bushmen maintain a traditional way of life, the majority are workers on farms.

The Bushmen are great storytellers and storytellers. They are inimitable in music, pantomime and dance. The simplest musical instrument is a hunting bow strung with animal hair with an empty melon or an empty tin can attached as a resonator. Moth cocoons, held together like beads and filled with pebbles or seeds, are put on the ankles and beat out the rhythm during the dance. Currently, many are trying to film and record the songs, rituals and tales of the Bushmen in order to preserve this ancient African culture for posterity.

Bushwoman from Botswana

Bushmen children from Namibia

Bushmen on the reservation, Namibia

Bushmen (san, sa, sonqua, masarwa, basarwa, kua listen)) is a collective name applied to several indigenous South African hunter-gatherer peoples who speak Khoisan languages ​​and are classified as a capoid race. The total number is about 100 thousand people. According to the latest data, they have the most ancient genotype, are carriers of the oldest Y-chromosomal haplogroup A.

General information about the Bushmen

Story

At present, few Bushmen maintain a traditional way of life, most are workers on farms.

social order

Bushmen live in groups consisting of several families. They do not have leaders, but each group has a medicine man, who is credited with the ability to communicate with spirits, cause rain, and cure diseases.

The traditional San organization consists of several levels. It starts from the nuclear family, then it rises to the level of the community, then to the level of the association of communities, then it rises to the level of the dialect group, ascending to the linguistic group. Formal leaders are often absent. The basis of the community is formed by associations of couples. Often the marriage is monogamous, but polygamy does occur. Previously, work for the bride was common.

Language

There was no written language before the arrival of the Europeans. Fairy tales , legends and songs are passed on orally from generation to generation .

Folklore

Bushman tales and legends stand out from all other tales both in their form and content: they are not so much fairy tales as fables and myths. The protagonists in them are animals, and above all the grasshopper, to which the creation of the Sun, Moon and many animals is attributed. Bushmen also endow heavenly bodies with the names of animals. Thus, Orion's belt they call three female tortoises hanging on a stick; Southern Cross - by lionesses; Magellanic cloud - a stone goat. They endow their ancestors with zooanthropomorphic features, they are half-humans, half-animals. Rock carvings of the ancestors of the Bushmen have survived to this day. By the time the Europeans appeared in South Africa, back in the middle of the 17th century, the Bushmen lived in conditions of the Stone Age.

Sources of food and drink

From seeds that accumulate in anthills, bushmen cook porridge. A delicacy is fried locust. Tsamma melons are baked in the ashes and water is squeezed out of it.

In the dry season, they extract water in a special way: they dig a hole at the bottom of a dry source, then stick a tube with a filter at the end and begin to draw water out of it with their mouths, taking water into their mouths and spitting it into the shell of an ostrich egg.

Cloth

The robes are made up of loincloths and capes made from animal skins. Girls adorn themselves with necklaces made from ostrich egg shells, bracelets made from grass, dyed bones and plant seeds.

Special headdresses of this people appeared so that people could show each other their hairstyles, which were created by shaving their heads and leaving strands of hair at the crown - a custom inherent in women. They also often wore animal bladders attached to their hair (Jolly 2006: 70).

Religion

Most of the people adhere to the traditional original forms of shamanism Bushmen. Its original form is unknown as it has been heavily modified due to interaction with Christianity. Christians are also present. When a shaman enters a trance, it is customary to say that he "dies" - the trance itself is quite often called little death or half death(Dowson 2007: 55). Folklore is quite extensive and varied. The San also owns a considerable number of skillfully executed rock paintings. The shamans of the southern Drakensberg danced and went into a trance in the stone caves, which always had cave paintings (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1990: 12).

Gallery

famous bushmen

The most famous among the Bushmen is Nkahau - a Namibian farmer. He became famous after playing the Kalahari Bushman Hiho in two comedy films: "The Gods Must Be Crazy" and its sequel, as well as in three more unofficial sequels filmed in Hong Kong: " Crazy Safari», « Crazy Hong Kong" And " The Gods Must Be Funny in China».

Royal / Ui / o / oo, elected in 2000 on the SWAPO lists to the Parliament of Namibia, became the first Bushman deputy. Another notable Bushman activist is Roy Cezana, co-founder of the Kalahari First Nations movement, which advocates for their rights in Botswana.

Bushmen in movies

In addition to the appearance of the people in the aforementioned comedy "The Gods Must Be Crazy", the Bushmen are also depicted in the film "Red Scorpion", where they save the protagonist from a scorpion sting.

