Do You Want Your Feet Back? Barefoot Cobblers

Do You Want Your Feet Back?

Barefoot Cobblers Table of Contents

2 3 Foreword – 04 The Ju|’hoansi 108 Future Footprint – 09 of Nyae Nyae, Namibia: – 123 Christine De Baan A Historical and Anthropological Feet and How 26 Perspective to Shoe Them – 51 Robert K. Hitchcock Catherine Willems The Atelier 132 – 141 How Humans Walk and 70 Flora Blommaert Why Footwear Matters – 79 Kristiaan D’Août Postscript 142 – 145

Interviews with 84 Ju|’hoan Cobblers – 105

3 Foot, photographed during fieldwork as part of a biomechanical analysis, Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Foreword – Future Footprint Christine De Baan

4 5 100% personalized 3D-printed footwear based on features of indigenous Indian footwear. Ghent, Belgium, 2018. © Thomas Nolf What makes Catherine Willems’ work¹ the switch, these villages become more techno­ on “Future Footwear” so appealing is its logically advanced in their energy sourcing than promise to leapfrog more than 150 years their counterparts in the West, circumventing of industrialization, with all its attendant the need for coal, oil, or nuclear energy. afflictions—environmental destruction, From pre-industrial to post-industrial depletion of natural resources, extreme with the smallest possible footprint: these global inequality—and bring us straight are great leaps, and necessary ones. We are into a cleaner and fairer future, while taking currently using up our planet at the irrespon­ cues from ancient knowledge and craft. sible rate of 1.7 times its capacity, and the pace is increasing. Every year, Earth Over­ 1 Catherine Willems (KASK / School of Arts, Ghent, shoot Day—when we have taken more from Belgium) founded Future Footwear Foundation to scale-up concepts that she developed for her doc- nature than our planet can renew in the entire toral research at KASK to global activities and sus- year—falls on an earlier date. This year it tain the convergence beyond term-limited research. was August 1, meaning that we are living on borrowed time for the last five months There are other examples of such leapfrogging, of 2018.² though not rooted in craft. Most famous is the arrival in recent decades of satellite dishes in 2 The “we” here should be qualified, however: coun- tries like Qatar and Luxembourg already reached remote rural villages across the Global South, this date in February, whereas some African and many of which had been unreached by physical Asian countries will not reach it at all this year telephone lines, sparking new economies, net­ (www.overshootday.org/newsroom/country-over- works, and knowledge building—particularly shoot-days). after the advent of what has become a most efficient tiny computer, the smartphone. Or It is also becoming clear that “green growth” the rise of high voltage direct-current systems is not enough: growth itself has become connected to solar panels, bringing clean, un­sustainable. “Degrowth” is the only cheap, and renewable energy to previously way for­ward. We need to radically rethink non-electrified communities. With a flick of the way we live, produce, and consume.

5 100% personalized 3D-printed footwear based on features of indigenous Indian footwear. Ghent, Belgium, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Seen from the perspective of the earth’s The rise of fast fashion is very recent. existence (4.5 billion years), the presence of Only in the last two decades have people in its current destroyer, Homo sapiens, is but the affluent world gone from having fairly a mere flash in time (200,000 years). Even limited wardrobes, with some variation for within this limited timeframe of our existence winter and summer, to the current almost daily as a species, the industrial era is just a blip. glut of buying cheap, hardly-to-be-worn, soon- From the tentative perspective of some further to-be-discarded items of clothing. Fashion has millennia of human existence, we should be quickly become the second largest polluting able to step back and see around it, into industry in the world, using up precious re­ a more sensible future. To my mind, that is sources and spreading toxic waste, creating what Willems does when she looks closely an appalling record in income equality, and at well-honed, traditional ways of making employing people in dismal working conditions. footwear, perfectly adapted to the natural The fashion industry is realizing much too environment and perfectly suited to the slowly that it urgently needs to change. It will wearer’s feet, with the aim of recreating these not “degrow” by itself—there is too much qualities in a contemporary, future-oriented money at stake. Legislation on an international way, using materials and techniques with level is needed to decrease the environmental the lightest possible footprint and realizing pressure of the industry and raise the living the highest form of made-to-measure. Her standards of fashion workers. Meanwhile, work reminds us that not so long ago all of consumer awareness is growing and people us wore handmade clothes and shoes, using are looking for alternatives. the materials that came to hand, re-using what As the recent exhibition State of we already had, adapting, fitting—naturally Fashion 2018 | searching for the new luxury 3 bespoke. And we kept and used these few showed, some of the larger companies essentials for a long time. Just the other day, are now researching and developing my father proudly pointed out that his newly cleaner alternatives—halving the amount polished, handsome-looking black shoes were of water needed to produce a pair of jeans, more than forty years old. for example—and have started monitoring

6 7 Cobblers checking the quality of newly arrived eland antelope skins, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf and ameliorating working conditions in The Future Footwear Foundation clothes factories. (FFF) can play an important part in this. The research by Willems and her team, 3 Arnhem, the Netherlands, 1 June – 22 July 2018, also presented in State of Fashion, is unique curated by Jose Teunissen (stateoffashion.org/en.) in bringing three disparate fields together: traditional footwear in three very different H&M (Sweden), the original fast fashion indigenous cultures, the biomechanics of culprit and still in no ways perfect, is currently the human foot, and advanced technology making some of the largest strides, while for 3D measuring and printing. What G-star RAW (Holland) recently produced makes this so interesting is the depth and their first “Cradle-to-Cradle Gold Level seriousness of the exploration in each field, certified denim,” while publicly sharing the resulting in a richness of data and infor­ process and technology involved. Designers mation which has only just started to yield such as Stella McCartney (UK), Oskar its first outcomes. Metsavaht (Osklen, Brazil), Amaka Osakwe This intense dedication to research (Maki Oh, Nigeria), and Mia Morikawa and and attention to detail might be a typically Shani Himanshu (11.11/eleven eleven, India), feminine trait. I am reminded of the deep are trailblazers in creating and advocating long-term research into color by Dutch for fairer, cleaner fashion. And increasingly designer Hella Jongerius which, though it research is being done at universities and finds its applied use in the furniture (Vitra) fashion schools into alternative sources, and aviation industries (KLM), springs from materials (algae, fungi, fruit waste), pro­ her personal fascination with all aspects duction methods, and distribution systems and properties of color, and her committed (self-assembly, personalized adjustment, quest to changing our understanding of it leasing, and borrowing). This research, and its use in our daily environment. Even coupled with the vision of designers and without industry partners, her research artists, is essential to understanding and would continue: first it exists, then comes imagining the way forward. the demand.

7 |Aice cutting backstraps, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Japanese architect Toshiko Mori bases We learn from FFF how these traditional each project on a principle she learned from types of footwear actually represent a “new Iroquois Native Americans: “They said that luxury”: hand-made, bespoke, eco-friendly, with every single decision you make, you equitable. And how this essentialist approach should think of seven generations ahead.” can be translated into a contemporary context, She designed the Thread Cultural Centre in using the latest 3D-scanning technology and Sinthian, Senegal, as one undulating roof that 3D printing to create the perfect made-to- gives shade, collects rainwater, and shelters measure shoe with minimal material loss. the community and their activities. Pairing This resonates with a renewed interest in advanced parametric design with traditional Stewart Brand’s magazine Whole Earth Catalog, bamboo frameworks and adobe walls, it was founded in 1968: it was the California bible built by the local community. for a minimalist, autarchic, ecologically sound The footwear-making skills in the lifestyle combining the tools and products of three communities Willems investigated nomadic culture with new technology, with were built up and shared over generations. usefulness and easy accessibility as key re­ This is a common, free-flowing form of quirements for inclusion. knowledge, not fixed, as the evolution of the Our feet are our primary means for Sami snow boot clearly shows, nor exclusive standing on and moving about this earth. to a traditional lifestyle, as the daily use of They anchor and propel us forward.4 kolhapuri sandals in India proves. However, it is at present not always a highly respected 4 Kristiaan D’Août further explores this idea in his text skill: many Indian cobblers, for example, in this book. don’t have a sense of the importance of their work. But this form of knowledge deserves Through modernization and industrialization, wider recognition: if we are serious about most of us have lost our immediate connection degrowth—and we urgently need to be— with our planet. Our feet have become encased we need inspi­ration and education from in hard, tight shells, hobbling us and damaging such sources. our anatomy, while the production of such

8 9 Barefoot temple caretaker, Hampi, Karnataka, India, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août footwear damages our planet. We need to reconnect with our feet, with the earth we move upon, with knowledge that is as ancient as it is timely, and to quite literally reduce our footprint, while continuing to move forward. The shoes of the Ju|’hoansi, the Sami, and the people of Kolhapur follow the shape of our feet while protecting them, with minimal means, from their environment: a moulded scrap of eland leather, a reindeer- fur boot, a thin buffalo-leather sole. They move and breathe with our feet, perfectly serving their purpose, adapting through time to changing needs. Rooted in centuries-old traditions, they prove to be perfectly of our time, and a lesson to us all. A lesson FFF presents in this book, and extends towards the future.

8 9 Instructions written on a rock at the entrance to a temple complex, Hampi, Karanataka, India, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août For the making of footwear and the use of tools see: Catherine Willems, A reindeer between buffalo, 2013, https://vimeo.com/108804744. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the handmade production of Indian footwear, Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Tool used for the construction of handmade and semi-industrial footwear. Porto, Portugal, 2015. © David Willems Hammer used for the construction of handmade and semi-industrial footwear. Porto, Portugal, 2015. © David Willems Tool used for the construction of handmade and semi-industrial footwear production. Porto, Portugal, 2015. © David Willems Fur leg of a Finnish reindeer used for making the nuvvtohat, or fur reindeer boot. Inari, Finland, 2013. Tool used for the construction of handmade and semi-industrial footwear production. Porto, Portugal, 2015. © David Willems Blue last reflecting unshod feet featuring a wider toe area than conventional lasts. Porto, Portugal, 2015. Image © David Willems Feet and How to Shoe Them Catherine Willems

26 27 | Kunta Bo, headman of Doupos, explaining how to make the n!ang n|osi sandal. Doupos, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf How environments pre-design gait skill, combining tracking and endurance and footwear running to pursue an animal until it slows down or collapses from heat exhaustion, “I used to wear sandals made out of eland and then killing it with a poisoned arrow or [Daba, n!ang] skin [n|osi] to run behind wooden club. The San were among the last eland, kudu, and warthogs. The sandal I such hunters on the planet with a nomadic used to wear when I was young is different lifestyle. They moved around in the Kalahari from the one you are making now with the desert, a large semi-arid sandy savannah in cobblers. For hunting a special type of sandals Southern Africa covering most of Botswana was used, named ||orkos. The sole was not and parts of South Africa, Namibia, and flat but concave, touching the ground at two Zimbabwe. They had to protect their feet points and giving a better grip while running. from hot sand and thorns, and the hide of You could catch the sand with those sandals, the eland, one of the largest antelope species, they were not slippery. When you come next yields among the most durable and thickest time, bring along some eland skin or even of leathers. Until the 1950s everybody used kudu or wildebeest and I will show you how eland sandals, as eland were plenty. But to make them.” when eland skin became increasingly scarce | Kunta Bo, interview January 2018, toward the end of that decade, sandals begun Doupos, Nyae Nyae Conservancy to be made out of car tire. Only a few San (Namibia) still know how to make eland-skin sandals. | Kunta Bo is one of them. Early in 2018 | Kunta Bo, a healer in Doupos, If you walk in the village of Doupos, in Namibia’s Otjozondjupa region, spoke or Nhoma, or any other village in northeast to me about the eland sandal, eland dances, Namibia, you are unlikely to see people and persistence hunting. He is one of the wearing the n!ang n|osi, or eland sandal. Ju|’hoansi living in the Nyae Nyae conservancy If you do, you have probably run into one of in northeast Namibia who used to practice the Ju|’hoan San cobblers who recently began persistence hunting. This is a rare and difficult to make their own sandals again, or a relative

27 Interview recorded and translated by Steve (!Ui Kunta), involved in the San-dal project since the beginning. Doupos, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf of one. In 2015 a small group of Ju|’hoansi governments, and is the oldest form of in Nyae Nyae began bringing back the institutionalized, self-management activity indigenous sandal, in part to establish live­ in the world (Rifkin 2014). The use of common lihood opportunities.­ As hunter-gatherers, resources is agreed upon collectively and the population’s traditional economy was production is optimally adapted to local based on food sharing, immediate returns, environments through centuries of co- and social equality. (Suzman 2017) But for evolution. The Ju|’hoansi can be seen a range of reasons this model is no longer as commoners avant la lettre. N!ore, viable, and anno 2018 only a small per­ the resource management system of the centage of food resources is obtained through San, may go as far back as 25,000 years.¹ hunting and gathering. Yet social and family ties remain strong, and the nature of 1 A comparable organizational structure, siida, was used by the Sami in northern Scandinavia, as dis- relation­ships between people is seen as the cussed below. essence of Ju|’hoansi culture (Marshall 2006). In this time of broad change, Future Footwear Foundation (FFF) wondered This book is an account of collaborations if continued sandal production could with cobblers around the world, focused not only provide livelihoods for these on feet, footwear, its production, and its Ju|’hoansi cobblers and their communities physical and social surroundings. The main but also opportunities for learning and for focus is on the creation of footwear that transforming Western ways of thinking does not constrict the feet, while offering about sustainable footwear production adequate protection and desirable comfort and and distribution. The term “the commons” aesthetics, in ways that do not compromise refers to an economic model in which the source and sink functions of our planet. collaboration, sharing, ecological concern, As landfills choke with the remains of shoes and human connections are guiding opera­ made of non-biodegradable material and as tional principles. The commons predate both tangible and intangible cultural heritage capitalist markets and representative is swept away or commoditized by market

