Film Analysis: N ! A ! Kung Woman

In every civilization that involves the human race, change is essentially inevitable. Most societies strive to make it so most people are positively benefited from these changes. Despite the efforts, some people are still negatively affected by the shifts in customs. We see numerous examples of people being both positively and negatively affected from the shift of hunter/gatherer life styles to more sedentary life styles. The text Worlds of History by Kevin Reilly and the film N!ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman display many examples of said scenario. The shift from a hunter/gatherer style to a sedentary style in Africa helped some people flourish, made it difficult for others, and affected men and woman in several different ways. Most people
Henceforth, we can pick out a transition from this to a more sedentary life style. This change included many benefits. In a sedentary culture, the residents could notice a food surplus, due to the increased farming. With farms right next to a living community, it was quite simple to obtain food. This is a great benefit not only because people could eat, but it also helped nonagricultural professions flourish. Where there was food, there was energy and currency. This clearly leads to a more stable economy. Where there are farms, though, there must be water. As they moved into a sedentary way of life, people began moving closer to dependable bodies of water. Instead of walking several miles for water, it was plenty accessible for nourishment purposes and for irrigation purposes. The sedentary style created ever expanding opportunities for the individual to excel as well. With farms becoming popular, and flourishing professions as a result, people had opportunities to make money and other assets. Due to this aspect, some people were placed at a major advantage. Finally, this new method led to increased birth rate and population. N!ai herself displays the reason for this affect when she tells that
Very rarely do we stumble upon a decision that does not involve both aspects. This makes it easy to understand why the sedentary ways brought happiness and prosperity to some, it also brought tough times upon others. One of the biggest costs of the new style was the very significant subordination of woman. Since men were became the “bread winners” and woman were expected to stay home with the children, it is easy to see the development of a patriarchy. Not only this, but class hierarchies begun to arise as well. Where currency comes in to play, classes tend to follow. This is a cost because when equality dissolves, intersociety issues begin to become very likely. Although it may not seem too important to us, being connected to nature was something very important to the people in African societies. Turning to a sedentary life style seemed to somewhat sever peoples’ communication with nature. Since they did it so much, these people would become attached to the same nature that would provide them with food, water, and meat from animals. Switching to sedentary customs involved much less interaction with nature. People no longer went out to find berries, water, or to track a giraffe for days at a time. This affect did make some of the residents upset and resistant against the sedentary techniques. As previously discussed, this major transition placed some people at a major disadvantage. But some people