Their time in the veld is mostly occupied with the gathering of food. The women are
responsible for the picking or digging up of veld food, whereas the men are the hunters.
A lot of time is also spent on producing weapons, utensils and ornaments. Culture and Language
The Bushmen, who speak various languages and dialects, live in the northern and northeastern parts of Namibia, as well as in Botswana and Angola. The areas which they inhabit are desert like with grass plains, sand dunes, dry river beds and often dry pans.
Their time in the veld is mostly occupied with the gathering of food. The women are
responsible for the picking or digging up of veld food, whereas the men are the hunters.
A lot of time is also spent on producing weapons, utensils and ornaments.
One of their favourite pastimes is to sit around the fire at night. This is also the place where the traditions of generations are handed down to the children.
Dance plays an important role in their culture - dance is not only for recreational purposes, but also when a sick person has to be treated and demons need to be driven out of such a person. There are also dances specially reserved for a young girl about to get married.
A culture of reading and writing is something totally foreign to these people. However, they are experts at "reading" game prints from which they gather a host of information, e.g. the type of animal, its size, the time of day, its speed, etc. The art of writing was limited to the making of rock paintings through which they symbolized spiritual values and experiences, as well as hunting stories.
One of their languages has already disappeared, and a second language is
only spoken by a limited number of people. The good news, however, is
that the biggest language group, the Kung, is experiencing increasing
numbers and at present it is estimated that there are 40 000 native speakers
of the Kung language. Many of these people have adapted to a western
lifestyle, through the integration on farms where they work. They have
adapted quite easily to this new lifestyle and have shown remarkable skill in
the managing and repairing of machinery.
There is unfortunately also a bad side to the coin as the evils of western civilisation have not bypassed these people, and the misuse of alcohol has become a serious problem.
Listen to a sample of traditional Kung music in RealAudio format.
Index page | Language and Culture | Mission and Translation | Distribution
E-mail us with any questions you might have concerning the project.