Research Paper Part II

The alarming truth is that the San, whose culture may be the oldest in humanity, are nearing the edge of extinction. For centuries the San have endured significant discrimination and dispossession by the hands of surrounding South African authority. In recent years, the San have been forced to leave their ancestral and rightful lands and move into overcrowded, poorly conditioned resettlement camps outside of the Kalahari Reserve. As a hunter-gatherer people, the San treasure the land and with it share an intimate spiritual, emotional, and environmental connection. Their humanistic lifestyle is tied directly to the wealth and sustenance of the earth. When ripped from their home, the San lose the very core that shapes and maintains their linguistic, medicinal, spiritual, and societal culture.

Though they are no longer murdered for land, but disease ridden resettlement camps, erosion, cattle ranching, and ecological loss result in significant numbers of deaths. As San children who are displaced and enrolled into South African schools and boarding schools, are forced to learn and communicate in Afrikaans, their ability to facilitate and practice their own unique mother tongues suffers. Today, Less than 10,000 San remain on the Kalahari.

During the 1980’s, it was discovered that the Kalahari held generous amounts of diamonds. In 1997, 2002, and 2005, the Botswanian government evicted thousands of San from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) in order to clear land for diamond mines. Those who resisted the eviction were beaten and tortured brutally. Their homes and water supplies were destroyed. The San held in the resettlement camps are not permitted to hunt and gather and provide food for themselves, and many fall into depression, severe boredom, alcoholism, and HIV/AIDS. Many San opt to make a living as farm laborers, but because they are often seen as inferior to their South African neighbors, suffer from derogatory name-calling and mistreatment.

In 2006, the San were returned the right to their ancestral lands through a court procedure—a case that is the “longest and most expensive in the country’s history” (Survival International). However, despite declaring that it would no longer relapse into forced displacement, the government has made it extremely hard for the San to return. They were banned from utilizing their source of water and denied hunting permits despite the land being rightfully theirs. Over 50 San were arrested for hunting to provide for their families. It is as if the government has ensured that the San will never leave from the resettlement camps and resume their happy, peaceful, and unique lifestyle.

Tragically, all of this is leading to significant decrease in the San population. It is essential that the global community become aware of this alarming issue, and see the value in cultural and ecological preservation.