1.3 THE KHOISAN - a brief history of dispossession, subjugation and reclamation

1.3.4 KhoiSan Cultural Symbols, Material Culture and Living (Intangible) Heritage

a. Material culture of the KhoiSan

From an archeological perspective, material culture can be defined to include (often) excavated artifacts or other concrete or material objects left behind by past cultures. These artifacts or material objects produced by human beings, like utensils, furniture, art, weapons, structures, monuments and burial sites, when scientifically studied and interpreted, bring forth what 'historical documentation has missed', as written history does indeed provide a 'partial picture' of the past…. a picture sustained by mythologies and racial stereotyping which has erased the 'other' from universal memory and imposingly makes self-fulfilling presumptions on the 'other's' origins.

The History / Archeology Panel Report of 2000 to the Minister of Education in its recognition of the 'reciprocal relationship' between history and archaeology, presents its understanding of archaeology as “the illumination of the common ancestry through providing an understanding of both the very ancient and more recent roots of the cultures of indigenous peoples which persisted for thousands of years, such as the Southern African hunter gatherers and the Australian Aborigines.”

Considering the fact that the Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance is intended also as a repository of KhoiSan material culture, it becomes important that the Centre provides adequate and well-resourced facilities for the storage, preservation and access to expected collection of artifacts or objects relating to KhoiSan material culture.

This will include garments or apparel, decorative ornaments, weaponry, tools, utensils, pictorial works, crafts, dwellings, musical instruments, etc, all of which will provide insight into the traditional KhoiSan way of life and culture, as well as its adaptations throughout history from pre-colonialism to present-day democratic South Africa.

In building a collection of artifacts, a centre of this nature should not only have in its service curatorial staff to undertake the specialized tasks of research, conservation and exhibition, but will also need to build institutional relationships to map out the location of the material culture in question and have institutional arrangements regarding issues such as accessibility. In effect, another service obligation of this centre will be that of a museum.

Other cultural institutions which have KoiSan artifacts and may work in association with the Centre include the Albany Museum, the NFI, Iziko Museums and the University of the Witwatersrand, amongst others.

b. KhoiSan Living or Intangible Cultural Heritage

Living or Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) as defined by the 2003 UNESCO Convention (of which South Africa is a signatory) “consists of non-physical characteristics, practices, representations, expressions as well as knowledge and skills that identifuy and define a group of civilization.” In its extended definition the concept of ICH includes manifestations such as

“oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage, music, dance, drama and performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe (and) traditional craftsmanship.”

The Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance will therefore become a valuable institution in the recovery and safeguarding of this living heritage by providing the necessary physical space for the cultural festive events, performing arts and social practices. It will also play a vital role in implementing the necessary measures “such as protection, promotion, transmission through formal and non-formal education, research and revitalization, to promote greater respect and awareness.” By achieving this, there must be a reflection of the historical reality that

“KhoiSan life interacted with other cultures in the past, the present and the future… it must have phases of the past, present and future in its design layout (and) accept that we live in a diverse yet united society”.

c. Language

The following quote from Brenzinger's article on the study of endangered languages and its potential benefits aptly sets the tone for this aspect of KhoiSan living cultural heritage. He states:

“The study of endangered languages can be considered against a background related to the general value of preserving an existing cultural diversity. Every culture represents an experiment in the survival of a unique and alternative way of life, of solving or evading problems. Loss of cultural diversity is therefore a loss of experience and knowledge that has proven its potential usefulness for mankind in general. Languages, beside being part of a people's cultural heritage, constitutes a complete and complex reflection of it. The loss of a language entails the loss of cultural heritage. The documentation of languages is thus central to ethnography, ethnomedicine, and the study of ritual and oral tradition…. (therefore) the urgency of language maintenance efforts expressed by the community… should be given high priority.”

The study of the KhoiSan languages will therefore not only reveal the “complete and complex reflection” of a people's cultural heritage; it will also provide possibilities for further exploration of the language with reference to the ”historical incorporation of its click sounds into the phonologies of Southern Bantu languages ” during the advent of historical cultural contact and inter-culturation. The Xhosa language serves as the best example to illustrate this influence, as many consonants in isiXhosa are from the (KhoiSan)… with examples being words with religious meaning, such as iqgira in Xhosa and igei-xa in KhoiSan, and also the name for the Supreme Being Thixo,(Xhosa) derived from the KhoiSan word Tsui//goab.