In the film "Cruel Glory" (about the legendary boxer Charles McCoy, nicknamed "Kid"), a separate scene is assigned, in which the boxer is explained that representatives of the Bushmen can run through the desert without sleep, food and water for up to 3 days. He tries to check it and catch up with the bushman. But his strength leaves him by sunset. After that, the bushman digs out 2 ostrich eggs and, treating the emaciated boxer with one of them, drives him away. [ ]

• Section heading: Peoples of the Earth
• Read: Pygmies from Africa

Bushmen - translated means forest people (English bushman, from Dutch bosjeman, boschiman - "forest man"). The English word "Bushman" literally means "bush man" and is sometimes considered offensive. At the same time, the Bushmen themselves do not have a common self-name for all the tribes of this people. On the territory of South Africa, an alternative name for the Bushmen is widespread - "San" (San). It is Hottentot in origin, i.e. from the Nama language. In this language, the word "san" has a pejorative connotation, and it can be interpreted as "outsider" or "alien". This people, numbering about 75 thousand people, lives mainly in the desert regions of Namibia, as well as the adjacent regions of South Africa, Botswana, Angola, and they are also found in Tanzania.

At what time the Bushmen settled in South Africa, to date, it has not been possible to determine exactly. According to one version, this happened presumably about 10-20 thousand years ago. And starting in the 15th century, the Bushmen began to be gradually forced out into the depths of the Kalahari desert by the Bantu-speaking cattle breeders who came from the north. But the Bushmen tribes were especially hard hit by the European colonialists in the period from the middle of the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th. During this time, the Europeans destroyed about 200,000 people of the aboriginal population. The surviving Bushmen tribes either went deep into the desert or became slaves on numerous farms. And only in the territory of Botswana there was no systematic persecution of the Bushmen.

The Bushmen, unlike other African tribes, have a different communal structure - they do not have leaders. The Bushmen, constantly being in conditions of half-starved wandering in the desert regions, simply could not allow themselves such a luxury as the existence of leaders, sorcerers and healers, who usually live at the expense of other members of society. Therefore, the Bushmen have elders instead of leaders. This is an elective position, and elders are chosen from among the most authoritative, intelligent, experienced members of the clan, while they do not enjoy any material advantages.

It should be noted that the Bushmen believe in an afterlife, while they are very afraid of the dead. Therefore, they have special rituals for burying the dead in the ground, but they do not have the cult of ancestors, characteristic of more developed African tribes.

Nowadays, much has changed, so very few Bushmen maintain a traditional way of life, and most of them are workers on farms.

Bushmen are known as excellent storytellers and storytellers, they are inimitable in music, as well as in dance and pantomime. Their simplest musical instrument is an ordinary hunting bow, in which animal hair is stretched as a string, with an empty melon or even an empty tin can attached, acting as a resonator. During the dance, the Bushmen put dry and empty cocoons of moths on their ankles, fastened like beads and filled with pebbles or seeds - they beat the rhythm with them.

BUSHMEN
Bushmen (English bushman, from the Dutch bosjeman, boschiman - "forest man"), a people living in the desert regions of Namibia and adjacent regions of South Africa, Botswana, Angola, and also in Tanzania. The number is about 75 thousand people (1983, estimate).

The English "Bushman" means "bush man" and is sometimes considered offensive; however, the Bushmen themselves do not have a common self-name for all tribes, and the alternative name “San” (San), which is widespread in South Africa, is Hottentot (in the Nama language) and has a pejorative connotation in this language (“outsider”, “alien”).

Anthropologically they differ from Negroids because they have lighter skin, thin lips; belong to the so-called capoid race. A feature of languages ​​is the presence of clicking sounds. The peculiarity of the national cuisine is the use of "Bushman rice" - ant larvae - for food.

The time of the settlement of South Africa by the Bushmen is not exactly known. It is assumed that this happened about 10-20 thousand years ago. Beginning in the 15th century AD, they were gradually forced out by Bantu-speaking pastoralists who came from the north deep into the Kalahari Desert. They suffered greatly from the European colonialists in the period from the middle of the 17th century to the beginning of the 20th, during which about 200,000 people of the aboriginal population were destroyed. The survivors either went deep into the desert or became slaves on farms. Systematic persecution of the Bushmen did not occur only in Botswana.

The Bushmen do not have leaders, as in other African tribes. Being in conditions of constant half-starved vagrancy in the desert, they could not allow themselves such a luxury as the existence of leaders, sorcerers and healers living at the expense of society. Instead of leaders, the Bushmen have elders. They are chosen from among the most authoritative, intelligent, experienced members of the family, and they do not enjoy any material advantages.

The Bushmen believe in an afterlife and are very afraid of the dead. They have special rituals for burying the dead in the ground, but they do not have the ancestral cult that prevails among the more developed African tribes.

At present, few Bushmen maintain a traditional way of life, the majority are workers on farms.

The Bushmen are great storytellers and storytellers. They are inimitable in music, pantomime and dance. The simplest musical instrument is a hunting bow strung with animal hair with an empty melon or an empty tin can attached as a resonator. Moth cocoons, held together like beads and filled with pebbles or seeds, are put on the ankles and beat out the rhythm during the dance. Currently, many are trying to film and record the songs, rituals and tales of the Bushmen in order to preserve this ancient African culture for posterity.