Reconstructing the Recent History of the G/ui and G//ana Bushmen

Abstract

The G/ui and the G//ana, the Central Kalahari Bushmen, were said to have had little contact with other ethnic groups, and lived self-sufficiently on traditional hunting and gathering until the 1960's. But they acknowledge that a Tswana man came to the Bushman's land about a century ago and brought agriculture and livestock-farming to the G/ui and the G//ana. He also introduced chiefdom and made the Bushmen pay tribute to the Tswana. Because of this tribute and the fact that some Bushmen were treated as serfs by the Tswana, the Tswana regard all Bushmen as the lowest class even today. In contrast, the G/ui and the G//ana do not recognize themselves as subordinate to the Tswana. Due to egalitarianism that permeates throughout their basic lifestyle, the concept of chiefdom did not truly penetrate their society. Only the chief's family members paid tribute and to most G/ui and G//ana this tribute was just a part of trade.