Khomani San of the Southern Kalahari 74 3.1 Introduction
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Genealogies and narratives of San authenticities The ≠Khomani San land claim in the southern Kalahari by William Ellis Source: Bantu Studies 11(3) Jones & Doke 1937 Thesis presented for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts: Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of the Western Cape Supervisor: Professor Diana Gibson University of the Western Cape 15 November 2012 Keywords: San, Bushmen, ≠Khomani, authenticity, land claims, Kalahari, traditional leadership 1 Abstract Genealogies and narratives of San authenticities The ≠Khomani San land claim in the southern Kalahari William Ellis Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts: Department of Anthropology and Sociology In this thesis, I examine the narratives of authenticity, the limits thereof, the potential interests served by these narratives, and the power relations involved in the promotion of an authentic San identity. I focus on four key areas to achieve this goal: the methodological issues involved in studying authenticity, the framing of the land claim lodged by the San against the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa in 1995, the post-land claim settlement activities on the restituted farms, and the various issues around authenticity and traditional leadership. I will also highlight a variety of issues, ranging from livelihoods to governance, community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), identity and ethnicity, and common property debates. The study begins with a brief introduction to the richly textured and highly contested debates and analytical issues concerning the San. Among other things, this first part of the thesis deals with naming, the alleged disappearance of the San, and the eventual reemergence of this group in the post-apartheid landscape of southern Africa. This is followed by a brief description of some aspects of the natural environment of the southern Kalahari and how the San see themselves situated within this cultural–ecological complex. This exploration of the cultural–ecological landscape is not meant to mirror previous San studies of cultural ecology but rather to offer an account of a possible San ontology. The thesis gives an inventory firstly of the research methods applied by myself, and then probes the research encounter 2 reflexively. The main descriptive chapters of the thesis begin with an examination of how the ≠Khomani San emerged onto the political landscape of post-1994 South Africa and how an ethnic entity was constituted through the land restitution process. The post-restitution activities of at least three subgroups of the ≠Khomani San Common Property Association (CPA) are the n examined and shown to be a series of contestations and challenges of authenticity. In the final chapter, I take an experimental look at a particular institution that emerged as central to the debates about authenticity and the management of resources in the ≠Khomani San CPA 15 November 2012 3 Acknowledgements This thesis is dedicated to many people, in order of their importance to the work. Firstly, to my wife Zulfa Abrahams, without whom this thesis would literally never, never have happened. Shukran jazakallah‟ukhair. My father, James Henry Peter Ellis, who set the bar this high to begin with, and my mother, Henrietta Ferguson Ellis. Salem van Wyk Ellis, whose early life was spent doing the initial work on this thesis. Aminah Solomon, who has also waited for this moment. My late grandfather, James Henry Peter Ellis, who worked as a shoemaker all his life and was for much of my youth a living exhibit at the Drostdy Museum in Swellendam, South Africa. Lastly, I must acknowledge the organizations, PLAAS, NRF, and NUFU, that funded and supported this endeavour throughout. 4 DECLARATION I declare that “Genealogies and narratives of San authenticities: The ≠Khomani San land claim in the southern Kalahari” is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged as complete references. William Ellis November 2012 Signed: . 5 Table of Contents Genealogies and narratives of San authenticities .................................................................................................... 0 The ≠Khomani San land claim in the southern Kalahari ....................................................... 0 Genealogies and narratives of San authenticities .................................................................................................... 2 The ≠Khomani San land claim in the southern Kalahari ...................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................................ 4 Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Prologue ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Name (s) and naming the San ................................................................................... 15 1.3 Common names and their meanings ......................................................................... 17 1.4 Conventions in naming the San ................................................................................. 20 1.5 Locating the San on the southern African landscape ................................................ 26 1.6 The research problem ................................................................................................ 34 1.7 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................ 36 2 Background: Setting and location ............................................................................................................... 39 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 39 2.2 Location of the field site ............................................................................................ 39 2.3 Geomorphology of the southern Kalahari / Mier region .......................................... 40 2.4 The significance of the geomorphology of the Southern Kalahari for economic and subsistence activities ............................................................................................................ 46 2.5 Factors influencing climate in the Southern Kalahari .............................................. 49 2.5.1 Rainfall and fossil drainage ............................................................................... 49 2.5.2 Temperature ....................................................................................................... 52 2.6 Limits and possibilities due to climate ...................................................................... 53 2.7 Vegetation of the southern Kalahari ......................................................................... 55 2.7.1 The Tsamma ....................................................................................................... 56 2.7.2 The Kameeldoring ............................................................................................. 61 2.7.3 Grasses vs. shrubs .............................................................................................. 66 2.7.4 Landcare, bush encroachment and authentic Kalahari veld ............................... 69 2.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 73 Chapter 3 .............................................................................................................................................................. 74 3 A discussion of methodological issues in the ethnography of the Khomani San of the southern Kalahari 74 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 74 3.2 Length of stays in the field ........................................................................................ 74 3.3 Methods used in the collection of data ...................................................................... 76 3.3.1 Community profiles ........................................................................................... 76 6 3.3.2 Historical data .................................................................................................... 78 3.3.3 Archival work .................................................................................................... 79 3.3.4 Transect walks ................................ ................................................................... 80 3.3.5 Workshops ................................................................ ......................................... 84 3.3.6 Network mapping............................................................................................... 92 3.3.7 Surveys ............................................................................................................... 93 3.3.8 Interviews ........................................................................................................... 94