28 29 Getting ready for a photo shoot near Nhoma, Nyae Nyae, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf forces, these collaborations show how ancient more elaborate devices reflecting cultures, and modern concepts and approaches can fashions, and behaviors. Throughout most of combine to create footwear for a healthy body its history, footwear seems to have remained and a healthy environment. very basic, constructed in simple ways from One of the features that all humans plant fibers or leather, as in ancient Egypt and share is that they normally walk on two legs. Rome. Daily use of constricting footwear with This is known as upright walking or bipedal features such as a firm heel cup, arch support, locomotion. It is unique among primates, and cushioning, and motion control is recent: it defines humans and their direct ancestors. The incorporation of such elements in run­ We tend to take upright walking for granted, ning shoes, for example, has mostly occurred but the evolution of humans into striding since the 1970s. This past decade has seen bipeds with a highly efficient gait took millions an increasing interest in barefoot running and of years, and the use of footwear is a rela­ various types of more or less “minimal” shoes, tively recent phenomenon. Only very late however—and research shows that indigenous in our evolution—long after we had become shoes often fit the criteria for minimal foot­ anatomically modern—did humans start to wear (Willems et al. 2017). use footwear; archaeological evidence of shoes Let me briefly mention two historical dates back to the middle Upper Paleolithic examples of footwear with a predominantly (ca. 30,000 years ago). Today most people, cultural purpose that were not made to especially adults, wear some form of foot­wear enhance an easy gait. Foot binding, also ­on a daily basis. known as Chinese lotus shoes, dates back Looking at contemporary footwear, one roughly a millennium. Small feet were consi­ might think there is a trade-off between form dered beautiful for women, and the ideal and function, whereby elegant footwear is not length of a shoe no more than 8 centimeters. comfortable, and vice versa. Footwear has From the age of six, the smaller toes of many evolved from simple foot coverings—primarily girls were broken and bound with cloth daily, for thermal protection in colder climates and or every couple of days, to reshape the feet mechanical protection in all environments—to and prevent further growth. Although this

29 !Aice, one of the cobblers, walking in n!ang n|osi eland antelope sandals. Nyae Nyae, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf type of footwear meant women suffered, it are usually associated with the Indian sadhus often displayed their privileged position and and sadhvis, ascetic holy men and women, association with a higher class (Ko Dorothy 2001). who wander from village to village and wear This extreme example shows that the human them to protect their feet from hot and dirty foot is a highly plastic structure. surfaces. The stilts reflect the principle of A second example is the paduka, non-violence practiced by Hindu Brahmins, India’s oldest, best-known footwear—but certain other castes, and Jains, in that they not its most biomechanically functional nor minimize the risk of accidentally trampling its most widespread. Little more than a stiff insects and vegetation. The ideal of ahimsa, sole with a toe-knob, positioned between the or non-killing, also forbids such individuals big and second toes, and two narrow curved from wearing leather footwear. stilts the paduka exists in a variety of forms The lotus shoe is an extreme example and materials throughout India. They can of deforming footwear, while the paduka, be designed in the shape of either feet or with its stiff raised sole, reduces the mo­ fish, and are made of wood, ivory, and even mentum between the body and the ground. silver (Jain-Neubauer 2000). In the past simple Many contemporary shoes can be included wooden versions were worn by working-class in these categories. Unfortunately wearing

© Northampton Museums & Art Gallery. paduka © Northampton Museums & Art Gallery. people, but padukas of fine teak, ebony, and shoes nowadays, even those meant to be sandalwood, inlaid with ivory or wire, revealed comfortable, all too often means wearing

Indian Healthy natural feet, bound feet deformed to fit in Media © Fubiz the Chinese lotus footwear. the wearer’s high social status. Today, they restrictive shoes which are potentially

30 31 Lotus shoe, Chinese shoe for bound feet. © Daniel Schwen instruments of deformation. The undeformed net waste production and energy use includes or natural outline of a foot outline is not environmentally positive supply chains symmetrical: The big toe extends from one and logistics as well as design for reuse, to two inches beyond the fifth, smallest toe, disas­­sembly, material recovery, and other and our five toes spread out, fanlike. They extensions of material and product lifetimes. do not converge to a point in front, as one This is an area in which we can learn from would expect from the shape of many shoes. ancient traditions. The earliest shoes, from Besides shoes’ negative effects on feet, the middle Upper Paleolithic, protected our industrial production of footwear brings feet against cold, heat, and mechanical injury. problems of mass consumption. The footwear Contemporary indigenous footwear often does industry utilizes a wide variety of materials exactly that too: Protecting our feet remains and processes to produce a range of products, its main physiological and biomechanical from sandals to more specialized footwear function. It also mitigates negative physical such as running shoes. Billions of shoes are and environmental effects because it is consumed each year worldwide and when mostly made by hand as customized one-off their functional life has expired most are sent products or in small batches, and does not to landfills—environmentally the worst way usually feature elements that restrict natural of dealing with waste. This stream of waste is shape and motion of the feet, such as a not just a reflection of population growth but firm heel cup, arch support, or cushioning. a side effect of fashion. Indeed, the world­ The production of modern footwear in social­ wide per capita consumption of footwear has ly, environmentally, and biomechanically increased from one pair of shoes per year for sustainable ways should thus be viewed every person in the world in 1950 to almost in the context of the long co-evolution of 2.6 pairs in 2005. This calls for innovation, environment, people, materials, and skills. a rethinking of fashion, and coming up The recognition of constructive with different environmental solutions. synergies between historical, biomechanical, The increasingly urgent quest for and ecological reflections on footwear across solutions that are sustainable in view of different cobbler communities and production

31 Indian paduka in wood, 19th / 20th century. © Collection of the Fowler Museum at UCLA methods inspired my academic and artistic and climate, locally available materials and study “Future Footwear: The birth of feet & resources, and labor conditions and social rebirth of footwear” (2015). From handicrafts organization. Seeing it this way—in terms in artisan communities and handmade shoes of co-evolution—allows a shift from the in small-scale factories to mass production separation of thinking and making that happens in China and personalized production using in response to rapidly changing external drivers new technologies, I looked at how tools, (such as fashion) towards a more sustainable, techniques, and materials in their environment holistic, engaged, and collaborative approach affect the creation and use of objects, and to creation in local conditions. In this “in- what this means for long-term sustainability. habitat position,” thinking and making proceed One finding was that the production and use in tandem as, interacting formative processes of indigenous footwear can guide and inform (Ingold 2013 and Pinxten 2010). Design and making a cross-disciplinary approach to designing can then be examined from an internal, modern, sustainable, minimal footwear. collective position, by seeing people among Wearing indigenous footwear is often the materials of their craft. biomechanically similar to barefoot walking, 2 I use the term “in-habitat position” as an intuition and local handmade footwear is adapted to that, in the words of Rik Pinxten, “the external world and sustainable for the environment (Willems et or nature is the vast and encompassing network of al., 2017). Another remarkable finding was that which one is an integral part in such traditions.” He 3D printing resembles indigenous production refers to oral traditions, such as those of hunter- gatherers, the Sami in Finland, and the Navajo in in the ratio of excess waste to materials used the Americas. In contrast, the “God’s eye view” is a and tools and manpower needed. This opens Western intuition, resulting from an education that up new routes to personalized footwear the world is a “set of things which is unified by the fact that all of it is outside of me and ‘hence’ can production with minimal environmental be looked upon as if from the outside” (Pinxten and biomechanical impact. 2010). Pinxten, professor emeritus of anthropolo- Indigenous day-to-day footwear tend gy and religious studies at Ghent University, was to be logical products conceived at the slowly my supervisor and guided me over the years in the changing cross section of physical environment philosophical grounds of social scientific research.

32 33 Lasts per size, mimicking a person’s footshape, used in the production of industrial footwear, Guangzhou, China, 2014. © David Willems Bringing together two seemingly extreme ways Featuring the work of indigenous of producing footwear—handmade indigenous artisans in Finland, India, and Namibia, and machine-printed—may at first glance this book focuses on how traditional crafts­ be surprising, but parallels in work flow, man­ship combined with modern technology personalization, aversion of mass production, inspires alternatives for designing, producing, limited material footprint, and sustainability and distributing footwear that is sustainable for feet and planet are striking and inspiring. in a broad sense. Both approaches respect the unique shape of each foot and let the material move around it, The n!ang n|osi almost like a second skin. FFF was founded early in 2017 to The primary subject of this book is the sandal continue this cross-disciplinary research of the Ju|’hoansi, n!ang n|osi, used in southern and allow for a generalization of the under­ parts of Africa and made out of eland skin. lying concepts and a scaling up to global Worn by San people to protect their feet from activities. It aims to stimulate progress in hot sand and thorns, it features a back-strap our understanding of human locomotion and a double lace in between the big toe and by integrating overlapping and intersecting other toes to keep the foot close to the sole. themes—people (anthropology), planet It is made purely out of eland skin, and has (sustainable design and technology), and feet no heel cup, cushioning, or arch support. (biomechanics)—in multidisciplinary footwear One eland easily yields ten to twelve pairs projects. Fostering collaborations between of sandals. artisans, students, and synergistic units in The desert sand has been there since academia and private sectors around the long before the ancestors of the contemporary world, FFF aspires to be an internationally San occupied the Kalahari. Archeological recognized center of excellence for footwear evidence suggests around 40,000 years of design, research, and education, and a judi­ occupation, and genetic data reveals that a ciously created and curated databank of bio­ common lineage goes back as far as 200,000 mechanical­ data on barefoot and shod walking. years. Archeological findings from Europe

33 Leftovers of glues used in a Portuguese production unit, Porto, Portugal, 2015. © David Willems date the starting point for footwear use to —the eventual shape of the sole was deter­ some 30,000 years ago (Trinkaus 2005), but in mined by the user’s activity. The eland-skin the southern parts of Africa during that same sandal was gradually replaced by a car-tire period the question of footwear use remains version in the twentieth century. The antelope archeologically open. The earliest evidence is afraid of people but not of horses, and of San wearing sandals is found in the this combined with trophy hunt­ing and meat 2000-year-old rock art of Brandberg.³ commercialization meant the population of eland has decreased since the 1950s 3 Heinrich Barth Institute, AAArC – African Archaeology Archive Cologne, University of Cologne. (Marshal, E. 2006); now trophy hunters are given permission to kill a small number yearly. The Ju|’hoansi are only permitted to hunt Environmental conditions and the need for in the traditional way—through persistence protection has changed over time. At the end hunting—in Nyae Nyae conservancy, although­ of the last glacial maximum, some 15,000 hunting with a rifle or spear on horse­back years ago, the Kalahari—the savannah—was would naturally be more efficient. probably wetter and about 5°c cooler than With the objective of bringing back today. Long-distance running to hunt animals the indigenous sandal, to inspire local over hot sand, as the temperature and dryness business and sustainable design, UK- increased, likely made sandals a necessary based company Vivobarefoot launched tool for survival. a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign4 It is not known when the sandal came called “The Original San-dal.” into use in the region, but interviews and 4 www.kickstarter.com/projects/vivobarefoot/the- literature show that most people used eland original-san-dal. In 2016, 633 backers pledged sandals until the 1950s. In those days, when GBP92,000 to help bring this project to life. the San had a more nomadic life, they were worn from the age of five onwards. Men and women both used the same type of sandal, In collaboration with a non-governmental and the basic design was always the same organization, volunteers (for local logistics),

34 35 The Kalahari Desert, a large semi-arid sandy savanna in Southern Africa. Nyae Nyae, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf © Heinrich-Barth-Institut, published in Harald Pager, The Rock Paintings of the Upper Brandberg , © Heinrich-Barth-Institut, published in Harald Pager, Cologne 1993.

35 N!ang n|osi, featuring a back strap, a double lace between the toes, and a two-layer sole. Nyae Nyae, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf and FFF (for overall vision and skill-related equipment is needed, and a de-centralized issues), more than 1000 pairs of sandals economy is thus possible. By 2018 the were made. Donors pledged funds and Kickstarter order had been fulfilled and the received in return a pair of sandals in their cobblers started to produce for the local and size. Sandal production used to be directly global market, organizing their own logistics linked to consumption: Local cobblers and preparing to build a semi-permanent took exact measurements by tracing each cobbling atelier. foot’s shape on tanned eland skin, and then The effort to bring back the indigenous created a unique pair. This system fit with San-dal raises an ethical question. If someone the immediate-return systems of hunter- in Tsumkwe or Nhoma or any other village gatherer communities, whereby people obtain in the Nyae Nyae conservancy is dressed a direct return from their labor straight away; in skins, with bow and arrow ready for a delayed reimbursement and large quantities persistence hunt, they are almost certainly of products thus conflict with such traditional performing a re-enactment of traditional egalitarian societies. But crowdfunding is more activities. Can the recreation of the San-dal in line with the traditional way of supporting also be perceived as an artificial continuation sandal production. Orders are given in small of the “old way,” which tourists like to see? batches of 100 pairs, and each pair is made Does the San-dal project enhance a myth for a specific person. No overstock is created and help enclose hunter-gatherer culture in and there are no marginal costs, so a single a museum-like frame? Here we recognize that pair costs as much as each pair in a batch.5 the sandal is above all a very useful shoe in the Ju|’hoansi’s environment. It is worn not only 5 This has interesting parallels with 3D-printing, where scanning allows for a 100 percent personalized with traditional clothes, or when performing. sandal, as will be discussed later. It is worn more in combination with shorts or jeans, just as the Sami in northern Europe wear indigenous reindeer boots, nuvvtohat, The actual place of production becomes less with contemporary outfits. Traditional important. Only a small amount of mobile footwear continues to serve local people.

36 37 During rainy season, usually between November and January, the Kalahari becomes dense and green. Nyae Nyae, Namibia 2018. © Thomas Nolf Nuvttohat footwear boot-making; the legs of one reindeer yields a single pair. Inside the boot, kinkaheina

The second type of indigenous footwear (dried grass) is traditionally used instead featured here is the Northern Scandinavian of socks because of its insulating properties. nuvttohat or reindeer-fur boot. Used in an Low weight is an important feature: com­ extremely cold climate, it is made entirely bined with the thermal protection of the from vegetable-tanned reindeer hide, provides hide and grass, this makes the reindeer boot the ultimate protection from the local one of the lightest, warmest types of winter envi­ronment,­­ and does not interfere with footwear available. the natural anatomy of human feet. Walking Living in northern parts of Sweden, in snow demands a specific way of moving, Norway, Finland, and Russia’s Kola Peninsula, a specific gait; the reindeer boots allow this the Sami are the only indigenous people by largely mimicking a barefoot gait, so can in the European Union to have their own be considered minimal footwear. Woven laces language, culture, and means of livelihood, keep snow out, and they are laced in patterns and this includes reindeer husbandry. They that refer to the different Sami communities, mainly wear the nuvttohat (in North Sami the wearer’s gender, and the boot’s intended language) or nutukkaat (Finnish) in winter, use—for ceremonies or for daily work, for when the temperature is below -10°c. instance. When reindeer are slaughtered for As with other traditional Sami handi­ Reindeer-fur boot, showing the fur outsole to walk on snow, boot, showing the fur outsole to walk on snow, Reindeer-fur and woven laces to keep the snow out, 2014. © David Willems their meat, the skin of their legs is used for craft, referred to as duodji, men and women

37 River near Lake Inari, Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Reindeer boot used for special occasions. Inari, Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août

38 39 Reindeer husbandry, part of the Sami cultural heritage. Inari region, Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Leg skins with short hair are chosen for special occasions, and are usualy of white colour. Leg skins with short hair are chosen for special occasions, and usualy of white colour. Inari, Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août

39 Reindeer gathering near Inari. Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août used to be responsible for different parts constantly evolved within Sami communities. of the process, with the former managing, The boot cannot be attributed to an indivi­ cultivating, and breeding the reindeer in the dual author or group of authors. Nor is there field and the latter crafting the boots from any one design. The Sami design shoes for the soft fur and skin. The boot once had a specific local conditions and needs which lifted nose that functioned to attach to skis, vary within communities. As well as boots, but this is disappearing because reindeer- items of clothing like coats and leggings made herding people have adapted the design to from the same material are equally part of the snowmobile. In snow people prefer to the Sami indigenous clothing tradition. Each walk on fur outsoles because they provide community has its own design of fur shoes for thermal comfort and an anti-slip texture, their specific conditions and needs. Beyond but on a snowmobile the boot is protected the Sami, people all around the circumpolar with an overshoe for better grip and to North have used skin boots and clothing of prevent the hairs from shedding. The lifted this general kind, sometimes with different nose is omitted so the boot can fit into the style details and stitching. Reindeer boots overshoe. Is this modified boot still nuvttohat that include elements from other areas, and therefore part of Sami heritage? such as a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) The indigenous fur boot is a cultural and/or natural rubber outsole, illustrate expression handed down from person to the decontextualization involved in adapt­ing

Reindeer-fur boot finished with a felted collar. 2011, Utsjoki, 2011, Utsjoki, boot finished with a felted collar. Reindeer-fur Finland. © Kristiaan D’Août person, generation to generation, and has them to different terrains.

