People of the desert
By Tom Brown
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The Bushman or San are peoples of southern Africa who traditionally lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and speak languages with many click consonants. Indigenous to northwestern Namibia, extending up into southern Angola and Botswana. Genetic evidence suggests diversion from other humans even as 200 000 years ago.
Bushmen worked as trackers for the army for their uncanny knowledge and skill of the bush during the Border war. People have become westernised, sadly these traditions and knowledge of nature and survival abilities would mostly have been lost, as has for many similar ancient cultures in the world as in parts of the Americas and Australasia.
There were two South African films “The gods must be crazy I & II”, and also a film “Beautiful people” made by Jamie Uys on the Bushmen and the Kahalari. The movies are brilliant and I regard them as cultural treasure.
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Because of differences of
Because of differences of language and culture between separated groups of people it used to be easy for people to think that the groups had 'become' very different, even in an evolutionary way. (I don't agree that evidence is there for 200,000 years or more of earth history, by the way!) but although it is sad to lose cultural distinctions and language, the mixing ahd 'westernization' show that we are all one family, all human groups, worldwide! Rhiannon
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