Click
here to read "CHILDREN OF THE KALAHARI" by
Judy Frost
BOTSWANA: Bushmen
win landmark legal case 13
Dec 2006
Scenes of jubilation
greeted the Botswana High Court's ruling today
in favour of the Kalahari Bushmen.
The court ruled today that the Botswana
government's eviction of the Bushmen was
'unlawful and unconstitutional', and that they
have the right to live on their ancestral land
inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
The court also ruled that the Bushmen applicants
have the right to hunt and gather in the
reserve, and should not have to apply for
permits to enter it.
One of the judges, Justice Phumaphi, said the
government's refusal to allow the Bushmen to
hunt 'was tantamount to condemning the residents
of the CKGR to death by starvation.'
However, the judges also said that the
government is not obliged to provide services to
Bushmen in the reserve.
Bushman spokesman Roy Sesana said outside the
court, 'Today is the happiest day for us
Bushmen. We have been crying for so long, but
today we are crying with happiness. Finally we
have been set free. The evictions have been
very, very painful for my people. I hope that
now we can go home to our land.'
Survival's director Stephen Corry said today,
'The court's ruling is a victory for the Bushmen
and for indigenous peoples everywhere in Africa.
It is also a victory for Botswana. If the
government quickly enacts the court ruling, then
the campaign will end and the country really
will have something to be proud of.'
The court case has been the longest and most
expensive in Botswana's history.
An online press file about the court case,
including summaries, biographies, legal
precedents, photos and video clips, is available
at
http://www.survival-international.org/bushmenpresspack
CHILDREN OF THE KALAHARI by
Judy Frost
The #Khomani San live in the southern part of
the Kalahari, known as the green Kalahari, in
the Northern Cape of South Africa, near the
Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park.
There are about 1600 #Khomani in the area, but
only about 70 of them, the Kruiper band, have
chosen to continue their traditional life style:
living in grass huts and sharing everything –
food, talk, fun – around fires in the open. But
they are unable to hunt and gather in the old
way, in spite of having won an historic land
claim in 1999.
The Kruiper elders want desperately to pass
their ancient language and culture on to the
younger generation. For years, they have been
planning and working to establish a Veld School
for that purpose. I visited them last summer to
meet them and talk about it.
Here is Ouma (Grandma) !Una, one of the last
speakers of the !Nu language. She has been
teaching it to several #Khomani kids.
Dawid Kruiper is the leader of the group. He
told me, "We must have a school to do two
things: give the children an education for
modern life and to nurture the old culture."
Here is Dawid sitting by his fire next to his
aged aunt, Ouma Anna, and his wife Sanna.
Ouma Anna is the sister of the legendary leader
of the Kruipers, Regopstaan, who started their
land claim with the lawyer Roger Chennels in the
early '90s. Dawid is Regopstaan's son.
Anna is a source of love and wisdom for the many
children who live in the Kruiper community.
Here she is with her great granddaughter
//Katy (pronounced like "Katy" with a click at
the beginning).
.
Katy loved drawing with some art materials I
brought for the kids.
Here's eight-year-old //Katy at the door of her
house with her father. Her mother is dead.
Katy attends a nearby public school, but is
often afraid because, she says "The big kids
beat the little kids, and the non-Bushmen beat
the Bushmen kids."
Katy's cousin //Xanan showed up,
and there was an urgent secret to share:
//Xanan lives with his mother, Lena, in the
town of Welkom.
Here's Lena:
Lena
works as a healer, using ancient #Khomani
techniques, but her income is barely enough to
feed herself and //Xanan, a bright, joyful and
talented child. Here are //Xanan and Lena
sitting on a dune high above Welkom at sunset:
:
//Xanan and
I took a walk on the veld one day. He showed me
the Hoodia cactus.
The warm sand feels good.
//Xanan
is cool.
Ounoi and Maria also live
in Welkom with their family.
They're craftsmen. Here, Maria is sewing a
leather bag.
They
are passionate about the need for a Veld School
for their children. "All the children I've
raised want a traditional school!" exclaimed
Maria. Ounoi has given a lot of thought to how
the traditional languages can be taught, and is
willing to help in any way he can.
The younger generation are plentiful. Here's a
scene in Ounoi and Maria's yard. The kids are
listening to a concert on the thumb piano, a
traditional instrument. Clark Wheeler, a young
American musician, is playing.
Kabys and Betty are also
craftspeople. They have a son, Geoff, who is
about to enter high school after graduating from
public school, and they're very disappointed he
will be too old for the Veld School they're
planning, but they have lots of grandchildren
who will be ready!
Here's Kabys playing a
traditional instrument. He's teaching his
grandson to play too, right top. Right bottom:
Betty and grandson in her kitchen.
I can't end this story
without showing you a picture of Belinda Kruiper,
a poet and writer who is married to Vetkat
Regopstaan Kruiper, another son of Regopstaan
and a world-renowned artist. Belinda and Vetkat
were my hosts and guides to the spirit of the
Kalahari.
Here's Vetkat.
Susan Bailey, head of
Indigenous Heritage, and I are
working in the US
to make the Veld School a reality.
Find us at:
Susanbailey46@yahoo.com and
frostjjaa@verizon.net,
Click here for
Bushman Stories
