The Ju’Hoansi Ana Franco Lyndsi Loumakis Period: 4.

The Ju’HoansiThe Ju’Hoansi

Ana Franco

Lyndsi Loumakis

Period: 4

The Beginning

• After the moon died, it came back to life to pass across the sky– Moon said that people will do the same and

come back to life after their death

• A hare contradicted the moon and said that people are born and must die

• When the moon tried to kill the hare to prove that he was right, the hare scratched him– That’s why the moon has marks on its face

Introduction/History

• Were part of the San group, but later they broke into smaller tribes– Approx. 300,000,

before the Dutch came in the 1650s who caused them to separate

• Live in the Dobe area, as a foraging society

• Greatly influence by the modern societies and have struggled to keep their culture and traditions alive

Settlements

• When the Europeans came they killed most of their game, causing them to move further South in search of food

• Live in grass huts in a circle, with – These are located by

water holes – Built to protect them

from the rain

Hunting

• Combine all of their findings and then redistribute to individual families

• Hunters use bow and arrows, spears, knives, ropes and domesticated dogs to hunt– Meat only accounts for approx. 30% of their diet

• They hunt small animals as well as large animals– Rabbits, snakes and birds are considered an

adequate hunt

Hunting

• They hunt small animals as well as large animals– Rabbits, snakes and

birds are considered an adequate hunt

Gathering

• Foraging society– Plants make up 70% of their diet

• The mongongo nut is eaten with almost every meal

• Do not use any tools to collect food

• Often travel miles away from their village to find food– Carry food and sometimes children in karroses, which are

pouches held close to the body to distribute the weight and make walking long distances easier

Egalitarianism

• Hunters are greatly appreciated, though not idolized– Society avoids praising people for anything, as they

do not want anyone to feel like they are of greater importance than anyone else in the village

• Often purposely insult those who do bring good hunts

• People who do feel as if they are of greater importance are referred to as “Big Men” and are sometimes ostracized by society

Social Organization

• Society is organized into bands, who consistently live and move together– Bands must be balanced in regards to age – Joking vs. avoidance relatives

• Very few names are used, because all children are supposed to be named after an ancestor

Social Organization Cont.

• Acquiring rights to territories are accomplished through birth and also through marriage – Within this there is claim to the territory that

the spouse holds – Also has rights to parents territory

Marriage

• Can’t marry someone who has the same name as a sibling, parent or grandparent– their method of preventing incest

• Marriages are arranged for children at early ages, sometimes even before birth

• Marriage ceremonies are sometimes violent– Woman is unsuspectingly removed from her

home and forcibly taken to her husband’s home

Connection and Conflict

• Marriage is the major connection between groups– Friendly relationships

with in-laws is crucial for survival

• Will never let their group go hungry

• Early marriage is encouraged to prevent rivalries among too many suitors – Of major significance

because it reduces a dispute among men for a women which would lead to murder with one of them

Talking and Telling Tales

• One of the best strategies in maintaining peace is by talking

• Telling stories is only something for the old people – Only talk about things that happened to them

and not about history

• When you get old, if you don’t tell stories than you don’t exists in the group

Leadership and Combat

• Peace only comes to the people “from the hearts and goodwill of the people themselves”

• Harmony is the central part of their traditional lives which reduces the number of conflicts

• Their three spheres of conflict are– Arguing– Fighting– Deadly combat

Hxaro Exchange

• The Hxaro Exchange is a system of gift giving– Gifts from individual to individual– Expected gift in return in the future

• Gifts presented at every social visit or gathering– The only thing that they aren’t allowed to

exchange are people and money

• The focal pint in any visit

Hxaro Exchange Cont.

• Gives extended relationships

• Also used as a safety valve for ongoing conflicts or conflicts that may arise

• Can be used as an excuse to leave the group if a person faces strong disagreements that they can’t fix within their group

Religion

• They have more than one explanation for how earth started– Have stories about how

at one point people and the humans were the exact same thing that lived in the same village under the guidance of an elephant

Religion Cont.

• Think of the elephant as the higher god– Stories about the lesser god portray him as a

trickster that only brought problems into the village

Supernatural

• The gagwasi (ancestral ghosts) are the responsible for things like death, illness…

• They think that the feeling that the people had towards each other is what provokes the ghosts

• The gagwasi send illness to the people that they miss so that they can reunite

• Their ghosts are what keep things in order

Healing

• Biggest fear is the threat of illness so most of their time is devoted to addressing these challenges

• Being a healer is what everyone strives for and it can be reached by everyone – 1/3rd are thought to have the power to heal– Rubbing the sweat of present healers to those

that wish to be one is a necessity

• Healing is reached in the !kia/Drum Dance

Ju’Hoansi Today

• Only forty years ago, the Ju’Hoansi were completely untouched by the influences of modern societies – In the past 25 years, they have been

acquainted with the ideas of a market economy, schooling, resettlement, militarization, and even apartheid