Tragedy for the San began with the arrival of different people, people who needed land for their cattle and goats, people who competed for the same water resources, antelope and other game which had sustained the San for centuries. The San’s way of live was first threatened by the Khoikhoi, who moved south-west into their territory. The Khoikhoi were herders and settled into fixed areas and this affected the San people’s natural habitat.
Their land was further threatened by the settlers who moved into their areas (took ownership of the land) and settled to grow crops and tend their live stock. These Europeans came with guns and discriminated and reduced a vast number of the hunter-gatherers. The settlers ambushed them in a degrading manner. The San were forced to relocate to remote areas where faming was very difficult and were not allowed to speak their native tongue. They were considered savages by the European settlers and were shot at, hunted like animals and tortured in prisons. During Apartheid, the San were forgotten and were unimportant. Many of the San still lived the traditional way of life in the Kalahari Desert because it was a difficult area to reach. Years later, the Department of Nature Conservation took over large sections of their hunting lands, this was turned into nature reserves.
The San were frequently used as props, tools and fundraisers for various shows, crusades and missions. Because of this, few know how to gather and hunt now days or even use a bow and arrow. Many of the San are still exploited, live in small groups and hardly have any land to hunt and gather, some even turn to alcoholism. The San people in Angola still suffer starvation and instillation imposed by 27 years of civil war, which ended in 2002. It impacted the San communities in a number of ways. Many of them have been displaced from their represented places of origin. Substantial numbers of the San joined, then, the South African Defence Force and re-settled with their families in Namibia and in 1990, South Africa. In South Africa they lived in army tents and were not allowed to hunt or fish in the nearby rivers.
I think that the San have managed the land and its resources in a sustainable way. In my opinion there were the most independent at resisting colonization and slavery. They did this by moving deep into the interior if southern Africa. As a way to safeguard/preserve their heritage, customs, traditional life and indigenous knowledge, the women make jewellery to earn a living and sell the pieces in many craft shops. San traditional crafts such as delicate skills in making ostrich eggs and beads have become a viable means of income.
Over the last couple of years, there has been conflict with Governments over land rights and the San have been exploited in the name of tourism and good business. In a way to safeguard the Sans culture, the Endangered Peoples Trust has decided to stop the extinction with a project to nurture their precious heritage. To bring back their irreplaceable culture and traditions, to pass on secrets and skills which enabled them to survive for 20 000 years, to teach the young children values and respects for the land and to make them understand the harmony the San had with nature. There are also many centres that focus on preserving the San’s heritage, customs and traditional like. An example of this would be !Khwa ttu. The reason/mission of this centre is to restore the heritage of the San, to educate the public about the San’s knowledge (medical plants) and provide training to the San. Places such as these help me to understand their lifestyle and make me want to fight for there rights as well.
In my opinion the San have not really been able to survive the impact colonialism had on them, as there are very little of their people left. They cannot live there traditional lifestyle as there is no land. Therefore it is hard for them to collect ostrich eggs, Veldkos and make honey. They also cannot hunt the way they did. There is little money available to be spent on safeguarding their heritage and culture. There is still a lot of conflicts between the San and the governments over their land rights. The San knowledge has been greatly exploited over time by greedy people and the San are sadly not recognised in what they have done.
In another sense, the San have also managed to keep there heritage and culture by surviving the colonialism, speaking their own language, practicing their own religion and living according to their own customs and traditions. There are still descendants of the San living today, so let us hope that we can preserve what these ingenious people have brought to our world. I hope that in 10 years time, that the San don’t become just myths that we find only in books.
