The First Bushman's Path

"The First Bushmen were those who first inhabited the earth...When the First Bushmen had passed away, the Flat Bushmen inhabited their ground. Therefore, the Flat Bushmen taught their children about the stories of the First Bushmen." (translation of remarks of a /Xam narrator //Kabbo)

The Kalahari Bushmen, or San people, have lived in the very arid Kalahari desert region of South Africa for approximately 2000 years .

A brief overview of the background of the Kalahari bushman is available at my last post.

One of the things that is interesting about the Bushmen is that they don't have a written language, so everything in their culture is passed down orally. They share their beliefs, rituals, and hunting and survival skills to each other in their native language, from generation to generation.



We can see into the philosophy and eloquence of the Kalahari Bushmen through their stories, poems, and songs. I recently stumbled upon the book "The First Bushman's Path" at the library-I went looking for two completely different books and ended up with this one, containing many of these types of Kalahari works that had been translated into English and written into the book.

The poem for which this book is named, "The First Bushman's Path", is a rather lengthy one, but I will share it here because it shows some of the Kalahari Bushman's use of rhetoric, eloquence, and philosophy, so I will put parts of it here.

"the young man who dies, the old woman who dies, 

the small child who dies, the old man who dies:

they die, they die and they go to this place:

the body of an old woman dries up and it shrinks

and she starves and dies and goes to this place,

and the head of an old man turns white from age

and he starves and dies and goes to this place:

they starve, they die, and they go to this place:

and a man shoots down another man with poison

and the other man dies and he goes to this place,

and a man slashes at another man with a dagger

and the other man dies and he goes to this place:

they fight, they die, and they go to this place:

and a man is stabbed with a knife and he dies,

and a man is beaten with a stick and he dies,

and a man is shot with an arrow and he dies,

and a woman is shot with an arrow and she dies:

they die, they die and they go to this place

and all dead people and animals walk one path,

they walk along the same path to one great hole

the animals that have been shot by the Bushmen,

and the Bushmen that have been shot by other men,

as well as the people that have died of illness:

dead gemsbok, dead ostriches, dead Korannas,

dead Boers and dead Bushmen, all walk that path:

the dead walk a path that is a Bushman's path,

it is a path that is the First Bushman's path,

and after they have been buried in the ground

they get up and walk out along the path

to a hole that is 'net soos 'n huis', a hole as

large as from Table Bay to Kalk Bay to Mowbray:

and they get to the great hole and go into it

and they live in it and they walk about in it:

the Bushmen go into it, the Korannas go into it,

the Boers go into it, all the people go into it:

the dead go into the hole and they live in it,

and there the very old man whose head is white 

becomes 'regte mooi' and 'maak soos 'n jong kerel'

note: 'net soos 'n huis' = just like a house; 'regte mooi' = really good looking; and 'maak soos 'n jong kerel' = acts like a young bloke

As defined in Alicia's post, poems such as "The First Bushman's Path" are eloquent in that, while they use very simple language-although I'm sure in the one of the clicking languages it would sound quite complex-the people get the point of what they are saying across. This poem in particular, and many of the other Bushman poems, use a great deal of repetition to emphasize their meaning. Many of the poems also describe the beliefs of the Bushmen, such as this one, which explains the peoples' beliefs about death. The poem showed their belief that everyone will take the same path in death and will all share the same destiny afterwards. 

 

One of the stories that explains what we believe that has been passed down-although in written form-and is important to many Christians is the story of Adam and Eve. This story probably started out as oral and can be retold easily. It explains how we as humans came to the Earth, how it was created, and why we have to suffer death and pain. Can anyone else think of any stories that explain why we do or believe something, whether it is written or oral? And when we share our beliefs, is it better to be eloquent, or should we be in simple words like the Bushman's?