40 41 Fur needed for the boots comes from reindeer slaughtered in the period from autumn to spring. Inari region, Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août In accordance with this dynamic knowledge and skills are retransmitted process, the 2003 UNESCO Convention states through its courses, and it has become part that indigenous cultural heritage is constantly of a self-determination process. Meanwhile, recreated by communities and groups in many Sami organizations now include response to their environment, interaction Sami from Sweden, Norway, Finland, and, with nature, and history. As the example of for some purposes, Russia. Since 1982, the Sami shows, “recreating” in this sense Sami peoples share the copyright and use should mean being open to change—that is, of the duodji trade­mark to protect items to learning and implementing new things. and handicrafts of genuine Sami origin. Safeguarding would then apply to the quality To obtain the trademark, one must be Sami and functionality of changing objects, rather and be registered to the duodji organization. than to the objects themselves or to property Beyond the trademark, many Sami artists or user’s rights. Exclusive thinking and focus find markets for their cultural expressions on “identity” does not guarantee a respect in galleries and other market venues. for diversity: Categorical restrictions could A rule of collective right, individual weaken indigenous cultural heritage, possibly autonomy, and equality used to be in effect isolating a group and making its material in Sami communities. This ancient system, things into museum objects. known as siida, consists of a reindeer forag­ In the late 1970s an education ing area, a group of reindeer herders, and a institute called Sogsakk was established corporation for the economic benefit of its in the northern Finnish town of Inari to members. Similar to the San n!ori described keep alive Sami ways of life. Founded and above, siida was built on shared customs supported by the Finnish government, and principles for how indi­vidual interests it forms an official educational space for are negotiated and reconciled with the com­ indigenous people in a national context. munity’s interests. Cultural heritage can Sogsakk’s mission is to preserve and develop be preserved over time through local auto­ traditional Sami cultures, language, and nomy and informal organization based on livelihoods, including crafts. Traditional these shared ideals. In addition to specific

41 Lake Inari during wintertime. Inari, Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août objects, this interface of individual and trends of high-heeled shoes and wedges exist collective should be better protected as in India, this flat leather sandal is still used cultural inheritance. throughout the country. Kolhapur is a city, but the geographical area of production is Kolhapuri footwear wider: The sandal originates from the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. For example, The South Indian kolhapuri footwear likewise the kolhapuri artisans at Toehold, a not-for- seems to alter foot biomechanics only subtly. profit organization in Athani, Karnataka, A sandal that fits tightly onto the foot through promoting rural women’s empowerment an instep strap, it has a thin sole made of with an emphasis on social accountability, vegetable-tanned buffalo leather, typically are noted for their skill. with a very thin heel offset consisting of Characteristic of the Kolhapuri an extra layer of the same leather. chappal is the initial stiffness of the outsole. The paduka might be the type of Indian The parts touching the ground become more footwear that’s most familiar to the Western supple while the rest of the sole retains its world, but it is not India’s most common stiffness, together ensuring mobility and footwear. Even in ancient times, the most- the protection of the foot on rocky clayish worn footwear was a strapped sandal of terrain. The summer months in the region the type that Mahatma Gandhi made—best are extremely hot, with temperatures reaching

Fur boots featuring a rubber outsole for urban and less cold climates.Fur Co-creation with Virpi Jaasko, 2013, Inari, Finland. © David Willems known as the kolhapuri chappal. Although up to 40 °C. Just like the eland sandal and

42 43 Reindeer gathering near Inari, Finland, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août the reindeer boot, this sandal proves to hides. In these particular communities, be the best footwear with regards to local buffaloes are not slaughtered for meat conditions and available materials, giving consumption—only when a buffalo dies protection against heat and humidity. of natural causes is its leather used for The country’s small-scale footwear footwear and other products. Tanning is industry traditionally employs the traditional traditionally done by the Hindu tanner Hindu cobbler caste, known as chamars. community, which is geographically situated Individual shoemakers and shoemaking in the same neighborhood as the cobblers and families continue to supply footwear to local is interdependent on them. The vegetable bag- communities and their own families, as well tanning of buffalo leather is a special process. as for export purposes. Most artisans work In general, there are many types of leather, in family-based establishments, transferring and even coming from the same animal, skills and knowledge from one generation no two parts of hide are the same. This is to the next. Men are skilled at making especially true for bag-tanning 6—depending the soles, while women make the uppers on the tanner’s level of engagement with it, and do the hand-stitching. Often, artisans the hide will be suppler or stiffer. work in front of their houses, sitting on the ground next to a display of their tools and 6 Bag-tanning is a rural vegetable tanning process. After raw hides have been cleaned of blood and leathers. The origin of kolhapuri chappals dirt, they are put in a bath containing a lime solu- can be traced back to the twelfth-century tion. The hides become plump and swollen, and rule of King Bijjala II of Bidar and his Prime after ten days they are ready for dehairing with a Minister Basaveswara, who wanted to create knife. The tanning of both flesh and skin sides is done by bathing in a solution of babul bark, my- a caste­less society and remove the stigma robalan nut, and water. To tan the hide’s middle associated with the chamar community layers, it is stitched up with strong sisal fibre into a (Mahadevi M 1980). cylindrical bag with a narrow opening at the neck. These hide bags are filled with the same mixture, Water buffaloes, which are used for and suspended from a wooden beam. The whole dairy production throughout India and process, from raw hide to tanned leather, takes other parts of Asia, provide tough, useful about thirty-five days (Willems 2013).

43 Scenery in the cobbling village of the Toehold artisans, Athani, India. 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août They know what happens if they treat the hide twentieth century, both Gandhi and jurist in different ways. When human intervention Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar) have tried to stops, the hide still grows and changes due to bring greater dignity to chamars and other weather, light, and being worn or unworn. untouchable castes. In making foot­wear, One buffalo yields around fifteen pairs Gandhi demonstrated a profound under­ of sandals. In the stages of the making process standing of the value of the leather craft. and in the use of buffalo hide, different parts of By learning the skills of one of the lowest the animal are employed for different purposes: castes of laborers, the chamars, and by dealing the tail is used as thread for hand-stitching, with a ritually polluting material, Gandhi and the horns for polishing the leather. The became a role model for egalitarianism and leftover­ hide is used in between the layers of self-reliance, which he hoped would influence the heel parts, while smaller pieces are sold future Indian societies. These artisans to farmers to use in fertilizer. The artisans largely still do not become shoemakers make maximum use of the materials and any by choice, however, but through lack of wastage is recycled, which speaks of intrinsic choice. Almost all shoe-makers practice environmental consciousness. Because the their profession in order to make a living, footwear is handmade without using harmful but they want a different future for their adhesives, mass production is not possible. children. Although it is a household industry Since the twelfth century, various that allows for a certain degree of freedom,

Detailed 3D scan of a foot as input to print made-to-measure made-to-measure input to print foot as of a Detailed 3D scan Foundation. Footwear 2018. © RS Print and Future footwear, reformers in India (including, in the early they do not value their profession highly.

44 45 Dehairing a buffalo hide in a small tannery in Athani, India, 2009. © Shiva Kumar Artisans as well as India’s Central be preserved only in documents and visual Leather Research Institute (CLRI) expect records. The same is true of the artisans making bag-tanning to disappear by the next gener­ the footwear. If there are openings in other jobs ation, for multiple reasons. Primarily, arti­ or in higher education, they will not hesitate to sans are shifting to other professions due to switch careers. Still, the way this footwear is the high cost of tanning materials and raw made offers a different perspective on design, hides, as birth and survival rates among the and this footwear can be considered a luxury buffaloes have fallen over the years. Further, accessory avant la lettre for four reasons: 1) the tanners have other job opportunities due material is treated in a clearly respectful way; to government policies encouraging higher 2) neither the tanning nor the making put undue education and giving preferential access to pressure on the environment; 3) the products jobs to lower-caste people (“scheduled castes”) also have an afterlife; and 4) the footwear according to a quota system. respects human anatomy. In the end, material, It is highly likely that the use of bag- soil, climate, and feet are all in balance. tanned leather will disappear in the cases mentioned here within the next ten years, and Old knowledge informs new technology: that it will be replaced by pressed and other Do you want to have your feet back? leathers. Local tanning activities will cease, tanners will move into other jobs, and the Good proprioception—the sense of oneself

A Tiger scanner is used as device to deliver the 3D-scans, A Tiger 2018. Foundation Footwear © RS Print and Future knowledge connected to their artisanship will as a physical organism in the environment—

45 Cleaning the flesh side of the hides. Athani, India, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août enables the body to adjust to different together, which offers abrasion resistance. positions and surfaces, and to control balance Another example is the connectors between and stability. Footwear is part of an unbroken sole and upper that are based on those of proprioceptive loop that runs from the brain, the traditional Indian buffalo bantu chappal through the feet, and into the surface being and re-created for 3D-printed use. FFF also walked upon, and then back again, allowing performed tests to understand which physical individuals to monitor and adapt the pattern properties of hides and furs—for instance, of their gait. With a minimum of material thickness, stiffness, water permeability to protect against injury, the three examples and intrusion, resistance to surface wear, of indigenous footwear described here and thermal insulation—makes indigenous offer maximum proprioception. They have footwear so effective on specific local also inspired another type of footwear: the substrates (Ghent University, 2013), and then used Future Footwear Foundation’s 100 percent this knowledge to design printed soles for personalized 3D-printed shoes. use on surfaces found in other environments, The designs I developed for FFF are such as cities. based on indigenous footwear features FFF promotes working with thin, that influence the biomechanics of walking lightweight materials to enhance the barefoot and environmental sustainability. The feeling and proprioception; they are also challenge was to retain these biomechanical breathable, non-toxic, and sourced close and environmental benefits in designs for to the production unit. While indigenous modern city wear. In all cases, as in “in- production is subtractive in the sense that habitat” production, form follows material, raw materials are cut from larger pieces and function, and production method, not the then reassembled to manufacture the final other way around, and intervention in form- object, 3D printing is an additive process, related aspects is minimal. One example using just enough material to create a fully is the marking on the printed outsole that formed object layer-by-layer. According to visually and functionally mimics the buffalo Rifkin (2014), 3D printing uses approximately thread used to sew leather insole and outsole one tenth of the material used in subtracting

46 47 Kolhapuri footwear and the typical outsole with kanwali (ears) on the sides. Athani, India, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août Images of the bag-tanning process: buffalo hides stitched together into a cylindrical bag and and bag cylindrical together into a buffalo hides stitched process: bag-tanning the of Images filled with liquid, and dry hides ready for use. Athani, India, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août

47 Bag-tanning unit in Rajasthan, India, 2013. © David Willems manufacturing; although in the indigenous durability. The FFF is currently studying the production methods described here waste effects of TPU material on the body and the is minimized through recycling or using environment, as well as the use of organic subtracted materials as fertilizer, near-zero and biodegradable materials. waste, as in 3D printing, is not achieved. Low-cost home printers could in Yet as long as synthetic materials are used, principle make it possible to create custo­ recycling the end products of 3D printing mized single products or small batches to remains a challenge. order and at minimal cost everywhere, but Both indigenous manufacturing and with current technology they do not yet 3D scanning and printing production here achieve sufficient quality. The equipment are directly linked to consumption, and needed for SLS is larger and more expensive little is needed in the way of storage for than home printers. The growing number of stock. The indigenous cobbler takes foot fabrication laboratories and printing hubs with measurements before creating a unique pair. state-of-the-art equipment, along with open- Similarly, scanning forms the basis for each source software, may provide local solutions personalized 3D-printed sandal. After a for increased global demand over time. person’s feet are scanned, their sandals are Comparing the attributes and made like a second skin with selective laser production processes of indigenous models sintering (SLS), an additive manufacturing and these new prototypes allowed the FFF technique using a laser as the power source to recognize and isolate common elements. to sinter materials into a desired model. The At the same time FFF recognizes and appre­ ability to integrate pipings and meshings, thus ciates that a slow localized production pro­ enhancing flexibility, breathability, and vapor cess demands different infrastructures and transmission, is one advantage of SLS over a high degree of collaboration. This aspect other 3D-printing techniques. The material of sustainable production is reminiscent the FFF uses at this point is thermoplastic of recent scholarship on the commons and Polyurithane—TPU 92A-1—a very fine contrasts with the globalized mass production off-white granular powder, which has high of more goods with less labor and at a lower

48 49 Buffalo ready for the Pongal festival in Ranhtambore, India, 2013. © David Willems cost. Cross-fertilization between indigenous and respectful interaction—are the key crafts and high-tech open-source 3D-printing factors for making this design collaboration technology opens exciting new perspectives a success. Ultimately the foundation seeks be for footwear design and production. part of two positive stories: helping bring back In the three communities discussed a more natural healthy movement and gait, here, the shoe-making material—eland, and safeguarding the skills of local artisans buffalo, or reindeer hide—is a vehicle for amid increasing globalization. a balanced interaction in which collabora­ tion, sharing, ecological concern, and human connections become more and more important. FFF aims for long-term engage­ ment avoiding the “hit-and-run” strategy of gathering knowledge as an outsider and using it for academic or economic purposes without involving the community in question or paying attention to its views, needs, and interests. FFF proposes a way of working that requires close interaction and the build-up of shared understanding and trust, acquiring knowledge through practical experience in context. This is not possible without the permission, co-operation, and substantive decision-making involvement of communities and practitioners. The ability to adjust to a changing environment­ is inherent to all cultures and ways of life. A respectful use of indigenous cultural expressions—through transparency, willingness to collaborate,

49 Painting the horns of buffaloes is also used by farmers to identify their cattle. Ranthambore, India, 2013. © David Willems Pinxten, Rik (2010) The Creation of God. Lang: References Frankfurt.

