Kung

A detailed Summary of Kung

The !Kung who are called Bushman or San live in and around the Kalahari desert. The Kalahari is one of the largest, continuous sand surfaces in the world, and unlike other deserts, the Kalahari is considered semidesert because the rainfall amounts vary from six to eighteen inches per year (Marshall, 1976, p.62). This semidesert environment shapes the lifestyle and habits of the !Kung. These people endure enormous hardship because of the bleak conditions in the desert, but the desert does provide the !Kung with sufficient food in the form of edible plants high in water content and the animals they hunt.

The Kalahari desert receives most of its rain in the months of January through March while the rest of the year is virtually dry. Rain in the desert is not predictable, which means that some regions can receive enormous amounts of rain and other regions none. The !Kung depend on scattered waterholes for their water, and there are three types of waterholes: 1) permanent, 2) semi-permanent, depending on sever droughts, and 3) temporary waterholes which are filled only when it rains. The !Kung are nomadic primarily for environmental reasons, and they have incorporated beliefs pertaining to the environment into their social behavior w

The division of labor is based on age and sex with the adults providing food for dependent children under 15 years and for the aged. Hunting is done by men and gathering by women. The women gather plants and roots every day and these expeditions can last an hour to several hours. While on these gathering trips the women consume part of the food they gather, and the rest is brought back to camp where it is pooled together and then redistributed among the band. Marshall states that "... the ratio of meat to vegetables to be 25 percent meat to 75 percent vegetables (Marshall, 1976, p. 93)", so gathering vegetable products is extremely important to the !Kung's survival. The !Kung could not live without vegetation because it offers them the necessary supplies to make what is needed. They construct their huts out of grass and branches; use flexible wood to make bows; use strong sticks for digging; and carve utensils and bowls out of wood. Wood is an essential material that the !Kung!

According to Marshall in her book, The !Kung of the Nyae Nyae, the !Kung associate in what are called bands. This grouping is formed from blood relatives as well as through marriage and they generally live in a single settlement and move together for at least part of the year. At the core of each of these camps are two, three, or more siblings and/or cousins, both male or female, who are acknowledged to be owners of a territory's resources. These owners are related only by blood lines. Each of these territories, or n!ore, contains food and water resources necessary for basic subsistence of the band.

Western-style governments that administer law within the Kalahari desert region have forced the !Kung to deal with the outside world and its values and perceptions. The government has tried to assimilate them into western culture by teaching them agriculture and pastoralism, and enforcing laws against killing big game animals. Unfortunately, this has caused a dramatic change in the !Kung's way of life.

1) Marshall, Lorna. The !Kung of Nyae Nyae. London: Harvard University Press, 1976.

es its close connection with its mother, it attaches itself not to a group of children of its own age but to a group of children of its own sex but of widely varying ages (Van Der Post, 1984, p. 65)." The games children play at mimicking their parents or that of wild animals, and it is through these games that children learn societal values necessary to be a successful and productive adult. Since this society has no formal written language, the children do not need to go to school. As author Marjorie Shostak states in Nisa, "Because no formal teaching is done, observation and practice are the basis of all learning- It is in these groups (play groups) that children acquire many of the skills that will make them productive adults (Shostak, 1981)."

Marriage in the !Kung society is primarily arranged, where a parent or other close relative pledges a girl to someone while she is still young. Boys and Girls are not considered eligible for marriage at the same age. Women are not considered an adult or are given the responsibilities of an adult until she reaches her first menstruation, i

Some common words found in the essay are:
Gathering Hunting, Shostak Nisa, January March, Boys Girls, Der Post, Nyae Kung, Marshall Kung, Bushman San, Conclusion Western-style, Testament Bushman, marshall 1976, der post, van der post, van der, games children, boys girls, kalahari desert, games children play, shostak 1981, children own, band bands, animals hunt, kung nyae nyae, marshall 1976 97, considered eligible marriage,

Approximate Word count = 2133
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous