The San people (Bush Men)

                                   

THE SAN PEOPLE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA 

ORIGIN

✓ The San were the earliest known people to live in South Africa.

✓ They are said to have been indigenous inhabitants of Southern Africa because it is believed that they originated from within the region.

✓ Originally, the San were found all over South Africa but were concentrated in Transvaal, highland areas of the Brakenstein, Camdeboo, Winterberg, Transkei and the hills of Griqualand West and the Drakensberg Ranges.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

✓ The San were short people of about 1.5m to 1.15m tall.

✓ They were slightly built with yellow or brown skinned in complexion and kinky hair.

✓ Their language had a distinctive click sound.

✓ Men had short feet and big protruding stomach while women had fat thighs, big buttocks and slander alms.

WAY OF LIFE & ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

✓ The San belonged to the Late Stone Age Period.

✓ For their survival they depended on hunting, gathering, and fishing.

✓ The San were nomads who moved from place to place in search of food.

✓ The San hunted animals using the bow and poisoned arrows and also traps.

✓ They hunted mostly small animals such as antelopes and hyenas, but sometimes killed 

animals such as buffaloes and elephants using dugout pits filled with pointed spears.

✓ The San did not keep animals except dogs, which they used for hunting

✓ The women and children gathered wild fruits such a berries and roots, wild honey, insects such as grasshoppers, caterpillars,termites and edible fruits including roots such as those that were sweet.

✓ The San did not and could not cultivate land.

They were accomplished trackers finding the path of wounded animals

SOCIAL ORGANISATION

✓ The San lived in bands of between twenty and thirty people.

✓ They used tree branches and grass to build simple shelters for protection.

✓ They also lived in caves and overhanging rocks where available.

✓ Each family had an animal totem and licking themselves to a particular animal which won’t be allowed to kill.

✓ They were nomads and this perhaps could be an explanation as to why their families were small in nature due to difficulties in life.

✓ The San used animal skin for their clothing.

✓ Marriage among the San was done at an early age, thus, girls of 7 to 8 years got married to boys of 14 years to 15 years.

✓ Despite the early marriages, it is doubtful if women had more than three or four children, since more children would have been a burden because of the hunter wandering life.

✓ Boys and girls went through initiation ceremonies before marriage, which were taught using symbolic drawings painted on rocks signifying patterns of information necessary for marriage.

✓ The San were gifted artists who painted on rocks and trees during their free time.

✓ Their paintings can be divided into four categories; Naturalistic (showing real life situation), Schematic (showing mathematical drawings), Engravings (showing drawings of deep cuts on rocks), Dirty-White (showing drawings by using dirty paint).

✓ They used animal blood, ash, green and yellow leaves, and charcoal for paint while animal bones, feathers and tails as brushes for painting.

✓ There pictures depicted their way of life especially their hunting activities. They did this because of their belief in magic that the animals they paint are the ones to kill.

✓ The San also danced during their leisure time and the importance of hunting was expressed in the dances as they imitated the eland, scavenging of vultures and hyenas and the chasing of ostrich.

POLITICAL ORGANISATION AND RELIGION

✓ The San had no central government system. They had only band leaders whose functions

were to take care of band fires and to decide when to move and where to go.

✓ The band leaders were chosen from the best hunters in the land and from the oldest men in the land.

They believed in a supreme being called Kageen or Huwe, whose earthly representative was the praying mantis.

✓ The mantis was regarded as a symbol of wealth and good fortune.

✓ The new and full moon was cerebrated in a dance and during this activity they prayed for good fortune in the hunt.

✓ They also believed in magic and the existence of spirits in forests, valleys and mountains.

✓ The San further believed that spirits had influence over nature such as death being caused by bad spirits.