Ghent University, Department of Textiles (2013) Rifkin, Jeremy (2014) The Zero Marginal Cost Soci- Physical tests on kolhapuri (buffalo chappals) and ety: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Com- nuttukaat (reindeer boots). Ghent: Ghent Universi- mons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism. New York: ty. Bachelor thesis, fashion technology, supervised Palgrave Macmillan. by Carla Hertleer and Catherine Willems. Suzman, James, (2017) Affluence without Abun- Ingold, Tim (2013) Making: Anthropology, Archae- dance. The disappearing world of the Bushmen, ology, Art and Architecture. London: Routledge. New York: Bloomsburry.

Jain-Neubauer, Jutta (2000) Feet & Footwear in In- Trinkaus, E. (2005) Anatomical evidence for the an- dian culture. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing. tiquity of human footwear use. In Journal of Archae- ological Science 32:1515–1526. Ko, Dorothy (2001) Every Step a Lotus: Shoes for Bound Feet. Oakland, California: University of Cal- Willems, Catherine, Gaetane Stassijns, Wim ifornia Press. Cornelis, and Kristiaan D’Août (2017) Biome- chanical implications of walking with indigenous Mahadevi, M. (1980) Vishwa Guru Basavanna. Ban- footwear. In American Journal of Physical Anthro- galore: Vishwa Kalyana Mission. pology 162(4).

Marshall, Elizabeth Thomas (2006) The Old Way: A Willems, Catherine (2013) 100% bag-tanned: Ac- Story of the First People. New York: Farrar, Straus, tion research generating new insights on design

Samples of personalized 3D-printed footwear, 2018. Samples of personalized 3D-printed footwear, Foundation Footwear © Materialise, Future Giroux. processes. In Critical Arts, volume 27:474–489.

50 51 Kolhapuri sandal in buffalo leather, Toehold Artisans, Athani, India, 2014. © David Willems

Willems, Catherine (2015) The birth of feet. The re- birth of footwear. PhD in the Arts, KASK / School of Arts, Ghent. 3D-printed sandal (1) & shoe (2) based on the Indian footwear, 3D-printed sandal (1) & shoe (2) based on the Indian footwear, 2018.© Materialise, Future Footwear Foundation Footwear 2018.© Materialise, Future

51 Bantu knotted model in buffalo leather, Toehold Artisans, Athani, India, 2014. © David Willems FeetOutsole India of ©kolhapuri sandal in buffalo leather, 2015. © David Willems 100% personalized 3D-printed outsole of kolhapuri inspired sandal, 2018. © Materialise and Future Footwear Foundation FeetPhotograph India © of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010.© Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010.© Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Athani, India, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2010.© Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août Photograph of foot taken during fieldwork in Inari and Utsjoki, Finland, as part of a biomechanical analysis, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août How Humans Walk and Why Footwear Matters Kristiaan D’Août

70 71 Healthy natural feet with a straight big toe, a dynamic & strong arch and a wide toe box. © VIVOBAREFOOT Ltd. Humans are unique animals for many reasons. Our cognitive skills and our cultural diversity are very complex, quite unique properties— but they are also present, to some degree, in other animals, especially marine mammals and primates. The single feature that truly sets us apart from the hundreds of other primate species lies in our gait: we are the only primate that has made upright walking our normal way of moving about. We are the only habitual to pinpoint exactly when it first arose. The bipeds. Why is this so important? The answer fossil record is scattered: the older a fossil, is that it isn’t, really, to most other animals. the less complete and intact it tends to be, Cheetahs are successful runners on all fours, and therefore the harder it becomes to link and insects benefit from having six limbs. behavioral traits such as gait to bony features. But we consider habitual bipedalism the The oldest fossils to be termed hominin, hallmark of our group, the hominins—modern and thus bipedal, date back to the species humans and their closest ancestors—because Sahelanthropus tchadensis at about 7 million habitual bipedalism has led to a vast array years ago (MYA) and Orrorin tugenensis of anatomical adaptations and ultimately to at about 6 MYA. With both, however, the extremely large brains. It has made us human. question of how they relate to later hominins Here, we will briefly explore when and thus to ourselves is controversial. The bipedalism emerged, how it subsequently former, in particular, may not be hominin but became efficient, and how we walk and closely related to chimpanzees and gorillas. run as modern humans. It is clear that the It is impossible to tell, for now, exactly how foot plays a crucial role. And with the foot, these early species moved about. eventually, footwear. Later species are certainly hominins While habitual bipedalism is the and habitual bipeds. These include the

The fossil footprints of Laetoli, Tanzania, some 3.5 million years ago. some 3.5 million years ago. The fossil footprints of Laetoli, Tanzania, R. Soc. Interface 2012 9 707-719 © John Reader/Science Source; M. Bennett Et Al. J. hallmark of hominins, it is incredibly hard genus Ardipithecus (with the oldest fossil

71 Example showing the temporal roll-off in a barefoot walking South Indian male, 2015. © PhD Catherine Willems of A. kaddaba at 5.6 MYA), the Australo­ One main characteristic of human pi­thecines (4 MYA), and our own genus, bipedal walking is its efficiency compared to Homo, with the oldest representatives non-habitual bipedal walking, for example, H. habilis at 2.8 MYA. We know that these and quadrupedal walking (that is, on all hominins were habitually bipedal because fours) in our closest relatives, the bonobos they have clear anatomical adaptations for and chimpanzees. While a whole swathe it, and in some cases because we have fossils of anatomical details is linked to upright tracks. The oldest, best known tracks are walking, its efficiency can be understood those from Laetoli in Tanzania, made by through the use of relatively simple whole- Australopithecines 3.7 MYA and containing body mechanics in which we represent the long sequences of footprints but no handprints. body by its center of mass. When we walk, While these species predating Homo sapiens our center of mass does not move in a straight were bipeds, their gait was almost certainly line, but fluctuates upwards and downwards— distinct from our own because they had as is easily observed when we walk next to a different anatomies and body sizes, and may fence at eye level. When we are on one leg, in have still spent a considerable amount of mid-stance, it is at its highest position; when time in the trees. both feet are on the ground, it is at its lowest Humans (Homo sapiens) have been position. Mechanically, our bodies have more anatomically modern for about 100,000 potential (“height”) energy in mid-stance years, with bodies highly specialized for and more kinetic (“motion”) energy during upright walking and thus a fully modern gait. the double support phase, when both feet And unlike in fossil species, where scientists are on the ground. The two energies have an are limited to inferring function from fossils inverse relationship: when one is high the and footprints, often using analogies with other is low, and vice versa. Yet they can be other species or mathematical modeling, exchanged to some extent, saving humans modern humans can be studied in the lab. approximately 70 percent of walking energy. The funda­mental characteristics of our gait Because this system resembles a pendulum, can be understood rather well. which almost perfectly exchanges both types

72 73 Comparing barefoot and shod walking on a natural substrate, 2010. Athani, India. © Kristiaan D’Août of energy, but upside-down, it is called the mobile trunk, allowing our upper body to “inverted pendulum” mechanism. rotate opposite to our lower body during gait, Other primates, including apes, do not thus counterbalancing torques. Our hips have use this mechanism. During running rather acquired a shape that, along with the double than walking, humans also do not use the S-shape of our vertebral column, allows us inverted pendulum mechanism but a very to keep our trunk fully upright and our hip different mechanism called “spring-mass.” and knee joints almost vertically aligned, This means that the two forms of mechanical reducing torques and accordingly muscle work. energy—potential and kinetic—move in Although we have wide hips, our knees are phase as in a bouncing ball, allowing us close together near the midline, also reducing to go faster than when walking, but at a the muscular work needed to prevent us higher energy cost. from wobbling sideways. Anatomically, the human body displays The fact that the foot too contains many adaptations for habitual bipedalism, some of the major anatomical adaptations for from head to toe. The foramen magnum, habitual bipedalism is not surprising, since our the opening in our skull where the spine enters feet are the only mechanical contact points our brain, is located centrally at the skull’s with the environment during walking and base. This means our head is well balanced running. Our feet are as important to us as when upright, and minimal effort is usually tires are to Formula One drivers, and selective

Mock-up of the human foot and skeleton. © Eelko Moorer Mock-up required by our neck muscles. We have a very pressures on the foot are constantly very high.

73 Example of the pressure plate set-up in Athani, India. South Indian woman walking barefoot, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août for example), but the foot is very helpful in securing a solid and safe ground contact, which is especially important during the ini­ tial contact phase and during push-off, when ground reaction forces are high and include horizontal components which might trip us up if the friction between foot and substrate is too small. The requirements during these two phases are very different. During initial contact, the foot needs to deal with the impact Every foot contains twenty-six bones and accommodate to the substrate, which and even higher numbers of muscles and can be uneven and compliant; this requires ligaments. Because the bones all move with a somewhat flexible foot. During push-off, respect to each other, the foot is one of the the foot must enable efficient propulsion, most complex and least understood structures which requires more rigidity. Combining in the human body. Much of this complexity these two seemingly conflicting tasks explains originates from the evolutionary process why the foot must show some level of anato­ that started with multi-rayed fish fins and mical and functional complexity. After initial eventually led to the foot, and is therefore contact, which typically occurs slightly on not functionally necessary. It is the task of foot the outside edge of the heel during walking, biomechanists to find out which foot features our foot “unrolls.” This means that its center are essential. This will help us understand of pressure moves forwards, initially in an how the healthy foot works, but also how almost straight line and then from the ball to build better prostheses and, crucially, of the foot towards the big toe or second toe. to determine which foot­wear allows the foot It should be emphasized at this point that to function normally and which does not. the human foot is very variable, in terms of We do not strictly need a foot to both anatomy and motion. Biological variability

Visual presentation of ankle kinematics. © Future Footwear Footwear Visual presentation of ankle kinematics. © Future Foundation walk or run (we can walk on pointy stilts, is normal, but some variation can be caused

74 75 The stiffness of the buffalo outsole calculated by measuring the bending force (in newtons), 2010. Athni, India. © Kristiaan D’Août by pathology or improper footwear, and this can lead to reduced performance and health. 1 Pronation involves dorsiflexion, eversion, and abduc- tion, meaning that the ankle rolls towards the center Some key features of the human foot and the arch turns toward the ground; in extreme have not developed in other, non-bipedal, cases this means flat feet. During supination, a com- primates, or they have developed but not as bination of plantarflexion, inversion, and adduction well. Humans have a very solid rearfoot with happens: the ankle rolls away from the center and the arch of the foot lifts. High arches and O-shaped a large, strong heel bone (calcaneus). This legs can be understood by researching this motion. has a long backward oriented extension, the tuber calcanei, which provides a long lever for the calf muscles which attach via the The foot pronates immediately after heel strike, Achilles tendon. On the lower (plantar) part but this motion is actively slowed down by of the heel is a fat pad which functions as a acti­vity of the posterior tibialis muscle, further cushioning device during impact. Combined, helping manage impact. heel bone and fat pad make for a rounded During mid-stance and push-off, the structure. This means that, in whatever way foot maintains a more rigid structure, albeit the heel strikes the ground, the forces acting not fully so. This rigidity is greatly enabled on it will run close to the midline and to by the presence of foot arches. The medial the subtalar joint axis. The subtalar joint is longitudinal arch is the most visible, and positioned between heel bone and talus bone, varies substantially between people, ranging which itself sits between heel bone and lower from flat to high-arched. In addition to the leg. It is an important joint with an oblique medial longitudinal arch, the foot possesses axis of rotation, which means eversion of the a lateral longitudinal arch and transverse heel (rotation around a horizontal axis) is arches at the midfoot and forefoot. accompanied by outward rotation of the foot The arches of the foot maintain their around a vertical axis (abduction) and by a shape because of their bony structure, the smaller enclosed angle between foot and lower ligaments connecting these bones, muscular leg (dorsiflexion). This combined motion is activity, and, in the case of the longitudinal called pronation and its opposite, supination.1 arch, the plantar aponeurosis—a long ligament

75 A leather-thickness gauge determinates the tickness of the outsole, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août

that runs from the heel bone around the base Footwear can help protect against cold, heat, of the toes, attaching to them via separate slips. and mechanical injury. The archaeological This arrangement means it tightens at the end record strongly suggests that the earliest shoes of stance, when the foot rotates while the toes did exactly that, and from that point onward remain fully on the substrate. This is called protecting our feet remained shoes’ main the windlass effect, because it is like that of physiological and biomechanical function. a ship’s windlass, which tightens a rope by For example, ancient Egyptian and Roman pulling it around a rotating drum. shoes, excluding those used by warriors, The anatomical and functional features were protective but simple, and unlikely to of the foot discussed here are the result of mil­ interfere with the foot’s biological function lions of years of evolution leading to a highly as described above. The caligae worn by functional structure with a good perfor­mance lower-ranked Roman cavalrymen and foot record. It is only well after our feet gained soldiers, and possibly by some centurions, these features that humans invented footwear, were heavy-duty boots with thick, hobnailed perhaps some 40,000 years ago. So from soles, but in general, footwear was just a skin a biomechanical perspective, it is clear that or layer of hides wrapped around the foot. we do not need shoes. This is in stark contrast with the con­ This does not mean, of course, that ven­tional Western shoes of today, which have shoes cannot be useful and assist an already fea­tures such as a last narrower than a human Walking track. Part of a travelling installation to improve people’s of a travelling installation to improve people’s track. Part Walking awareness of the effect shoes on feet and walking, 2018. © Future Footwear Foundation Footwear © Future fully functional foot in specific conditions. foot, a raised heel, arch support, a firm heel

76 77 Pressure plate set-up in Inari, Finland. Finnish woman walking with her indigenous nuvvtohat footwear, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août cup, and a rigid sole—elements which inter­ similar in function to the archaeological ere with how a foot functions and amount shoes described above. Examples of less to what can be called non-minimal footwear. invasive footwear exist all over the world We have become used to believing that these and include the kolhapuri from India, the features are bene­ficial or even essential in nuvttohat from northern Scandinavia, and a shoe, even though some of them find their the n!ang n|osi from Namibia. Even though origins in establishing social status, such as these shoes originate in different cultures the high heel. Indeed, high-­heeled footwear and climates, they share essential features: is associated with common con­­ditions such they do not (or barely) constrain the foot, as bunions and flat feet. Foot­wear can of they have no raised heel, no arch support, course also provide benefits, and research and a thin flexible sole. These shoes have should make clear which shoes do that all remained fundamentally unaltered for without impairing healthy foot function. centuries and are used for inten­sive activities Not all shoes are like conventional including long-distance walking. Our working Western shoes. When taking a broad anthro­ hypothesis, therefore, is that these shoes are pological perspective, it becomes clear that biomechanically very well suited, though not a wide variety of indigenous shoes exists. necessarily perfectly so, for the activities their Historically, these have ranged from highly wearers undertake in their environment invasive shoes, such as the Chinese lotus —a hypothesis supported by some mostly shoe, to biomechanically simple ones, anecdotal evidence. These shoes can be