This legacy of the KhoiSan language is found in “thousands of place names in South Africa which have KhoiSan meaning, such as:

Keiskamma Kei Knysna Cango Karoo Coega Komga Gamtoos

meaning puffadder river meaning sand river meaning fern leaves meaning water mountains meaning arid and dry meaning hippopotamus meaning lots of clay derived from a KhoiSan group called Gamtoures.”

It is for this reason that the Centre should provide space for a language laboratory, which will provide opportunities for the public, scholars and any other interested parties to study these languages and thus learn about a people, their heritage and their culture.

d. Indigenous Knowledge Systems

In his paper titled Indigenous Knowledge Systems – The True Roots of Humanism, presented at the World Library and Information Congress (14-18 August 2005), Professor Ole Hendrick Magga writes:

“Human beings gather knowledge basically for two purposes: survival and meaning… Long before the development of modern science… indigenous peoples have developed their ways of knowing how to survive and also their ideas about meanings, purposes and values. It has become customary to refer to this knowledge as 'indigenous knowledge' or 'traditional knowledge', 'local knowledge', 'traditional ecological knowledge' 'ethno-ecology' etc… and it is often seen as in contrast to, or at least very different from, Western ways of generating, recording and transmitting knowledge.”

Present day concerns about the environment and sustainable living should not be classified as western concepts, as “the KhoiSan have been practicing sustainable environmental living long before the advent of colonialism.”

The definition of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) reveals several inter-related key aspects which can be summarized as follows:

* * * * * * *

Locally-bound, indigenous to a specific area Culture and context specific No formal knowledge (not generated from institutions of higher learning) Orally transmitted and generally not documented Dynamic and adaptive Holistic in nature Closely related to survival and subsistence for many people worldwide

Historically indigenous knowledge was critical to the overall lifestyle of indigenous peoples, including decision-making regarding social organization, management of natural resources, security, food generation or preparation, human and animal health, and a host of other activities meant to ensure human survival in the natural environment.

As this knowledge has been extensively exploited in an unsustainable manner which has been to the detriment of its custodians, it is crucial that “it must be respected, promoted and protected… intellectual property rights must be guaranteed and ensured. Without traditional knowledge holder's free, prior and informed consent, traditional knowledge is not in the public domain and is protected cultural and intellectual property under customary law. Unauthorised use and misappropriation of traditional knowledge is theft.”

The role of women is integral to the goal of promoting and protecting, because, as part of the community, they exhibit the knowledge in “activities like beadwork, cultivation and preparation of indigenous foods, traditional healing processes, fermentation processes…”

In lamenting the threat to this indigenous knowledge, Chief J Burgess states in a paper presented to the National KhoiSan Consultative Conference that “KhoiSan women are made to believe that our own indigenous medicine is not good enough. This has created a situation where we would move away from what is rightfully ours and buy the very same medicine from a pharmacy, simply because it is manufactured by modern technology.”

It is through the study of KhoiSan indigenous knowledge systems that the depth of other KhoiSan practices and their symbolism can be learnt and understood. These cultural practices, which are not covered here, include religious beliefs and practices; cosmology with respect to the supreme deity or god; mythical tales of gods and ancestor heroes whose lives provided examples of ways to cope with social conflict and personal problems; fables and poetry; spirituality with respect to the ritual dances and prayers during the full moon; their society and its social and economic organization; gender relations and power structures; cultural festivities and commemorations. All these require further reading and research in order to be fully understood.

Through the envisaged medicinal garden at the Centre, it is hoped that indigenous plants will be re-introduced and studied, particularly with respect to their healing properties, their cultural use and symbolism.

The Sarah Bartmann Centre of Remembrance, in its operations and programmes, will be expected to uphold the principles espoused in the Kimberly Declaration and the United Nations Declaration on indigenous peoples' rights with respect to KhoiSan Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Considering that IKS is a universal issue, it will be expected to initiate and maintain partnerships in order to sustain this valuable effort. In South Africa, initiatives like the Indigenous Knowledge Systems Program, managed under the auspices of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and other non-governmental organizations and community-based organisations become very important.