Khoisan Movie Download
Alyssa Dipiero
In around 2300 BP (Before Present), hunter-gatherers called the San acquired domestic stock in what is now modern day Botswana. Their population grew, and spread throughout the Western half of South Africa. They were the first pastoralists in southern Africa, and called themselves Khoikhoi (or Khoe), which means 'men of men' or 'the real people'. This name was chosen to show pride in their past and culture. The Khoikhoi brought a new way of life to South Africa and to the San, who were hunter-gatherers as opposed to herders. This led to misunderstandings and subsequent conflict between the two groups.
The Khoikhoi kept herds of animals such as goat, cattle and sheep and had to move around to find enough grazing land for their animals. They moved according to the seasons and only stayed in one place for a few weeks. This meant that they had to be able to carry all their belongings themselves, or load them onto the backs of their animals.
Houses had to be very light and easy to erect and take apart. For this reason they were made of thin poles covered with reed mats. Even pots and buckets were made of wood with small handles to make them easier to tie to animals' backs. They also wore clothes made of leather, like the San.
The animals, especially cattle, were a sign of wealth and the Khoikhoi only ate cattle that had died or had been stolen from their enemies. They only killed their own animals for important occasions like funerals or weddings. The women milked the animals and gathered wild plants from the veld and the men killed game for everyday food. This shows that the Khoikhoi hunted and gathered, but also herded animals.
Initially there were two main groups, the Great Korana and the Little Korana. Each of these broke into splinter groups that divided until there were many groups whose names have been slowly forgotten or were not recorded. Quarrels over water and grazing rights, or the ownership of women or livestock usually caused the divisions amongst groups. When parties split up they usually assumed the name of their leader. But sometimes they took the name of a place where they had stayed for a long time.
They also settled in what is today the Free State, the district that became known as Koranaland (Gordonia). Many small conflicts over hunting and plundering took place between these groups and the Bantu-speaking peoples and White trekkers in the area. It is important to note however, that livestock raids were carried out by a minority group of Korana.
An important leader at the time was Karel Ruyter or Ruiters, an escaped slave, who became chief of the Hoengei group of Gona in the Zuurveld in the mid-eighteenth century. Other leaders were Piet Rooi, Jan Kupido, Klaas Lukas and Pofadder. Klaas Lukas, who had his headquarters at Olyvenhoutsdrift (Upington), was the most powerful chief.
The small conflicts over cattle and land raids came to a head in 1868, when the colonial government created a special magisterial district. The Northern Border Protection Act was passed to permit action against the Korana. A special border unit was stationed at Kenhardt, but the handful of police and burghers were too few to protect a 330 km stretch of land. This eventually led to the Korana wars of 1869 and 1878.
Klaas Lukas, who was initially neutral, gathered together 1,000-armed men to defend their livestock. His supporters included the majority of the Korana, the Nama Afrikanders led by Jacobus Afrikander, and a number of Griqua rebels under Gamka Pienaar. The Korana 'raider' groups were defeated and came under the control of the Cape Government. Those Korana who rejected a future under colonial rule trekked further into the Kalahari. The Cape Government settled the Basters near Upington to form a buffer between the Boers and the Korana. Today, the Korana have almost completely disappeared as a separate group through assimilation with the population in the area.
South Africa West Coast History: The Forgotten People from www.sawestcoast.com The Khoisan from www.khoisan.org, especially the section on 'raiding'. Hunters and herders of southern Africa: a comparative ethnography of the Khoisan peoples by Alan Barnard (Online 'Google Book') Miscast: negotiating the presence of the Bushmen by South African National Gallery. Topics as diverse as trophy heads and museums, the destruction of the Cape San, and appraisals of nineteenth-century photographic practices are examined. Pippa Skotnes, was both curator of the exhibit and editor of this volume (Online 'Google Book')
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