77 Pressure plate set-up in Inari, Finland. Finnish woman walking with her indigenous nuvvtohat footwear, 2011. © Kristiaan D’Août considered equivalent to what are often labeled in designers a different view. One example “minimal shoes” in Western shoe shops. is the 3D-printed shoe inspired in aesthetics Science must address to what extent as well as in its bio­mechanical and physical walking in “minimal” shoes resembles barefoot properties by its indigenous counterpart. walking, and what the long-term health bene­ The two types of footwear share an approach fits of barefoot walking are. Current research to use of materials and time, and a focus on suggests that walking in minimal footwear is the individual. In the new version, a made- much closer to barefoot walking than walking to-measure shoe is printed in 3D-printed in conventional western shoes, but that it is material based on a scan of the person’s feet, not identical. It also suggests that constrictive and then wrapped around the foot offering footwear actually narrows feet. Long-term protection like a second skin. health benefits are difficult to assess, but Future Footwear Foundation thus observations on habitual barefoot-walking positions itself between the future and people strongly suggests that their feet suffer the past, using the resulting transient and far fewer medical problems, such as bunions, inter­active back-and-forth movement which are very widespread in the West. as a source of inspiration and creativity.

footwear, by Toehold artisans collaborative, artisans collaborative, by Toehold footwear, This book focuses on indigenous foot­ Footwear design isn’t the only focus wear, specifically on the three types mentioned here: To achieve a sustainable economy above: the traditional n!ang n|osi hunting for all we must further explore hybrid

kolhapuri all in vegetable tanned buffalo hide. Athani, India, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août sandals made and worn by the Ju|’hoansi economies that combine conventional

78 79 Example of the pressure plate set-up in Athani, India. South Indian woman walking barefoot, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août marketplaces with collaborative approaches to new technologies, materials, and differing worldviews. One group offering a different view on walking and producing is the Ju|’hoansi. Originally mobile hunter-gatherers, today virtually all Ju|’hoansi live settled lives and have diversified economic systems—yet sharing is still a crucial part of their social system. Their ways of walking, living together, and creating footwear should be carefully considered today in view of increased foot­ wear waste and landfill, shortages in natural resources, and declining biomechanical health. The following chapters offer a deeper view into the Ju|’hoan San of Nyae Nyae in Namibia. After scanning, a 3D-printed sandal based on the features of kolhapuri is made as Foundation Footwear a second skin, 2018, Leuven, Belgium. © Materialise, Future

79 Example of the pressure plate set-up in Athani, India. South Indian woman walking barefoot, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août 81 Family in Rajasthan, skilled in farming and juttee-footwear making. India, 2013. in Rajasthan, skilled farming and juttee-footwear making. India, 2013. Family © David Willems

81 83 Toehold artisans’ village. Athani, India, 2010. © Kristiaan D’Août Toehold

83 Interviews with The texts in this chapter are based on inter­ views taken during fieldwork in 2017 and Ju|’hoan Cobblers 2018 by Catherine Willems, Flora Blommaert, and Els Roelandt at different locations near Nhoma and Tsumkwe (Namibia). For enhanced readability a family lineage and map of the n!oresi—the territories— where the cobblers work and live is included below.

84 Family lineage of the cobblers currently involved. N!haukxa (†) × Kunta (†) Di||Xao × N‡amce (†) Dam (†) × N!sa (†)

!Ui David

Se||ae Kunta × Bo Damq Tsamkxao N‡amce × ||’asa Dam |Kun N‡amce (†) Komtsa Kashe Josef Kunta (Ruben) (Jonas) | Aice Ndam × × × × Di||xao !Ui Kunta (Steve) Evelyne |Xoan Cuxqa Tci!xo Ben (Maria) × (Lucia) N!hunkxa N‡amce

N!ani N‡amce (Pieter) × |Xo||’o

N‡amce |Kun N!am |Kun

Tiqai N||ao Josef (Katura) Tsamkxao |Kun Gcao Xoa||an N|auxka Di||xao (Marlien) |Amace |Kun The cobblers of the n!ang n|osi ¹ The most popular gifts were ostrich eggshell bead jewelry, arrowheads, spears, musical instruments, and Between 2015 and the present moment, sandal pro- knives. Nowadays gift exchange no longer plays the duction has moved from Nhoma to ||Xa|oba and back same role as when the Ju|’hoan San were active hunt- to Nhoma via Tsumkwe, with a final plan to settle down er-gatherers, but the skill of making eggshell beads is in Nhoma in 2019. A new modular atelier will be built in still very much alive. The decoration was traditionally co-creation with artisans and villagers. Seen against the not used for sandals, and has been added to give them Ju|’hoan San background of hunter-gathering, these a more desirable feeling within the global market. The movements are not considered divergent. The option beads are made solely out of ostrich eggshells, to stay in smaller settlements rather than the main city, sourced from farmers in Namibia and South Africa. In Tsumkwe, is in line with the “back-to-the-land” movement the past gift exchange was the only delayed exchange that started as early as the 1980s to avoid the town’s neg- between the Ju|’hoansi. Individuals made jewellery ative reputation and influence. Robert Hitchcock explains both for personal use and for ritual hxaro, which served the situation in more detail in his chapter in this book. as a channel of communication between communities Ju|'hoan San groups previously resid- or n!oresi. ed in territories or resource areas known as n!oresi. A map with n!oresi in Nyae Nyae is Over the last decade some 200 of the 300 n!oresi have visible here, made by Hitchcock, to help visualize the been mapped by the Ju|'hoan San using the global movement and belonging of the cobblers. positioning system (GPS).

N!ang n|osi means sandal made out of eland skin. Linked to the n!oresi is the system of

¹ gift exchange called hxaro or “generosity partnership.”

N!ORESI (Traditional Communal Lands) OF NYAE NYAE, NAMIBIA

98 KAVANGO Sikeretti 123 140 99 Samagaigai 91 97

92 100 101 122 124 139

196 JaqÕna 199 121 89 93 102 112 138 181 Nhoma 195 90 94 103 120 137 177 111 125 178 198 88 179 86 87 110 141 187 183 197 127 82 126 182 85 A 200 113 129 136 142 194 Olifantswater 83 104 186 184 135 129 P 185 105 119 81 79 X 143 188 80 IIXaIoba 109 V W 133 192 189 Vics Rus191 78 114 118 130 134 76 106 108 190 77 144 115 117 132 147 146 !ÕHan/om 131 148 145 (Aasvoelnes) 75 107 Mangettis 1 116 74 T 26 25 B 132 23 2 44 43 48 Tseka 24 20 73 P 21 Q 50 72 22 Tsumkwe R 71 S 45 47 42 46 49 Farm 51 3 41 70 149 C O Mangettis 19 P 52 150 18 40 68 69 28 53 4 17 13 16 N 27 151 ANA 5 12 15 29 38 M 39 30 66 153 10 D 33 67 152 E 65 BOTSW 11 31 64 6 34 63 154 14 32 L Vergenoeg 9 Mangettis 62 35 59 K 155 7 61 H J 60 Tsi 156 8 G 157 175 54 158 P 36 I 58 57 160 159 170 37 F 0 10 20 30 kilometers 56 55 172 171

> Living and working places of the cobblers 173 N!oresi map. © Kalahari Peoples Fund N!oresi map. © Kalahari Peoples Joseph (|Kun |Kunta) eland, but these days he and his people are forbidden to do so—instead, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism organizes trophy Joseph (|Kun |Kunta) has been the chief hunts for tourists who are given permits to of Nhoma and Jaq’na for ten years. He is kill eland using guns. Joseph Kunta prefers in his fifties, was born in Nhoma, and was hunting barefoot as it is the fastest way. a soldier in the South African Army from But he also likes closed Western shoes which 1978 until 1989, just before Namibia gained he finds comfortable, although he points out independence. With his wife Maria (Di||xao that the laces can cause accidents. Sometimes, in the Ju|’hoan language), he had eight Joseph says, they killed other animals, like children, only five of whom are still alive. a giraffe, and used the stomach skin for His military career earned him some financial making sandals, although it was a very tough independence, and he owned two cars at material to handle during the making process. one point. Since 1999 he has worked for a local lodge owner at Nhoma. Joseph knows a lot about the old traditions and the use of different parts of the eland. The eland’s intestines and stomach can be used as water reservoirs and other parts are used for fortune telling or medicine by healers. He remembers his father hunting eland and making sandals. In those days they did not remove the fur of the skin while tanning and made a concave outsole to make the tracks of their gait visible. Besides being headman, Joseph is also a hunter, a traditional healer, and a caretaker of his people. He used to go hunting for

86 87 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

87 N!ani N‡amce (Pieter) N!ani N‡amce (better known as Pieter) is the older brother of Tsamkxao and N!hunkxa, and he moves regularly between Nhoma and Tsumkwe. He has been an enthusiastic cobbler since the project started in 2016. Known for his skills in woodcarving and furniture- making, he is in charge of cutting soles out of eland skin and he assisted in building the workplace at Jaq’na in 2017. Pieter previously served in the army (the Namibian Defence Force), and although he made a good living out of it he felt he was too far from Nhoma and his family. He also worked as a farmer and is skilled in tracking animals for trophy- hunting safaris.

88 89 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

89 N!hunkxa N‡amce N!hunkxa is married to Steve !Ui Kunta and they have six children. She lived in Nhoma for thirty years, before moving to Tsumkwe. Now forty-two, she has always loved to work with textiles, and used to make items such as dresses, little bags, pillows, and wallets. N!hunkxa now stitches of the shoe bags and decorates them with ostrich eggshell beads. These bags are inspired by the traditional hunting bag. She loves the work and would like to train other women to do it. N!hunkxa owns a sewing machine, and her worst fear is that something would happen to it, putting her out of her job.

90 91 Tsumkwe, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Tsumkwe,

91 !Ui Kunta (Steve) Steve has coordinated the San-dal project since the beginning. He keeps track of orders and communicates internationally as well as locally about their status. He is responsible for delivering the finished product. Quality control is part of his task. Together with his wife N!hunkxa and their six children, he has a house in Tsumkwe. Regularly he is involved in tourism activities and research in the area. He is part of the Ju|’hoan transcription group, speaks and writes fluent Ju|’hoan and English and is often hired for translating and tour-guiding jobs. He wants to start his own tourism platform in Nyae Nyae.

92 93 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

93 Tsamkxao N‡amce Tsamkxao N‡amce, thirty-three, was born in Tsumkwe and lived briefly in Nhoma before moving back to Tsumkwe to go to school until the age of fifteen. He is married to ||’Asa and they have seven children together. He has been a cobbler since the project started in 2016, and is especially skilled in the final stitching of the sandal, although he knows all aspects of sandal making. Tsamkxao, the brother of N!ani and N!hunkxa, who are both involved in the project as well, remembers his parents wearing the eland sandals.

94 95 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

95 Komsta Kashe (Ruben) Komsta Kashe (or Ruben) is in his late twenties and married to Evelyne. They have three children. Komtsa was born in Olifantwater and later moved to Samagaigai with his family. He attended school in Tsumkwe and in Aasvoelnes, graduating aged nineteen, and moved to Omaruru to work as a hunter in the trophy-hunting safari business between 2003 and 2014. In Omaruru there was no hunting for eland, only for springbok. zebra, kudus, impala, and oryx. Like N!ani, he felt he was living too far from his family so he moved back to Nhoma region.

96 97 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

97 Tci!xo Ben (Lucia) Tci!xo Ben (or Lucia) is in charge of decorations, and she is the wife of |aice. She organizes the work at Nhoma and, together with Di||xao, involves more women when facing a large order. She joined the project in September 2017, alongside her husband.

98 99 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

99 N‡amce |Kun N‡amce |Kun is the team’s youngest male cobbler and not yet married. He calls himself the “office man” as he is in charge of the precise measuring work needed for lace cutting—one of very few stages in sandal making that requires a table. He has golden hands for this detailed work. Before becoming a cobbler he carved wooden objects for the craft store at Nhoma.

100 101 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

101 Di||xao N!ani Di||xao is the oldest daughter of Pieter (N!ani N‡amce). She makes the small shoe ornaments for the female sandal—the beads made of egg shells. The female sandal comes with removable decorations made from ostrich eggshell beads and guinea-fowl or francolin feathers. Di||xao takes care of her siblings and works from home when she can.

102 103 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

103 !Aice Dam !Aice Dam, now thirty-one, was born in Jaq’na, near Nhoma, a village located close to Tsumkwe in the north-west of Namibia. Since September 2017, when the atelier moved to his village, he has been working as a cobbler. He is skilled in the making of outsoles and branding of the footwear. Each sandal features a cheetah footprint embossed by an artisan. The cheetah is known for its speed and hunt­ ing skills. He was not familiar with sandal making before the project came to Nhoma, and has no recollection of his father wearing traditional sandals, as he joined the South African Defence Force during colonial times and was often away. He says most people had fathers who were serving the army in those days, and cannot remember their parents wearing the traditional sandal. He appreciates the eland as it not only provides leather for sandals but also ingredients for medicines.

