Kumisha Washington

LBST Global and Intercultural Connections

The indigenous people of Southern Africa are often referred to as the

San People; however, they are mostly known as the Bushmen in the Kalahari.

Scientist have traced the origins of the entire human race through the San

people. They are said to be the worlds oldest race. The Bushmen are known

for their ritual acts of trance dancing and their competent ways of hunting

and gathering. The religious specialist of the Bushmens tribe is a Shaman.

The shaman does not work alone, he or she uses the help of what they like to

call power animals. The Bushmen are direct descendants of our ancestors.

They are the only family that can speak through a click language. It is more

than communication to them, it is how they model their little world. An

interesting fact about the tribe is that they have no tribal hierarchy. There

are no chiefs and they practice gender equality to the fullest.

The Bushmen are very spiritual beings, just as most humans. In order

to enter the spirit world, a trance dance has to commence with a shaman

through the killing of a power animal. A power animals is considered to be an

eland or an elephant. Once the animal is killed, a connection begins between

universes. After the connection begins the shaman begins to dance, through

is dancing a trance is reached that allows him or her to enter the spirit world.

A shaman in trance can heal and protect their people from sickness and evil
spirits. The tribe believes that the shaman can look into the future, regulate

the weather, and guarantee decent hunting and to the Bushmen the most

vital existence is the Kaggen. The tribe believes that he is the creator of

many things. Kaggen comes to earth as many things, many things being a

snake, a vulture, a praying mantis or even a normal everyday Bushmen. It is

also said that Kaggen and morph into several different forms.

The most spiritual animal of the Bushmens religion is an eland. Not

only is it the most spiritual but it is also Kaggens favorite animal. The eland

is always present in the important rituals such as marriage, trance dances, a

boys first kill (becoming a man), and when girls reach puberty (becoming a

women). A Bushmens marriage ritual consists of the fat of an elands heart.

The man delivers the fat to the womens parents. Once delivered the fat is

used to anoint the women. After that is completed they do a celebration

dance and the marriage ritual is completed. In the trance dance ritual, the

shamans goal is to own the elands authoritiveness because the eland is

known to be the greatest and most powerful of them all. Several dances take

place until the shaman possess the powers of the eland. Once the powers

are the shamans the ritual is completed and the shaman proceeds to heal

and protects its people while in the trance. When a girl gets her first

menstruation, a girls puberty ritual is performed. The girl is inaccessible in

her lodgings. All the women in the tribe preform what they like to call the

Eland Bull Dance where the reenact the animals mating behaviors, while

the men in the tribe act as the male elands. The purpose of the ritual is to
allow the female to remain passive and attractive and unrestricted from food

and water. In the bushmen tribe, a boy is not a man until he has learned how

to attack and kill an eland or a big antelope. The animal is then skinned and

they produce a broth from the collar bone and the animals fat. Of course,

they end the ritual with a celebration dance.

The Bushmen are famous for their expert abilities as hunters. They

hunt using a poison to which there is no anecdote. If the poison touches

anyone they will die within a few hours. Throughout the tribe, the men do the

hunting while the women do the gathering. The men hunt using poison

arrows and spears made from animals bones to. The men do the physical

work such as shooting or stabbing the animals but both the men and the

women are experts at tracking the animal until it dies. They read clues left

behind by the animals to get inside of the mind of the animals. They are also

known for their mastery in finding other wild food sources. They are great at

adapting to whatever situation that comes along. They select what fruits,

what berries, and what roots according to their availability. They forage every

day until about three or four oclock in the afternoon looking for generalized

items. They know to look for specifics medicinal plants such as bong trees, if

someone is ill.

In class, we watched a video of a boy whose calling was to be a

shaman. His father had died from ignoring the call of the shaman and he too

would be next if he didnt begin shaman training. In the film, there was fifty

to one hundred sheep and the shaman kid realized that a sheep was missing.
My mind was thinking how could he recognize one missing sheep out of all

of those sheep. However maybe the sheep hold the same value to the

shaman boy as power animals do the Bushmen. When he found the sheep,

it seemed to either be sick or dead and when he bent down to hold the

sheep in his arms, he began to have a seizure. Maybe instead of a trans

dance he is experiencing a trans seizure because he did enter the spirit

world afterwards. From both the film and the Bushmen I learned that the

shaman holds the utmost power.

In conclusion to all this information I personally believe that although

the Bushmen are indigenous people we could learn a lot from them. They are

very humble and organized beings. It is beautiful how a simple dance is all

that is needed to heal them from the inside out. It is throughout their ritual

acts of trance dancing and their competent ways of hunting and gathering

that they are able to survive and thrive. Not only do they survive but they

live peaceful and happy lives. Guess that is why they are the oldest race in

humanity.
 Work Cited

Ely, Paula. Bushmen of the Kalahari. New York, NY: Filmakers Library,

2006. Internet resource.

Kristina. "San Religion." San Religion. N.p., 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2017.