The Ju Hoansi People

The San have been represented by the media as a primitive group living in untouched area. We see this a lot in news, articles and films. The film titled “the gods must be crazy” which portrayed the San as people who have never seen a bottle of coca cola is a good example . However, one may ask this question : “how can a “primitive” group that is “untouched by civilization” feature in a movie?” In 1980s the San took part in making a film. This is one of the top things that come into mind when we think of “civilization”. Yet the youtube video shown above which was published in 2012 still portrayed the San as “the classic stone age people”.

As Richard Lee highlights , the San specifically the Ju’ Hoansi have been a recognized human race
since the 19th century (Lee 2013). That being said, it is not right to call them a primitive race just because they have a culture that is different from the western culture. Misrepresenting the San is problematic because it makes us view them in a wrong way. In addition, it enhances the false romanticization of the San as an authentic stone age culture (Mega Essays 2013). The truth is that the San people cannot be compared to a stone age culture because their culture is not static. The San culture is ever changing and being affected by “western civilization” and technology just like other cultures. With that in mind, this paper is going to critique today’s media representation of the Ju’Hoansi as a “lost” race, living in “untouched”. “harsh” environment.

Firstly, the Ju’Hoansi people and the San in general are usually referred to as “bushmen” in the media.
This term is problematic because it has some racist and sexist connotations. It is similar to calling someone “indian” (Lee 2013:9). The word is self explanatory as it means “bush” and “men” put together. In the video shown in the beginning, the word “bushmen” is the only word used to describe the San and that is the name that we find in the media often. This name implies that the san a ”lost” race with no structural organization. However, in his research, Lee found that the Ju’Hoansi are have well organized structure like any other culture. That being said, anthropologists urge us to use the San’s proper names such as the Dobe Ju’Hoansi instead of “bushmen”(Lee
2013).

Secondly, the media represent the San as a “primitive” and “untouched by civilization”. However, we know that today there is no place that is completely isolated and untouched by civilization. During his research in Dobe, Lee saw different transformations in the Ju’Hoansi society such as moving from hunting and gathering to agriculture and owning cattle (Lee 2013: 172). Today, the San have fixed homes, schools, clinics and jobs (Morning Star 2007). In the late 1960s about 10 percent of the male population worked in South African mining companies as migrant labourers (Lee 2013: 175). This shows that the San are not the static “untouched by civilization” people like the media portray them to be.

Lastly, the media has always portrayed the San as people who are living in harsh conditions struggling to survive based on the fact that they live in the desert. However, this was not the case in 1970s when Marshall Sahlins studied the San society. In fact, Sahlins (1972) described the San as the “original affluent society” because in his research he found that the San worked less hours compared to other societies (2.4 working days per week) , and yet they had enough food to sustain themselves. Sahlins also found that the San had a very nutritional diet which consisted of meat, mongongo nuts and other plants. Contrary to the media representations, having more leisure time and a nutritional diet made the San a very sustainable society. However, today the San are facing issues of displacement and restrictions on their former hunting territories which have made their living conditions harsh (Lee 2013). Therefore, one can say that the “western civilization” made living conditions more difficult for the San, a society that previously lived a sustainable life.

To conclude, this essay has shown that the San people are not “primitive” and “untouched by civilization as the media portrays them to be because their culture is advancing in technology just like other cultures.
Although, the San still have some traditions that are passed on to other generations such as having a wide knowledge of hundreds of species of plants and animals that are edible and those that are harmful, their culture cannot be compared to an authentic stone age culture. Therefore, it is important to understand that the San culture is just a different culture from ours that contributes to the diversity of the world. Rather than continuing to romanticize the San people, learning about them would give us a better view of their culture and this would help us to appreciate it
more.

References Cited:

Lee, Richard B.

2013 The Dobe Ju/’hoansi. University of Toronto: Cengage Learning

Mega Essays

2013 The Kung Bushman. Retrieved on 22,07,2013 from

http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/41531.html

Morning Star

2007 Namibian San People Begins a New Chapter with Red Cross Seed Distribution.

Retrieved 22, 07, 2013 from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Namibian-San-

People-Begins-New-Chapterred-1113806.html

Sahlins, Marshal

1972 Notes on The original Affluent Society

Jamie, Uys

1980 Film: The gods must be crazy. South Africa