104 105 Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

105 107 N!ani N‡amce (Pieter) walking from his house towards the cobbling atelier, Jaq’na, Jaq’na, N!ani N‡amce (Pieter) walking from his house towards the cobbling atelier, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

107 The Ju|’hoansi of Nyae Nyae, Namibia: A Historical and Anthropological Perspective Robert K. Hitchcock

108 109 Tool used for the production of the n!ang n|osi, or eland antelope sandal. Nyae Nyae Conservancy, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf The Ju|’hoansi (Bushmen) of northeastern The Ju|’hoansi are among the best Namibia and northwestern Botswana are known, most thoroughly studied indigenous­ among the few African indigenous peoples peoples on the planet. Intensive anthro­po­ who have been able to retain a portion of logical work among them began in 1950 with their original land. Today, the Ju|’hoansi, the Marshall family expeditions to the Nyae who number some 12,000 people on both Nyae area of Namibia, then under South sides of the Namibia-Botswana border, African administration and known as South are coping with significant social, political, West Africa (Marshall 1976:1–11; J. Marshall 2003; economic, and environmental change. Marshall Thomas 2006:43–85; Barbash 2017). These Originally mobile hunter-gatherers, vir­ expeditions began when Laurence Marshall, tual­ly all Ju|’hoansi now have a settled an entrepreneur from Boston, Massachusetts, lifestyle with diversified economic systems, sold his interest in the Raytheon Company. combining foraging, pastoralism, agri­ His wife Lorna Marshall was an anthropo­ cultural production, wage labor, manu­ logist, and they began a decade-long journey facture and sale of crafts, exploitation to the Kalahari with their children John and of high value plants, and tourism. Elizabeth. First visiting the |Xai |Xai area The term Ju|’hoansi, meaning “true in Botswana, they heard of people living as people” or “real people,” refers to those who mobile hunter-gatherers across the border describe themselves as Ju; they differentiate in the Nyae Nyae area. themselves from neighboring groups such as The Marshall family went to the the !Xuun and the ||Au||esi who also speak |Gautscha area of South West Africa in Ju|’hoan languages. Ju|’hoansi is a “click” 1951, where they carried out detailed ethno­ language that linguists classify as one of graphic work and visual documentation of the three San language families (Güldemann the Ju|’hoansi until 1961. Their approach 2014). Its speakers have resided in the region was heavily interdisciplinary, and over the for generations, and the archaeological and years they brought a variety of scholars and genetic records indicate that they have links specialists, from botanists to archaeologists going back as much as 200,000 years. and photographers, into their camps. Their

109 Measuring tape used for the production of the n!ang n|osi. Nyae Nyae Conservancy, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf primary focus of study was on people who a Commission on the Preservation of were “traditional,” that is, whose social the Bushmen. Its report, issued in 1951, structure, livelihood strategies, and belief identified only the area occupied by the systems were intact and minimally impacted Ju|’hoansi as Bushmanland, leaving out by outside agencies. The five-episode docu­ the country’s dozen or so other San peoples. mentary film A Kalahari Family (2002), As it turned out, the Ju|’hoansi were made by John Marshall, tried to capture a relatively isolated from much of the de­ hunter-gatherer way of life as it was between velop­ment in the rest of South West Africa, the 1950s and 1960s without exoticization. though labor recruiters did go to Nyae Nyae Germany had begun their colonial in 1957 in search of men to work in the administration of Namibia in 1884, and mines of South West Africa and South Africa. consolidated their hold on the region by The wide-ranging work of the Marshalls and allocating much of the productive land in their co-workers led to their establishment central and southern South West Africa to of the Ju|wa (Ju|’hoan) Cattle Fund in 1981, German farmers. South African military which began supplying animals, tools, seeds, forces entered the territory at the beginning and water to Ju|’hoan communities (Marshall of the First World War, and in 1919 the and Ritchie 1984). Throughout that decade, country was ceded to Africa under the the Cattle Fund and later the Ju|Wa Bushmen League of Nations “mandate system.” Racial Develop­ment Project worked to enhance discrimination on the part of the South West the land rights and wellbeing of the Ju|’hoansi, African administration, then overseen by the who also established their own community- government of South Africa, intensified after based organization, the Nyae Nyae Farmers the Second World War (Wallace 2011; Melber 2014). Cooperative, and a later a support program, In the 1950s the Nyae Nyae area, the Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of where the Ju|’hoansi resided, was one of Namibia (Biesele and Hitchcock 2013). the communal, or tribal, areas that made up about 36 percent of South West Africa. In 1949, the government had established

110 111 Tsumkwe Craft Centre, Namibia. © Thomas Nolf © Kalahari Peoples Fund © Kalahari Peoples

111 Making guinea fowl decoration for the sandal with ostrich eggshell beads, Nhoma, Namibia. © Thomas Nolf Crafting the sandal and bags in team. Jaq’na, Namibia. © Thomas Nolf

112 113 Patterns for the male and for the female bag are plotted in a rigid material. Tsumkwe, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf The region and its management 8,992 km2. It is bounded by the Botswana- Namibia border to the east, the border of the The run-up to independence on 21 March, neighboring N‡a Jaq’na Conservancy (which 1990 was a difficult time for the Ju|’hoansi, was declared officially in 2003) to the west, some of whom had been pressed into serving and the Red Line, or veterinary cordon fence, in the South West African Territorial Force to the south. To the north of Nyae Nyae and (SWATF) and the South African Defense N‡a Jaq’na is the Okavango West region Force (SADF) in the late 1970s and 1980s. and the 3,840 km2 Khaudum National Park. Political activity in northern Namibia was Originally established as the Khaudum Game intense, and many Ju|’hoansi supported the Reserve in 1986, it was declared a national pro-independence South West Africa People’s park in 2007, and over 200 Ju|’hoansi were Organization (SWAPO). Some of those who relocated from it to the northern part of fought with the losing SWATF and SADF were Nyae Nyae, N‡a Jaq’na, and to the Nhoma given the option of relocating to South Africa area between the two conservancies. Nyae to avoid retribution by the new government. Nyae is located in the Otjozondjupa Region, Some 4500 people opted to move to South one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, and Africa in 1990 before independence (Hitchcock Tsumkwe is its administrative center. 2012; Welch 2013). Several thousand more !Xun The Ju|’hoansi were among the first and Khwe opted to remain in N‡a Jaq’na San of Namibia to get a Traditional Authority and were incorporated into the N‡a Jaq’na (TA) in 1998. The first TA, Tsamkxao ≠Oma, Conservancy when it was established in 2003. is still leading the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, The Nyae Nyae region is now a conser­ and continues to play an important role in vancy under Namibian government legislation,­ managing the region. Nyae Nyae created a which means that the people of Nyae Nyae Community Forest in March 2013 to protect have the right to the use and management forest lands within the boundaries of the of wildlife resources (Republic of Namibia conservancy. Land allocation decisions 1996). Founded in early 1998, it is the are the responsibility of the Otjozondjupa oldest conservancy in Namibia and covers Regional Land Board based in Otjivarango,

113 Finishing the bags at the Craft Centre in Tsumkwe, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf which the Ju|’hoan TA serves in an advisory Only 20 percent of Ju|’hoansi food role, providing information on land use and resources now come from foraging (Lee 2016, occupation history in anticipation of decisions. 2018); the reasons for this decline in hunter- gathering are complex. Wildlife populations The resources of the Ju|’hoansi decreased during the colonial and immediate post-colonial eras. Following the establishment Traditionally mobile hunter-gatherers, moving of the administrative center at Tsumkwe on average three to six times per year to in the late 1950s, people who moved there exploit seasonally available resources, today were supplied with food and sometimes nearly all of the Ju|’hoansi in Nyae Nyae live given live­stock and aided in agricultural in thirty-six settled communities including work. Population expansion in the Nyae Tsumkwe as well as in some outlying areas. Nyae area also contributed, as did the efforts Across the border in Botswana, Ju|’hoansi of various non-governmental organizations reside in eight communities stretching from seeking to encourage the adoption of agri­ the Tsodilo Hills in the north to |Xai|Xai and culture and livestock production. The govern­ |Du|Da. The Ju|’hoansi have mixed economic ment of Namibia also has a broad-based systems that include foraging for wild plants social welfare program which distributes and animals, gardening, raising cattle and com­modities. Some Ju|’hoansi elders receive other domestic animals, making and selling government pensions, and food and other crafts such as ostrich eggshell beads, skin goods are supplied to people in Nyae Nyae. bags, bows, arrows, quivers, leather shoulder The Nyae Nyae Conservancy provides bags, and net bags for collecting plants. its members with an annual income based Nyae Nyae is the only place left in Africa on a division of money earned through where local people have the right to hunt for safari hunting, tourism, and other efforts. subsistence using traditional weapons (Hitchcock As Namibia is one of the twenty-three 2015). Some of the resulting wildlife products countries in Africa which allows safari are used in the manufacture of sandals and hunting, the conservancy and its members other items of importance to the Ju|’hoansi. receive some of the resulting meat, income,

114 115 N!ani N‡amce (Pieter) and Catherine Willems having a talk about the cobbling activities and the future, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf and employment benefits: safari companies for the Ju|’hoansi on the Botswana side of operating in the Nyae Nyae area are required the border, who have faced more challenges to give meat to the Ju|’hoansi from success­ in recent years than those in Namibia. ful hunts, for example. The Ju|’hoan TA is also allowed to obtain wild animal meat as The n!oresi or territories part of its support system. Some Ju|’hoansi in Nyae Nyae work Like most indigenous peoples, the Ju|’hoansi for these safari companies, others have jobs have a strong sense of belonging and at a private tourism camp at Nhoma, and attachment to their traditional areas—their about a dozen work at the Tsumkwe Lodge, n!oresi (territories). This land base has been operated by the University Centre for Studies reduced through competition from peoples in Namibia (TUCSIN). The Nyae Nyae Con­ entering the area over the past 2000 years, servancy,­ faith-based institutions, and the along with various colonial and post-colonial government are sources of employment, while state actions. Areas where the Ju|hoansi reside half a dozen Ju|’hoan teachers work in the are now being subjected to a land rush by Nyae Nyae Village Schools Program (Hays 2016). other groups, private companies, and the state Overall, about 12 percent of the Ju|’hoansi in for purposes of grazing, hunting, mining, Nyae Nyae are in formal-sector employment. and tourism. In response, the Ju|’hoansi are The Nyae Nyae Conservancy generated seeking to assert the politics of belonging over N$5 million (US$417,600) through through carefully constructing their self- its activities in 2017, while the N‡a Jaq’na identity, demonstrating their long-standing Conservancy, Namibia’s largest communal ties to the land, recording their histories, conservancy, generated over N$1 million and documenting the innovative ways in (US$83,520). The people of the Nyae Nyae which they manage and use natural resources. and the N‡a Jaq’na conservancies generally Among the Ju|’hoansi a n!ore is an say that they see tourism as an important part area over which local people have rights of their livelihoods; some would like to see of access and resource use. It is sometimes tourist numbers increase. This is also true given a name, often related to people who

115 N!ani N‡amce (Pieter) and Catherine Willems keep on talking… Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf 19o00’ 19o15’ 19o30’ 19o45’ 20o00’ 20o15’ 20o30’ 20o45’ 21o00’

00’ Kaudum o

19 KAVANGO Game Park

Kanovlei Grashoek N//oqma Nyae Nyae 15’ o 19 19 N=a Jaqna RooidaghekRoodagliek Kameelwoud Kaptein se Pos /Xoann!huru //Xa/oba N//oaqg!uru Kandu Protected area Luhebo Aasvoëlnes Xinni Conservancy Naorube DobeKlein Xuri Veterinary fence 30’ 30’ Dobe o o Mequietnu Region 19 19 Kakudi Mangetti N//oaq!’osi Dune /’Au/‘o International border Tsumkwe Baraka Main road N!om/xom Makuri District road !Ukoarama N!unillha Den/uiDon’ui Track 45’

45’ Djxokhoe o o G!aq’o!oma Xamsa BOTSWANA Main river 19 19 /Aotca Kremetartkop Minor river Tambotistad Towns & settlements //Auru !’Obaha!’obaho Airstrip /Uidinsi N!aici Campsite 00’

o Lodge

20 Camp OTJOZONDJUPA Gate

N 15’ o 20 OMAHEKE 0 20 km

lived there in the past or events that occurred and as many as fifteen in Nyae Nyae that there. In some cases, in northeast Namibia serve as focal points of Ju|’hoan settlements and northwest Botswana, n!oresi contain or activities. N!ore sizes vary substantially, pans where water accumulates during the but range from 200 to 400 km in Nyae Nyae, rainy season or is present year-round. There and rights to the n!oresi are inherited from

© Kalahari Peoples Fund © Kalahari Peoples are a dozen pans in the Dobe-|Xai|Xai area both sets of parents, that is, bilaterally.

116 117 African eland antelope, Otavi, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf 19o 20 ‘ S NAMIBIA BOTSWANA ‘ o 21 30 E Ju|’hoan individuals can also gain !AODOM AREA rights in n!oresi with the permission of n!ore 19o 30 ‘ S kxaosi (land managers). These individuals are !Aoan N oaq!’osi Tsumkwe Dobe usually older people in the group who have Bate an understanding of the history of land use Mahopa G!oci o !’Ubi and occupancy of the areas where they live. 19 40 ‘ S TNS NYAE NYAE AREA A M It is these individuals who are consulted on AH

issues such as whether people can occupy Aotcha specific places or move in specific directions. 19o 50 ‘ S N ama Kae kae The n!ore kxaosi are well known to the local N oa KAE KAE AREA group as well as to other Ju|’hoansi, and N oama tend to be the ones from whom outsiders 20o 00 ‘ S Uihaba seek permis­sion to enter a n!ore and use its (Biesele and Hitchcock 2013:54–59). resources Some Botswana (Bechuanaland) Namibia (South West Africa) Namibia (South West 20o 10 ‘ S of these individuals are local headmen or head­ G am Ogllaqna

women; the overall “chief” of the Nyae Nyae G AM AREA OG AQNA region is Tsamkxao ‡Oma, the Ju|’hoan TA. AREA o ‘ 20 20 S Y E L In cooperation with non-governmental L A V EB organizations and researchers, the Ju|’hoansi EIS G ugla’a 0 5 10 km have engaged in community ethnocartographic G UG A’A AREA mapping, documenting the distribution and 20o 30 ‘ S characteristics of their n!oresi. They have used these maps in meetings such as the 1991 land. This was particularly important in National Land Conference in Windhoek. light of other people entering the area to After the presentation of the n!ore map take advantage of grazing and water sources at that conference, the first president of that same year, a process that has continued Namibia, Sam Nujoma, told the people of in subsequent years, specifically from 2009

© Kalahari Peoples Fund © Kalahari Peoples Nyae Nyae that they had the right to their to the present (Hays 2009; Hitchcock 2015).

