!KUNG BUSHMEN
By Priyanka Tadepalli
HISTORY
Lived in semi-permanent camps of 10-30 people
 Once resources were used up, they moved to new
place
 Lived in southern Africa for thousands of years
 2 thousand years ago, the Bantu-speaking people
moved into their region and they live together
 The !Kung people have mostly adapted to the
Bantu lifestyle of wages and cultivated gardens

LOCATION
Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Botswana, and Angola
• Lived there in the past and continue living there
today
•
CLIMATE
Temperatures during the winter are frequently
below freezing, but during the summer are well
above 100 degrees F.
 Rainfall during the wet season varies from only
five to forty inches

RESOURCES
Roots, berries, fruits, and nuts from desert
 Game is rare in the region
 All of the animal is used: Meat for food, shides
are tanned for blankets and bones are cracked for
the marrow
 Used poison on arrows

TYPE OF ECONOMIC LIFESTYLE
Hunter/gatherer society
 Women gathered and took care of children and
cooking
 Men hunted
 No government: Made decisions based on
consensus

DECLINE OR RISING STATUS
After the Bantu speaking people came into !Kung
territory, their rich tradition and culture declined
 The !Kung Bushmen fell into the ways of
permanent housing, gardening, herding goats,
and wages
 Drought and overgrazing of wild game also
caused the decline of these Bushmen

MIGRATION OF CULTURE
The culture started in southern Africa and
remains there with the few !Kung Bushmen that
still follow tradition
 Passed down cultures and traditions through
story telling

GOVERNMENT
No real government
 Worked out conflicts in a group
 Came up with solutions in a group as well

RELATIONSHIPS

Internally:
Everyone worked together in a group
 Women gathered and took care of children and home
 Men hunted for game


Externally:
Lived mostly isolated from all other societies
 Greatly oppressed by Bantu people

CULTURE
Most of their rituals and lifestyle was based on
their spiritual beliefs
 Something called a trance dance is a popular
social event where people come together to laugh
and dance
 Had special rituals for hunters so that no one
would become arrogant or selfish
 Culture was always significant in the !Kung
lifestyle because they were isolated from other
societies

CONTRIBUTIONS
!Kung Bushmen haven’t made any contributions
to the world
 When oppressed by the Bantu people, the !Kung
changed their lifestyle to match the Bantu but
gave nothing in return

RELIGION/BELIEFS
Believe celestial bodies (sun, moon, morning star,
and the southern cross) are symbols of divinity
 Believe praying mantis is a diving messenger
 Legends play an important role in the life of the
!Kung. Each story is someone's perception of the
supernatural. Each tells its own truth, bringing
to light some aspect of the divine.
 Trance dance gives healing power
 They are both animistic and animitistic – believe
in personifications and impersonal forces

MUSIC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a6gShIToSQ

Used music during rituals and while dancing
LITERATURE

Passed down history, myths, legends, and culture
through oral stories and dance
ART

Had rock art
CLOTHING
Used skin of their game as clothing when very
cold
 Wore very minimal clothing when it was hot

CUSTOMS
Marriage: Intermarried within family and tribe
because they were isolated
 All births were given outside with the Earth
because Earth is considered the first mother of
all beings

CUISINE
Mostly roots, and nuts
 Game was scarce but also included in their meals

EDUCATION

Children are actively socialized with teaching.
Ridicule is used for discipline as well as corporal
punishment. The !Kung no longer practice male
circumcision as initiation to adulthood. Girls still
have a brief initiation among the Zhu/oasi group
but female circumcision is not practiced.
Important events in the family or community are
celebrated by the exchange of ritual gifts.
TECHNOLOGY
Used arrows to kill game
 Sharp stones to rip apart meat
 And fire to cook meat
 Did not have a lot of technology

WORKS CITED
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"!Kung Bushman People of Southern Africa -- A Cultural Profile."
!Kung Bushman People of Southern Africa -- A Cultural Profile. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 12 June 2012.
<http://orvillejenkins.com/profiles/kung.html>.
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"The !Kung of the Kalahari Desert." The !Kung of the Kalahari
Desert. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2012.
<http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~epsadm03/kung.html>.
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!Kung People. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 June 2012.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C7%83Kung_people>.
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Marshall, Lorna. "Marriage among !Kung Bushmen." JSTOR. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 12 June 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1157925?uid=3739552>.
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"OneWorld Magazine: Deserts." OneWorld Magazine: Deserts. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 12 June 2012.
<http://www.oneworldmagazine.org/focus/deserts/marsstr1.htm>.