Painted History: Bushmen; Basarwa; Abathwa

ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke : This should ring a bell if you have taken time to study the South African Coat of Arms. ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke is written in the Khoisan language of the ǀXam people and translates to "Unity in diversity"

Coat Of Arms

What is Khoisan language

The Khoisan people are descendants of two different tribes. An amalgam of the original San hunter-gatherers and the later-arriving KhoiKhoi (sometimes referred to as Khoekhoe). History says Khoikhoi were virtually annihilated by European settlers (no surprises there, remember Australian and American aborigines) athough Khoisan culture lives on through some of the most compelling rock art on Earth.

The San Bushmen of South Africa were the country’s original inhabitants, and very likely the ancestors of all humanity. It is even believed that the genes of the San Bushmen of South Africa predate the rest of humanity, making them our original ancestors. Paleoanthropologists claim that the original San hunter-gatherer groups lived on this land for about 100 000 years before the arrival of other black people and European settlers.

This means there have been three major waves of genetic, cultural and technological immigration into South Africa: Khoekhoe herders, Bantu speaking agro-pastoralists and European colonial agro-pastoralists. Each group bringing major changes to the lives of the San peoples.

The San people (or Saan), also known as Bushmen or Basarwa or Abathwa as I called them when I was younger, are members of various indigenous hunter-gatherer people of Southern Africa emanating from countries such as Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Zambia & Zimbabwe. There is a significant linguistic difference between

· Northern people living between the Okavango River in Botswana and Etosha National Park in Northwestern Namibia, extending up into southern Angola;

· Central people of most of Namibia and Botswana, extending into Zambia and Zimbabwe; &

· Southern people in the central Kalahari towards the Molopo River, who are the last remnant of the previously extensive indigenous San of South Africa

I have learnt from my rudimentary research that there are so many dialects in fact people from different regions do not understand each other. More like Bantu languages huh? TshiVenda vs. IsiXhosa

Today remnants of these fascinating people can still be found in the Northern Cape.

The Khoikhoi, originally part of a pastoral culture and language group to be found across Southern Africa, originated in the northern area of modern Botswana. Southward migration of the ethnic group was steady, eventually reaching the Cape approximately 2,000 years ago.

This makes the San and the Khoekhoe peoples aboriginal to southern Africa and makes them descendants of the first people who ever lived here, before black or white people migrated into the region.

Pieter Mulder would be happy to see this

When the KhoiKhoi reached the Cape, they saw people similar to them in physical appearance (The San), but with a different culture. They called these elders of the land 'the San', which means 'people different from ourselves'.

San Bushmen lived in small groups in the desert before dispersing to the rest of the country. There they lived under rock overhangs in the mountains, or in dry areas in simple huts made of leaves, twigs and animal skins.

The San men usually hunted while women stayed in villages or homesteads, looking after the children. Women foraged for food around the camp, searching for edible bulbs, roots, stalks and fruit.

Unlike the San, who did not live in a hierarchical society with no concept of private possession or land ownership, the Khoi had a complex social structure. This is where these two cultures clashed the most but later merged and become known as the Khoisan people.

Khoisan People

The distinct clicks of the Khoisan language, once found nowhere else in Africa, have been incorporated into some of our official languages and contributed to the richness of Afrikaans and South African English with words such as 'eina' (ouch) and 'aikhona' (absolutely not)

Bushman Rock art

A stunning gallery of South African rock art is permanently open in the Drakensberg mountains and the Cederberg region of the Western Cape Bushman Rock Art has long fascinated local and international scholars with their fineness, simplicity of design and bold use of colour, similar to modern poster technique.

Cederberg is formed largely of quartzites, sandstones and shale rocks that been weathered to form thousands of overhangs, vertical faces and rock bands.

Do refer me to a Geologist, I would like to know more on this subject

One Archaeologist John Parkington in his book “Cederberg Rock Paintings” mentions that some of the art dates back to 60 000 years ago.

How were the rock paintings made, you ask

A gentleman by the name of Stephen Townley Bassett has reproduced copies of many well knownpaintings trying to recover the recipes and learn techniques (rolling my eyes)

Almost all the maroons; reds; oranges and yellows are ochreous pigments derived from weathered oxides or hydroxides of iron such as heamatite or limonite while black paint was made from powdered manganese dioxide. It is also possible that they used ground up charcoal to produce black pigment

World experts on rock paintings agree that the works of the San Bushmen are the most numerous and strikingly advanced in the world, and South African rock art sites are now protected as a national heritage ngoba siyanazi. Y’all go out there and urinate and write your ugly ass names on nature

My Roadtrip

Cedeberg is the region I explored a few weekends ago.

Day 1 I filled up the tank and got on Cape Namibia route, N7 north towards Citrusdal, 400km away. Very misty morning too, which made it very hard to drive a route I’m not familiar with. I remembered my old man’s words: Just keep your focus on the white lines, they are good guidance #LessonsFromMyDad. Amazing how much of his wisdom comes handy in my adulthood. I was only 20km into my journey when I saw indication of low tyre pressure on my car display WTF? Do I turn back and find a filling station? I drove on #IAmChizama. I spotted a traffic patrol car a few kilometres later and asked for the next filling station, which was a few kilometres on. I stopped, inflated and continued.

The downside of the N7 is that it is not a populated freeway. I remember being followed by a charcoal VW Fox for so long I reported to the “Headquarters.” One can never be too careful.

I enjoy long drives, that’s my only commitment at the time. No worry in the world just the road; good music & I

I arrived at Sevilla Rock Art Trail Clairwilliam at 10am. A white car with a GP number plate stopped next to me, a white couple. I started chatting to them as per usual. I travel alone and meet people along the way. It’s my form of escapism.

I asked for land. Turned out they're Australian. Well, I tried LOL!

We were given a pamphlet, guiding us to the different spots and what form of rock art to look for at each spot.

Man, Bushmen creativity is out of this world.

This one confuses me. Animal torsos with human legs

Two Women. I think the derriere gives them away

One of my favourites. A man with a drawn bow

Handprints

I was amazed by their wonderful memory of wildlife and the ability to reproduce it. There were no smart phones to capture stuff back then. Grey matter actually mattered

Day 2 of the roadtrip was Khwa ttu (pronounced Qwa Thu) San village

The !Khwa ttu San Culture and Education Centre is a centre of San culture and heritage that provides tailor-made training for young San women and men of Southern Africa.

I got on a bike and toured the village, falling a few times and getting BACK on the bike LOL!

Pity I could not start a fire. The weather was trash

Highlight/Lowlights/Observations

1. It’s no secret, I love history. Growing up in South Africa with yellow skin and broad shoulders, I have been referred to as a Hottentot (Khoekhoe). Children can be very cruel, they used to tease me a lot I sometimes wished I was a bit darker; narrower shoulders and just a few centimetres shorter. Instead of anger, I allowed to undo the confusion by learning a thing or two. Who knows, perhaps I am a descendant.

2. Witnessing the birth of Spring; beautiful flowers everywhere

3. Hiking and mountain bike riding in Cederberg. Well I came back with lots of scratches and bruises. It’s never an adventure until I sustain injuries

4. Trying to fit in a bushman hut. Either Khoisan people are/were very tiny or I’m a fcking giant. Look at this!!!

SOUNDTRACK FOR THIS TRIP IS THOMAS NEWMAN - ANY OTHER NAME

This is a soundtrack to one of my most favourite movies. The American Beauty. I hear the last scene where Lester Burnham narrates his death whenever I hear this composition