117 Gathering at Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf A legal case against those defined as “illegal and ochre), the people who came before immigrants,” filed in June 2015 with the them (ancestors), and the nation-states in Namibia High Court, was decided in favor which they reside today. of the Ju|’hoansi and the Nyae Nyae Forest Anthropologist Polly Wiessner says Management Committee on August 10, 2018. that “Land rights were largely maintained From a political standpoint, the by social boundary maintenance, with hxaro Ju|’hoansi in Namibia consider themselves (xaro, haro) partnerships giving others a minority people who have been historically temporary access” (Wiessner 2014:14028). Hxaro disadvantaged. Their representatives have is a reciprocal, delayed Ju|’hoan exchange attended the United Nations Permanent system involving goods distribution (often Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York ostrich eggshell bead bracelets and necklaces) and, until 2006, meetings of the Working which link people together as partners over Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva. extensive areas. This kind of exchange network­ The UN considers the Ju|’hoansi to be indigen­­ is also found among X’ao-||’aen (||Au||esi), ous people, as do international organizations Ju|’hoan speakers who reside in the Omaheke such as the International Labor Organization. Region of Namibia to the south and in the In Namibia, the government sees the Ju|’hoansi northern Ghanzi District at Groot Laagte as part of the country’s “marginalized com­ in Botswana. Some Ju|’hoansi and X’ao-||’aen mu­ni­ties,” and has a development program say that they can tell if people are from their for the Ju|’hoansi as well as the San, Himba, groups based on the kinds of beads they and Ovatue, under the auspices of the are wearing. Marginalized Communities Division. The amount of land possessed by The Ju|’hoansi describe their collective the Ju|’hoansi has declined substantially land as the kxa|ho. As they put it, “This is over time. Portions of the ancestral the place to which we belong.” They see their Ju|’hoan territories were lost as a result connections in multi-dimensional terms—to of decisions by the colo­nial and post- place, persons, resources (vegetation, animals, colonial admini­strations of South West and useful materials such as stone for tools Africa (now Namibia) and Bechuanaland

118 119 Talk with the main cobblers on where and how to build a new shoe atelier, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf (now Botswana) (Biesele and Hitchcock 2013:17). modernization and development among the The Khaudum Game Reserve, mentioned Ju|’hoansi. Tensions have arisen between those previously, is an example of this forced who have jobs and are relatively well-off and relocation, a process that occurred in 2007 those who do not. Wealthy individuals are when it was declared a national park by the sometimes accused of being “far-hearted” Namibian government. During the colonial and unwilling to share food and other era, areas to the west of Nyae Nyae were resources. Yet sharing is still a crucial part developed into the commercial Grootfontein of the social system of the Ju|’hoansi, and Farms, and areas to the south were allo­ wealthier individuals do provide assistance cated to the Herero under the apartheid- of various kinds to kin and neighbors, which era Odendaal Commission in the 1960s remains an important means of support. (Wallace 2011:243, 261–266, 277). Further south The Ju|’hoansi in Nyae Nyae and Dobe- in what is now the Otjozondjupa Region |Xai|Xai often say they belong to this land; are the Omaheke Farms, where several many feel that it is their mother. They empha­ thousand Ju|’hoansi live on commercial size their emotional and spiritual­ attachment and resettlement farms with Europeans, to it, and to its terrain and resources. From an Hereros, and others. administrative standpoint, however, they do not have de jure (legal) access to their land, so are Some contemporary issues still at risk of land takeovers by outsiders. The Ju|’hoansi understand the limita­ The emergence of a cash income from tions of the concept of “indigeneity,” arguing crafts and jobs has resulted in changes in that they are citizens of the two countries in Ju|’hoan society, with the beginnings of what which they reside and therefore have rights might be described as a less egalitarian, less equal to other citizens. They are quick to point reciprocity-based system in which some out that they want to take full advantage of individuals and families are now better off the benefits of modernity and development, than their neighbors. This poses a dilemma while seeking to protect and promote their for organizations attempting to promote language and culture with the aim of passing

119 Tea and coffee gathering near Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf their cultural heritage, traditions and values Acknowledgments along to their children. Ju|’hoansi want to have both their Support for the research upon which this text is based was provided by the U.S. National Science collective and individual rights recognized. Foundation (grant BCS 1122932), Brot für die Welt They also stress that the kxa|ho, “the land­ (Project No. 2013 0148 G), and the Millennium scape of home,” is under threat, and want Challenge Account-Namibia (MCA-N). I thank the to regain access to lands and resources they Nyae Nyae Development Foundation of Namibia, the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, the Ju|’hoan TA, and have lost. They are hopeful that some of the people of the Nyae Nyae region for their help, the economic benefits from development advice, and information. Melinda Kelly, Els Roe- and tourism can be invested in legal efforts landt, Catherine Willems, and Jenifer Evans provid- ed very useful editorial comments and suggestions to establish their customary rights to com­ for the improvement of this article. munal land, which they believe belongs to them and has been in their hands and hearts forever. References

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Biesele, Megan and Robert K. Hitchcock (2013) The Ju|’hoan San of Nyae Nyae and Namibian Inde- pendence: Development, Democracy, and Indige- nous Voices in Southern Africa. Paperback Edition. New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books.

Güldemann, Tom (2014) ‘Khoisan’ linguistic classification today. In Beyond ‘Khoisan’: Historical Relations in the Kalahari Basin. Tom Güldemann and Anne-Maria Fehn, eds. pp. 1–44. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

120 121 |Aice drawing backstraps, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Hays, Jennifer (2009) Lee, Richard B. (2016) The Invasion of Nyae Nyae: A Case Study in In the Bush the Food is Free: The Ju|’hoansi of On-going Aggression Against Hunter-gatherers in Tsumkwe in the 21st Century. In Why Forage? Namibia. In Forum Conference on Indigenous Peo- Hunting and Gathering in the 21st Century, Brian ples 2009: Violent Conflicts, Ceasefires, and Peace Codding and Karen Kramer, eds. pp. 61–87. Santa Accords Through the Lens of Indigenous Peoples. Fe: School for Advanced Research Press and Albu- Report. pp. 25–32. Tromso: Forum for Develop- querque: University of New Mexico Press. ment Cooperation with Indigenous Peoples. Lee, Richard B. (2018) Hays, Jennifer (2016) Persistence of Foraging among Tsumkwe Owners of Learning: The Nyae Nyae Village Schools Ju|’hoansi in the 21st Century. In Research and Ac- Over Twenty-Five Years. Basel, Switzerland: Basler tivism Among the Kalahari San Today: Ideals, Chal- Afrika Bibliographien. lenges, and Debates, Fleming Puckett and Kazu- nobu Ikeya, eds. pp. 141–156. Senri Ethnological Hazam, John (2017) Studies 99. Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology. Conservancies, Community Forests, and Land Is- sues from a Legal Perspective: Constraints and Marshall, John (2003) Opportunities. Windhoek: Legal Assistance Centre. A Kalahari Family. (film). Watertown: Documentary Educational Resources. Hitchcock, Robert K. (2012) Refugees, Resettlement, and Land and Resource Marshall, John and Claire Ritchie (1984) Conflicts: The Politics of Identity among !Xun and Where Are the Ju|Wasi of Nyae Nyae? Changes in Khwe San of Northeastern Namibia. African Study a Bushman Society: 1958-1981. Communications Monographs 33(2):73–132. No. 9, Center for African Area Studies, University of Cape Town. Cape Town: University of Cape Town. Hitchcock, Robert K. (2015) Improving the Viability and Sustainability of the Nyae Marshall, Lorna (1976) Nyae Conservancy and the N‡a Jaq’na Conservan- The !Kung of Nyae Nyae. Cambridge: Harvard Uni- cy: A Mid-Term Evaluation of an NNDFN/Brot für die versity Press. Welt Project in Namibia. Windhoek: Nyae Nyae De- velopment Foundation of Namibia and Berlin: Brot Melber, Henning (2014) für die Welt. Understanding Namibia: The Trials of Independence. London: Hurst & Company.

121 Pieter filling up a glue reservoir, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Republic of Namibia (1996) Nature Conservation Amendment Act 1996. Wind- hoek: Government of the Republic of Namibia.

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122 123 Fitting the sole patterns on the hide before cutting them out. Tsumkwe, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf 123 N!hunkxa at work in the Craft Centre, Tsumkwe, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf 125

IKunta Bo showing the skilled practice of his ancestors. Doupos, Namibia, 2018. IKunta © Thomas Nolf

125 Skilled practice Doupos, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Skilled practice Doupos, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

127 IKunta Bo, Doupos, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Bo, Doupos, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf IKunta

127 Pattern of the female hunting bag, Tsumkwe, 2018. © Thomas Nolf of the female hunting bag, Tsumkwe, Pattern

129

Cotton footwear bag based on the traditional hunting bag, Tsumkwe, Namibia, 2018. Cotton footwear bag based on the traditional hunting bag, Tsumkwe, © Thomas Nolf

129 Figure 1 © Thomas Nolf 131 Prototypes made in 2016, a few months before the first kickstarter order arrived. Prototypes made in 2016, a few months before the first kickstarter order arrived. The stitching machine was not yet in function. © Flora Blommaert

131 The Atelier Flora Blommaert

132 133 Sanding the inside of the sandal, ||XaIoba, Namibia 2016. © Flora Blommaert In April 2015 two design students, the sole, which is only suitable for sandy Sophie Verclyte and myself of KASK / environments. A decision was made to add School of Arts Ghent, lived and worked an extra sole to the original sandal, and with the Ju|’hoansi in Nhoma, Namibia. use a stitch that connects the insole to the Under the supervision of Catherine outsole. With these and other simple design Willems and funded by Vivobarefoot, interventions, the sandal was made suitable we collaborated on reviving the almost for urban wear. extinct craft of indi­genous sandal making This activity proceeded the making and its biomechanics. of prototypes for the crowdfunding campaign In November 2015 a second visit that was successfully launched through to Nyae Nyae was organized with the Kickstarter in 2016. In one month’s time, intention of making the sandal more suitable 633 persons pledged GBP92,000—an order for city environments and refining the of 1440 pairs. product. At the same time Future Footwear As a follow-up to the first collaboration, Foundation (FFF) finished investigating I returned for a three-month master-internship the differences between barefoot walking from January to April 2016. During this time, and walking with eland-leather sandals tools were bought, patterns were made and through biomechanical measuring with a organized, and quality-control guidelines were plantar pressure plate. The original sandal written down. In June 2016 the crowdfunding

Eland hides ready for use, the atelier at Jaq’na, and the sanding Eland hides ready for use, the atelier at Jaq’na, and sanding of a sole. © Flora Blommaert positions the knots of the laces under campaign kicked off together with the set-up

133 Steve Kunta, !amace IKun and N‡amce |Kun making backstraps for the sandal, ||XaIoba, Namibia 2016. © Flora Blommaert of all necessary equipment, including solar Towards a new craft center panels, a sewing machine and batteries, knives, and other tools. By August 2018 the full Kickstarter order In March 2017 the team was reinfor­ of 1440 pairs was completed and the idea of ced with the addition of Rory Kurtis—a PhD building a new, more solid atelier near Nhoma student under FFF working at the University started to grow. The cobblers sat down with of Liverpool. He conducted research on the Bruno Spaas, a Belgium-based architect. strength of the big toe, comparing barefoot They reflected on the future construction. and shod populations. This atelier needs to be durable to Meanwhile, the shoemakers continued­ cope with natural forces such as bushfires production with the logistical help of a local and heavy storms, to blend in with the NGO, Nanofasa. In August 2017 masters stu­ environ­ment, and to use local, ecological dent Jolien Deceuninck helped to build a new building materials. shoemakers’ atelier in collaboration with the In connection with the availability of local villagers. The materials were provided natural resources and in line with the tradi­ by FFF. In this atelier close to Nhoma (Jaq’na), tions of the Ju|’hoansi, they developed an idea more than half of the order generated from for a future building: The new atelier should the Kickstarter campaign were produced. provide an inside workspace, a central open The space turned out not only to be well area with a fireplace, and a storage room to locat­ed, in terms of transport and as a keep the materials, skins, and finished sandals place of interest and interaction, but it out of the sunlight. The building should be also increased the production rate. totally roofed, giving shelter against rain Due to an accident with the solar and sun. batteries the atelier burned down a few Constructions in the Kalahari are months later. As everything was destroyed known to be very vulnerable due to extreme and new solar panels were not available, weather conditions and a rich variety of production was temporarily relocated insects, nesting in soil, wood, and grass. to the Craft Centre in Tsumkwe. So the building of the atelier and roof

134 135 Checking the drawing of the construction to be made, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2017 © Jolien Deceuninck

School of Arts, Ghent, 2017. / Some pages from Jolien Deceuninck’s masters project graphic design Some pages from Jolien Deceuninck’s masters project graphic design at KASK

135 Flora Blommaert starts the construction of a wall with recycled bottles, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2017. © Catherine Willems should only use a minimum amount of wood. Sustainable construction material should also be used and imported material avoided. Namibian land is mainly covered by sand. The deeper layers of lime-rich clay only find their way to the surface through the genius constructions of termite mounts. When the termites abandon their houses, an empty earth pile stays behind. This is a typical sight in a Namibian landscape. For wall construction and roof tiles, earth harvested from the empty termite mounts is mainly used to create stable blocks and tiles. After being molded, the bricks and tiles are left to dry and harden in the sun. Tests are currently being done on the correct amount needed per material to make durable roof tiles and compressed earth bricks. Both the tiles and bricks for the atelier will be produced and built by the local community. This means the cobblers carry the project into the future, giving it new meaning and exploring new approaches to sustainable design. As such the new craft center is meant to be more than a shoe­making unit, in that it will also train more people in various crafts.

136 137 Pieter and N‡amce looking for tools after the accident. Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf 50 1946 50 50 50 49

S 424 326 indoor workspace outdoor workspace storage 19m2 36m2 11m2 49 50 50

50 49 576 49 848 49 326 49 50

f l o o r p l a n

Micro Concrete Roofing Tiles 324 706 357 Stabilized Earth Block (CEB) 25 674 848 424 424

e a s t e l e v a t i o n n o r t h e l e v a t i o n w e s t e l e v a t i o n

F O O T P R I N T 8 2 , 5 m 2

0 1 5m

N H O M A c r a f t c e n t r e I f u t u r e f o o t w a r e f o u n d a t i o n I c o n c e p t I 2 0 1 8 I b r u n o s p a a s a r c h i t e c t u u r Preview of the new craft atelier. © Bruno Spaas © Bruno Spaas Preview of the new craft atelier.

