The Dobe Ju/’Hoansi

by Lee, Richard B.

• ISBN13: 9780155063334
• ISBN10: 0155063332
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-02-04
• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing

Summary

This classic, bestselling study of the !Kung San, foragers of the Dobe area of the Kalahari Desert describes a people's reactions to the forces of modernization, detailing relatively recent changes to !Kung rituals, beliefs, social structure, marriage and kinship system. It documents their determination to take hold of their own destiny-despite exploitation of their habitat and relentless development-to assert their political rights and revitalize their communities. Use of the name Ju/'hoansi (meaning "real people") acknowledges their new sense of empowerment.

Table of Contents

Foreword	iii
Preface to the Third Edition	vii
Preface to the Second Edition	viii
Preface to the First Edition	xi
A Note on the Ju Language	xii
Acknowledgments	xv
The Ju/'hoansi	1	(8)
Introduction: A Voyage of Discovery	1	(2)
A Waterhole Called Dobe	3	(6)
The People of the Dobe Area	9	(14)
Who Are the San?	11	(1)
Studies of the Sun	11	(3)
The Dobe Area	14	(1)
Exploring the Dobe Area	14	(4)
A History of Contract	18	(5)
Environment and Settlement	23	(14)
The Dune and Molapo System	24	(2)
Water Sources	26	(1)
Fauna	26	(2)
Climate	28	(4)
The Seasonal Round	29	(3)
Settlement Patterns	32	(4)
Village Types	32	(1)
The Layout of the Camp	33	(2)
Hut and Shelter Construction	35	(1)
Ethnoarcheology	36	(1)
Subsistence: Foraging for a Living	37	(22)
Gathering and Carrying	40	(8)
Carrying Devices	40	(3)
Major and Minor Foods	43	(3)
Food Classes and Subsistence Strategy	46	(2)
Hunting	48	(3)
Tools and Techniques	48	(1)
The Joys of Tracking	49	(2)
Insulting the Meat	51	(2)
Work Effort and Caloric Returns	53	(5)
The Quality and Quantity of the Diet	56	(2)
Ju/hoansi Subsistence: Affluence or Anxiety?	58	(1)
Kinship and Social Organization	59	(18)
Ju/hoansi Giving Groups	60	(4)
The Kinship System	64	(10)
Kinship I	64	(5)
Kinship II: Names and the Name Relationship	69	(3)
Kinship III: The Principle of Wi	72	(2)
/Tontah Meets /Tontah	74	(3)
Marriage and Sexuality	77	(14)
The Arrangement of Marriages	77	(3)
The Marriage-by-Capture Ceremony	80	(2)
Plural Marriage and Remarriage	82	(3)
Intergroup Alliance and Conflict	85	(1)
The ``Marriage'' of /Tontah	86	(1)
Sexuality	87	(2)
Male and Female Among the Ju/'hoansi	89	(2)
Complaint Discourse: Aging and Caregiving among the Ju/'hoansi	91	(18)
Introduction	91	(3)
Aging and Social Change in Ju/'hoan Society	94	(2)
Field Research on Aging: The 1986-1987 Project	96	(2)
Complaint Discourse	98	(1)
Narratives of Neglect and Abandonment	99	(4)
Chu!Ko's Story	99	(2)
Kasupe's Story	101	(2)
Entitlement	103	(1)
The Social Organization of Care	104	(3)
Conclusion: The Paradox of Sharing and Complaining	107	(1)
Future Prospects: How will ``Development'' affect Caregiving?	107	(2)
Conflict, Politics, and Exchange	109	(16)
Ownership and Leadership	109	(2)
The Problem of the Headman	109	(2)
A Fight about Adultery	111	(1)
Laughter and Danger	112	(3)
Deadly Combat: Ju/'hoan Style	115	(3)
The End of the Fighting	118	(1)
Hxaro Exchange	118	(7)
Coping with Life: Religion, World View, and Healing	125	(16)
The World of the //gangwasi	126	(4)
High God-Low God	128	(1)
How Ancestors Become Enemies	129	(1)
N/um and the Giraffe Dance	130	(5)
Becoming a Healer	133	(2)
The Women's Drum Dance	135	(2)
Three Medicines: One Blood	137	(4)
The Ju/'hoansi and Their Neighbors	141	(10)
Introducing the Herero and the Tswnna	141	(2)
Ecological Change	143	(2)
Work Relations	145	(2)
Intermarriage	147	(1)
Swara and the Sarwa	148	(3)
Perceptions and Directions of Social Change	151	(16)
Perceptions of the White Man	153	(4)
Transition to Farming and Herding	157	(2)
The Case of Debe and Bo	159	(1)
Wage Work and Migrant Labor	159	(3)
The First School	162	(1)
Government and the Future	162	(5)
The Ju/'hoansi Today	167	(26)
Dobe: Three Decades of Change	168	(1)
Life in the 1990s	169	(5)
Nyae Nyae: A Struggle for Survival	174	(2)
The Plastic Stone Age	176	(1)
Independence and After	176	(1)
The Nyae Nyae Foundation and the Farmers' Co-Op	177	(1)
The Land Questions: A Victory for the Ju/'hoansi	178	(3)
Ju/'hoansi at the Millennium: Progress and Poverty	181	(8)
Small Victories	186	(3)
Regional Developments: Mandela and After	189	(1)
The Challenge of HIV/AIDS	190	(3)
Anthropological Practice and Lessons of the Ju/'hoansi	193	(8)
The Changing Image of the Ju/'hoansi	197	(4)
Postscript: The /Gwihaba Dancers	201	(6)
Appendix A: Eating Christmas in the Kalahari	207	(6)
Appendix B: The Kalahari Debate: Ju/'hoan Images of the Colonial Encounter	213	(16)
Glossary of Ju/'hoan and Other Non-English Terms	229	(2)
Films of the Ju/'hoansi: An Annotated List	231	(4)
References Cited and Recommended Readings	235	(8)
Index	243