The Ju'Hoansi: Africa's Surviving Foragers

Figure 1: The Ju/'hoansi

 
One of the most widely studied groups in Africa are the San, which is a broad term used to describe a group of hunter-gatherers of southern Africa.  You may have heard of them as they were also referred to as the Bushmen.  For several decades anthropologists lumped these distinctive groups together, but today we recognize that there is a need to separate out these groups and address their cultures individually.  Today’s blog post will discuss one of those groups: the Ju/’hoansi.

The Ju/’hoansi refer to themselves as the “real people” (Figure 1), and they, along with other San, are one of the extant ancestral populations from which all modern humans descended.  The Ju/’hoansi reside in Angola, Botswana, and Namibia.  While their numbers are not quite as large there were once as many as 300,000 Ju/’hoansi and San before colonial powers took over Africa. 

The Ju/’hoansi are excellent hunters and gatherers, although only 30% of their diet comes from game meat.  As the Ju/’hoansi are hunter-gatherers they exist in small, band level groups, meaning all members must contribute for the group’s survival.  Because meat is highly prized but seldom eaten the Ju/’hoansi have a unique way of deterring jealousy among men who hunt: it is customary to insult the meat.  This practice involves everyone telling the hunter that the meat he brought it tastes funny, came from an animal that was too old or two young, and/or is of generally poor quality.  These comments may not actually reflect the quality of the meat, but that’ not the point.  The point is to keep hunters humble in order to maintain the group’s survival.  Furthermore, it is actually the women (and men) who contribute to the primary source of the Ju/’hoansi’s diet: a variety of vegetative items, including Mongogo nuts and fruits (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Mongogo tree

Kinship among the Ju/’hoansi is unique.  Children are given a name from an ancestor, which cannot be used.  They must be referred to by a nickname.  Names hold a great deal of importance among the Ju/’hoansi because that dictates who you cannot marry.  Ju/’hoansi individuals cannot marry individuals with the same name as a close family member (e.g. if the father is named Robert then a woman cannot marry anyone named Robert).  Anyone who shares the name of a close family member, such as a mother or sibling, is considered a second or third individual of that family status.  This means that if your sister is named Sally any other woman named Sally would be considered your sister, as well.  This can get very confusing as there are only about 30 names available among the San, but it is not nearly as complicated as you may think when you remember that the San exist in small groups.  Furthermore, marriages are typically arranged by the parents, although divorce is allowed and is commonplace.

Unfortunately, the Ju/’hoansi have been forced to change and many are no longer nomadic.  These changes have been forced by local state governments that outlawed or limited hunting, forcing the Ju/’hoansi to become sedentary.  Several have fought back politically by purchasing land and maintaining their traditional ways of life on their private property, but modernization, big game hunting, and warfare continue to encroach on their traditional cultural ways.

 Bibliography

Peters-Golden, H.  (2011).  Culture Sketches: Case Studies in Anthropology. 6th Edition.  Mc-Graw Hill Education.