137 The atelier after it burnt down, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Infogram Future Footwear Foundation for environmental impact. The biomechanical component of FFF (FEET) is realized in Future Footwear Foundation fosters the under­ colla­boration with Kristiaan D’Août (Faculty standing of human locomotion and sustainable of Health and Life Sciences, University of footwear design for body and environment. Liverpool). Design-related aspects involve Integrating across overlapping and inter­ close collaboration with Vivobarefoot and secting themes—PEOPLE (anthropology), the artisan communities that are bringing PLANET (sustainable design and technology), indigenous collections to the market and FEET (biomechanics)—Future Footwear (PEOPLE). The convergence of indigenous Foundation explores the relation between craftsmanship with modern technology and materials, skill, and design methods in materials to create alternatives for designing various communities and questions the and producing footwear (for instance, with conventional thinking on design, production, 3D printing) is realized in collaboration with and healthy gait. industry partners (for instance, RS Print Catherine Willems (KASK / School and Materialise) and with academic partners of Arts, Ghent, Belgium) founded Future (for instance London College of Fashion, Footwear Foundation to scale up concepts Master Footwear Design) (PLANET). developed for her doctoral research to global activities and sustain the conver­ Learning from indigenous footwear and gence beyond term-limited research. combining insights from different disci­ The foundation serves both as a plat­ plines can guide the design of sustainable, form for cross-disciplinary studies and as minimal footwear, because: a hub for interaction between artisans and (1) Indigenous footwear is often academic and private-sector units all over biomechanically similar to the world. The foundation respects and safe­ barefoot walking; guards (in)tangible heritage of the indigenous (2) Local handmade footwear is communities and promotes local economies adapted to and sustainable and livelihoods for the artisans with attention for the environment; and

138 139 THE PARTNERS INVOLVED Future Footwear Foundation

KASK / SCHOOL OF ARTS — VIVOBAREFOOT — LONDON COLLEGE OF FASHION — UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

PERFORMANCE AFTER LIFE PRODUCTION DESIGN CONSUMPTION respect foot function re-print mono material protect re-cycle 3D print made to measure low piece design THE FOCUS OF OUR RESEARCH (3) New 3D-printing with laser sintering is closest to indigenous production in the amount of excess waste and in tools and manpower needed.

The in-depth research with the cobblers on their footwear and gait has revealed design features that need to be incorporated while creating sustainable footwear. Performance, production, consumption, material, after- life, and sustainability of local economies are taken into consideration by FFF by the start of each new project. The foundation evolves continuously when collaborating with different artisan communities, institutes, and companies around the globe, in the process using its findings to inform new educational activities and curating the ever expanding databank of biomechanical data on barefoot and shod walking.

139

Sustainable footwear for body and environment

PEOPLE PLANET FEET

Living and working with Working together to create shoes Studying biomechanics indigenous cobblers and studying inspired by indigenous designs and foot health. their craft and skill around but adapted to urban lifestyles, shoes and feet. while exploring new approaches and technologies in order to achieve sustainable production. THE COBBLERS WE COLLABORATE WITH

Sami artisans Juttee artisans 3D print Ju|’hoansi artisans Sogsakk Finland Dastkar, India worldwide production Nyae Nyae Conservancy, www.sogsakk.fi www.dastkar.com Namibia

Toehold artisans Athni, India www.toeholdindia.com Flora Blommaert Christine De Baan

Flora Blommaert graduated from KASK / Christine de Baan is an independent curator, School of Arts, Ghent, in multi-media design editor, moderator, and strategic advisor in 2018. She spent a KASK Arts in Practice in the field of art, architecture, and design. internship in the Kalahari Basin in Namibia In this last capacity she laid the foundations assisting her supervisor Catherine Willems, in 2016 for State of Fashion, an international founder of the Future Footwear Foundation. platform for fair, green, and inclusive fashion She is currently an employee of FFF, managing in Arnhem, the Netherlands, and was its first all research related aspects of the San-dal director. With her foundation ROAM, she project in Namibia. has organized exhibitions and conferences that focus on a more sustainable and equitable Kristiaan D’Août future, in Beijing, Cape Town, and Rotterdam.

Kristiaan D’Août is a biomechanist with a Robert K. Hitchcock zoology background (Antwerp University), and with a long-standing interest in human loco­ Robert K. Hitchcock is an adjunct professor motion. He works in the Evolutionary Morpho­ of anthropology at the University of New logy & Biomechanics Group of the Institute of Mexico and a professor of geography at Ageing and Chronic Disease at the University Michigan State University. He also serves of Liverpool. His current work focuses on as a member of the board of directors of understanding human locomotion on complex the Kalahari Peoples Fund, a US non-profit substrates and in ecological settings. The effect organization that assists low-income people of footwear is a core aspect of his work and he in southern Africa. Hitchcock has worked on runs several projects related to the effects of indigenous peoples’ rights and development footwear on gait. D’Août teaches biomechanics issues in Africa, the Middle East, and the and has written about 65 publications on Americas since the 1970s. His most recent evolutionary morphology and biomechanics. work in Namibia took place in June, 2018.

140 141 Foot, photographed during fieldwork as part of a biomechanical analysis, Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Els Roelandt Catherine Willems

Els Roelandt is a Brussels-based art historian. Catherine Willems, a design anthropologist, Before working as an editor at KASK / School combines her work as designer, lecturer of Arts, Ghent, she was co-founder and chief and researcher. She is based at KASK / editor of the internationally renowned A Prior School of Arts, Ghent. With an educational Magazine (1999 – 2012). She is editor of background in comparative cultural sciences several books made at KASK, such as Cercle at Ghent University and footwear design at d’art des travailleurs de plantation congolaise Ars Sutoria in Milan, Willems’ PhD brought (with Renzo Martens) and Plain / Purl (with together biomechanics, anthropology, and Els Huygelen). She has been working with design sciences. She explored relations Catherine Willems and Future Footwear between materials, skills, and design methods Foundation for two years. in various communities and questioned conventional thinking on design, production, and creativity. Inspired by the convergence of traditional wisdom and modern technology, Willems has now embarked on a follow-up study, Future Footwear 2.0, which aims to bring sustainable production and individual needs closer together through 3D-printing. Early in 2017 she founded the Future Footwear Foundation to create footwear that is sustainable for body and environment and foster collaborations between artisans, students, and synergistic units in academia and private sectors.

141 Foot, photographed during fieldwork as part of a biomechanical analysis, Nhoma, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Postscript

142 143 Tool set for shoe-pattern design, Porto, Portugal, 2014. © David Willems The good aspect is that people here now have Yesterday anthropologists went out to their own project, besides maybe trying to “do research on X, Y and Z”. People were get jobs in tourism, from the government, “objecti­fied”, disrespectfully classified, and for different companies. Maybe for you people most of all misunderstood. Westerners gather­ from overseas, the footwear looks unique. ed knowledge about, not with, let alone in close For us it is what our elders, our ancestors interaction with people. As the colonial period were doing, making, and wearing, so that came to an end, postcolonial critique started. they always had shoes to wear, everywhere Future Footwear Foundation, founded they went. Especially when it came to the by Catherine Willems, acknowledges this past hot season—people know it is very dry in the injustice and together with local communities, Kalahari—you had to protect your feet from pushes design anthropology and collaborations the hot sand. In the past our ancestors killed in a new direction. FFF design shoes for the eland, got the skin, made the shoes, and the present world, working closely together they were ok. Today, for us, now that we have with “the other”, deeply interacting with access to skins again, it seems we have got them as equal partners when introducing their something back that we thought was in the ideas and knowledge for the world market. past and lost. That is decolonized working. It is still rare. It is respectful, egalitarian, collaborative. !Ui Kunta (Steve Kunta) In this new book with cobblers from India, Ju|’hoan cobbler, translator, Finland, Belgium, the UK, and Namibia, and local guide, Tsumkwe, Els Roelandt and Willems present a refreshing Namibia and much-needed vision, clearly depicting the integrated roles of artisans, scientists, and industry partners.

Rik Pinxten Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Religious Studies at Ghent University, Belgium 143 100% personalized 3D-printed footwear based on features of indigenous Indian footwear. Ghent, Belgium, 2018. © Thomas Nolf My family have been cobblers for six gene­ ment and biomechanics—and it was stunning rations, but thanks to meeting Catherine to see young and old glide through nature with Willems and joining the Future Footwear such grace and connection. It was no coinci­ Foundation I have been introduced to dence then that we also found there the original cobblers from more than 6,000 generations! sandal, made from the local antelope, which The values and mission of the FFF beauti­ allowed people to run all day over hot-baked fully align with Vivobarefoot: “Feet, People sand without puncturing the soles of their feet and Planet.” We have been on a wonderful on razor-sharp camel thorns… My own personal journey of discovery, education, and inspi­ cobbling journey has been enriched and enlight­ ration from ancient indigenous wisdom ened beyond my imagination through interac­ to pioneering digital innovation. tions with the FFF. The more we learn, the Working with Catherine over the last more results come back from the biomechanic five years has been a unique blend of sensitive studies, and the more prototypes we test, the academic inquiry and fascinating revelation, more we believe in our shared mission—to but always grounded in actually doing it: from bring healthy feet back to the world through creating new variants of traditional reindeer sensitive sustainable future footwear made moccasins in the Sami cultural crafts center foot-by-foot from local replenishable and in northern Finland, to adjusting last patterns biodegradable materials, just like our ancestors with cobblers who could use their feet like made them many years ago and, in part thanks hands on the sunset rooftops of the tiger to the FFF, a few people still do today. reserves in Ranthambore, to producing high- And the best bit is that it still feels like tech 3D scans and digital transformations in we have only taken a few small steps on what the most advanced biomechanic and additive will be a long and exciting journey, and I can’t manufacturing laboratories of Northern Europe. wait to see what our collaboration might There has never been a dull moment and I’ve bring next… never doubted the sincerity of the endeavour or authenticity of the project or its mentor. Galahad Clark When I first visited the bushmen of the Founder & Managing Director, Kalahari it was to study their natural move­ VIVOBAREFOOT, London, UK 144 145 A new order has arrived, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf Contemporary challenges for the design of as well as individual approaches to creativity, clothing and footwear are both ecological including the ethical and legislative difficulties and social. The modern European way of claiming indigenous knowledge and skills of dealing with clothing and footwear as cultural heritage. —fashion—is outdated, as it is largely Walking has a long and rich cultural at odds with these challenges. history. Many artists and writers have used For the Royal Academy of Fine Arts ways of walking to express essential aspects (KASK) and the Royal Conservatory, a shift of what it means to be human, from John of focus from fashion to practices which take Bunyan’s The Pilgrims Progress (1678), into account the wider social and ecological via William Gilpin’s tours of the Lake District context is paramount. KASK researchers’ and Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Reveries of voices are generally heard in topical debates a Solitary Walker (1782), to Richard Long’s on art and design and their social contexts. A Line Made by Walking (1967) and Anne Some of our researchers use their particular Teresa de Keersmaeker’s ongoing project expertise to contribute to developing a sus­ My Walking is My Dancing… As FFF tainable society. An anthropologically inspired explores new ways of walking, it reveals approach, for instance, may focus on cross­ to us new ways of being human. cultural creation, opening up new insights and possibilities. Wim De Temmerman An awareness of the political and Dean, Royal Academy of Fine Arts social context of design practices is evident in & Royal Conservatory Ghent, the critical and engaged nature of Catherine Belgium Willems’ research at KASK. Catherine’s Future Footwear Foundation supports collaborative design experiments and offers interdisciplinary and intercultural research into creative foot­ wear-design processes in different regions of the world. FFF is taking into account collective

145 Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

Looking for shelter for the rain, Jaq’na, Namibia, 2018. © Thomas Nolf

This book is published Foreword on the occasion of the Christine De Baan international launch of the Future Footwear Contributing authors Foundation. Kristiaan D’Août Robert Hitchcock Art Paper Editions Catherine Willems APE#122 Flora Blommaert Do You Want Your Feet Back? Copy-editing © 2018, Evans editorial Art Paper Editions ISBN 9789490800994 Transcription (interviews artpapereditions.org with cobblers of the First print of 1500 Nyae Nyae Conservancy) copies, December 2018 Flora Blommaert

Co-published by Graphic design KASK & 6'56" Conservatorium, the school of arts of Printing HOGENT and howest Albe De Coker

Editors Photo credits Els Roelandt Kristiaan D’Août Catherine Willems Thomas Nolf David Willems Editorial coordination Shiva Kumar Els Roelandt Eelko Moorer Catherine Willems Editorial assistance Flora Blommaert Flora Blommaert © 2018, Catherine We would like to thank Tci!xo Ben, |Kunta Bo, Josef Cgunda, Willems, Future Madhura Chatrapathy, Tsamkxao Ciqae, Asher Clark, Kristiaan Footwear Foundation D’Août, Jolien Deceuninck, Dirk Declercq, David Depestel, Wim De Temmerman, Dries De Wit, |Ukxa G|aq’o, Robert Hitchcock, This book is made Ujwala Jodda, Melinda Kelly, Raghu Kerayil, Devika Krishnan, Steve possible with the !Ui Kunta, Virpi Laasko, Megan Laws, Tilmann Lenssen Ertz, generous support of Ellen Monstrey, Eelko Moorer, Pieter N!ani N‡amce, Tsamkxao Vivobarefoot, KASK Guri N‡amce, N!hunkxa N‡amce, Di||xao N!ani, |Aice Ndam, & Conservatorium, Aleksandra Ørbeck–Nilssen, Rik Pinxten, Komtsa Kashe Ruben, the school of arts of Gäetane Stassijns, Bruno Spaas, Lynn Stydom, Jonas Temmerman, HOGENT and howest, Dries Vandecruys, Dennis Vandenbussche, Dirk Van Gogh, Future Footwear Lien Van Leemput, Sofie Verclyte, Moritz Von Hase and Katrien Foundation. Vuylsteke Vanfleteren.

We also thank the community of Tsumkwe, Nhoma, and Jaq’na, The editors wish to the Captain Kxao Kxami Library of Tsumkwe, the Craft Centre specially thank the FFF of Tsumkwe, the artisans and management of Toehold Artisans collaborators: London Cooperative and of Daskar, College of Fashion, Saami Education Center. Materialise, RsPrint, RsScan, the University of Liverpool, Vivobarefoot and the cobblers of the Nyae Nyae Conservancy, the Kolhapuri artisans in India, and the Sami artisans in Inari.

Cover image: Materialise, Future Footwear Foundation Inside cover images: © Thomas Nolf

What makes Catherine Willems’ work on “future footwear” so appealing is its promise to leapfrog more than 150 years of industrialization, with all its attendant afflictions—environmental des­truc­tion, depletion of natural resources, extreme global inequality—and bring us straight into a cleaner and fairer future, while taking cues from ancient knowledge and craft. The research brings three disparate fields together: traditional footwear in very different indigenous cultures (Kolhapuri in India, Sami in Finland, and Ju|’hoansi in Namibia), the biomechanics of the human foot, and advanced technology for 3D measur­ing and printing. The depth and seriousness of the exploration in each field results in a richness of data and information which has only just started to yield its first outcomes. — Christine De Baan Maybe for you people from overseas, our footwear looks unique. For us it is what our elders, our ances­ tors were making. Today, for us, now that we have access to skins again, it seems we have got some­ thing back that we thought was in the past and lost. — !IU Kunta In this new book presenting cobblers from India, Finland, Belgium, the UK, and Namibia, Els Roelandt and Catherine Willems present a refreshing and much-needed vision on anthropology, craftmanship, and design, clearly depicting the integrated roles of artisans, scientists, and industry partners. — Rik Pinxten