THE TRAGEDY OF THE SAN
27,000 years ago someone painted an eland
on the wall of a cave in Southern Namibia. In our present day
understanding that was around 25,000 BC. The pyramids were still 20,000
years in the future.
7,000 years ago someone was still
painting on the walls of rock shelters and caves throughout Southern
Africa.
Who were these people? For people they
truly were. People with a deep spiritual connection to the land they
roamed. People with a profound understanding of the land that fed and
clothed them. People with a love for, and pride in, their culture, their
traditions and their way of life that enabled them to survive for
centuries, unhindered, roaming the deserts and mountains, at peace with
themselves and the world they occupied.
These were the San . A name coined for
them by colonial explorers and academics. These were the First People
living in harmony with nature and themselves throughout Southern Africa.
These were the hunter gatherers, moving with the rains, governing
themselves with a kinship based ethos.
The tragedy began with the arrival of a
different people. A people who needed land for their cattle and goats. A
people who competed for the same water resources. A people who competed
for the antelope and other game which had sustained the San for
centuries. The Khoekhoe moved onto the land approximately 2000 years
ago, ever expanding their search for grazing for their animals. Conflict
arose between the First People and the Khoekhoe but the land was vast
and their numbers were relatively small and an uneasy co-existence
prevailed.
Worse was to follow. In the 16th
century the first settlers landed at the Cape of Good Hope. They brought
with them the concept of land ownership and agriculture. The San
watched in horror as these strangers occupied the land they had hunted
since time began. Serious conflict erupted. The San defended that
which had been bequeathed to them by their ancestors. The colonists
responded, mercilessly. The San were considered non-people to be
hunted as vermin, to be hunted for sport. The decimation began.
A further complication arose for the San with the arrival in the region of the Bantu, moving south and west
with their herds of cattle. The pressure increased. The massacres
continued. Read the history books and the journals of the time.
Slaughter on a scale so huge it would today be termed, Genocide.
Eventually the remaining San were
living in the more arid and remote regions where farming was difficult
if not impossible. They had no voice and many were assimilated into the
local farming communities as labourers. The languages were spoken less
and less. It was not possible to hunt, punishment followed if they did.
With the coming of Apartheid the non-people became truly forgotten. With the policy of
compartmentalization of people by the colour of their skin the San ,
these uncomplicated defenders of their land and traditions, were further
marginalized by the policies and laws of the time.
Since colonial times to the present day, there have been
millions of words written about these unique people. Countless studies
of their history and demise.
Anthropologists thrive on the wealth of information still
available to them from these few, who have survived, despite the odds.
And the net result?
Exactly as it has been for the last three hundred years.
Conflict with Governments over land rights. Court cases that drag on for
years. Persecution at the hands of those with the power. Initiatives
that result in conflict, greed and animosity. Worthy projects dying
through lack of funding and interest. Exploitation in the name of
tourism and good business.
The Endangered Peoples Trust has resolved
to halt this slide to extinction with a project to nurture this precious
heritage. To nourish this irreplaceable culture and traditions. To make
available to the Old People the opportunity to pass on the secrets and
skills which enabled the First People to survive for 20,000 years. To
teach the young the values of kinship and respect for the land which
sustained them for centuries. To instill in this generation the
spiritual harmony the San had with nature.
This is our true national heritage. The
cultural survival of the people who explored this virgin land is vital
to the sustainable development of the San . The people of Europe, of
the East and indeed all identifiable national groups are what they are
because their cultures survived through speaking their own languages,
practicing their own religions and living according to their own customs
and traditions.
Let us not fail the San in these
desperate times.
Let us give the past a future.
