unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (10/25/89)
S891009.BOT
BOTSWANA: Basarwa History and Settlement Today
Gaborone, October 12, 1989 (AIA) -- Moves to evacuate the
last hunter gatherers from the central Kalahari is bringing
a final end to a way of life that has been under attack for
hundreds of years.
Known as the San or Bushmen, the Basarwa people once
inhabited the whole of southern Africa. As cattle herding
migrants moved south over the centuries the San moved to the
peripheries away from good grazing land.
Active oppression started after Europeans settled in South
Africa where estimates put those killed or dispossessed at
100,000. By 1927 it was illegal to carry a Bushman bow.
Wandering to hunt and gather was called vagrancy which was
made a crime. The Bushmen were deprived of their livelihood
and became cheap labour.
Over time the largest numbers settled in and around the
Kalahari in Botswana. Today there are three types of Basarwa
settlements.
Those who work on farms are squatters because farmland is
owned or leased by others. Settlements range from 50 to 300
people.
The second type of settlement is a more traditional village
located near a natural water hole.
The third type of settlement is spread throughout the
Kalahari game reserve wherever there is water. In the wet
season (November to April) people disperse and go to where
they might find standing water. In the dry season (May to
October) everyone converges on borehole locations.
There are no more than 3,000 Basarwa living in the Kalahari
game reserve. They share a world with wild plants and
animals which is uniquely balanced.
The desert itself is the largest continuous stretch of sand
in the world, spreading 2,500 kilometres from the Orange
River in the south to the forests of Zaire in the north.
Nearly half the desert is within the boundaries of Botswana.
Plants develop drought-resistant strategies like growing near
underground water channels. The only animals that survive are
those that do not require surface water. The antelopes are
typical, extracting moisture from grass, storing it in rumen.
The Basarwa learned to harvest these resources. Seventy to 80
percent of their food calories came from plants.
Further reading on the Basarwa:
Squandering Eden, Mort Rosenblum and Doug Williamson
Kalahari Hunter Gatherers. Studies of the !Kung San and their
neighbours, R.B Le and Irven De Vore (eds.) Harvard
University Press, 1978
* Origin: AlterNet Better World Communications (1:163/113)
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