Hunting could take days of tracking, attacking, and following a wounded animal. The !Kung had rituals to prevent arrogance amongst male hunters. When a man killed an animal, he would not take it directly into their village, but would leave the body and return as if he was unsuccessful. I found this to be an extremely odd way of hunting. An older man would inquire about his hunt and remark upon his failure, at which the hunter must avoid credit and accept humility even though he had made a kill. Through a long process, eventually, likely the next day, a group would say, "see if some small animal was nicked by an arrow."
What confused me is that how would they know it was “nicked” if he said he was just unsuccessful. When the animal is found then the hunter may be rewarded the kill. Also, the kill may not belong to him, but to the person who gave him arrows. This shows almost as teamwork when it comes to actually getting the kill is how I see it. Another interesting fact is that the !Kung people have a very interesting and different language of communication while hunting. The system they use is no where near the same language they would use to speak to one another.
The !Kung people hunt large Kudu and Eland with small bows. Another interesting fact I saw was that they use poison from the larvae of a type of beetle living in their village i find it extremely smart that without any medical technology, they can find out that a certain larvae is poisonous. Also, by converting their knowledge of knowing that it is poisonous, they use that to put on the end of their barbed arrow while hunting. So, even if the shot is in a bad spot, the poison will soon reach the body through the blood stream to take down the large Kudu or Eland.
The large Eland of the South African bush is the most prized kill when it comes to hunting. The Eland is the most prized not just because of the fact that they are Africa's largest antelope, but because they have the most fat. Therefore, teenage men get extremely excited about their kills of the great Eland that the word will spread quickly along the town or village to create respect.
John Marshall. 19.53. "!Kung Bushmen Hunting Equipment - Preview" You Tube Web site. Retrieved November 2, 2015. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQJRw-LvxU8)
New World Encyclopedia. 2013. "Bushmen" Retrieved on November 2, 2015 (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Bushmen)
While learning about the hunting and gathering of the !Kung people, I learned that there are many similarities and differences of how we hunt today. It was very interesting being the avid hunter I am to learn about the old techniques that are still used today by the !Kung people. When thinking about it, the !Kung people are very intelligent when it comes to hunting and gathering. !Kung women gather food, firewood, young children, digging sticks and blankets while men are hunting. They gather these things with a kaross. When it comes to American women they usually go to a store to pick up essentials. I think the American is a better, effective way to gather goods if you do not have the resources otherwise.
ReplyDeleteTo further explain, we will start off with the main weapon used by the !Kung people, the bow. The bow that they use has very short arrows and barbed arrow head that have poisonous larvae at the end. I find it very astonishing how they figured out what larvae was poisonous and how they transferred that knowledge to hunting. People today in America still have not came out with anything in the traditional hunting market that is similar to the poison tactic of hunting. While hunting in America, they try to just use a "one shot, one kill" method that will bring the animal down effectively and efficiently. On the other had, the !Kung people use a method of slowly killing the large antelope that they hunt by using poison and slowly letting the animal die then tracking it. When I hunt, it is a lot similar to the way the !Kung people hunt. Although, the game is different therefore different methods would need to be used to get that certain animal harvested.
When it comes to harvesting the animal after the kill, the !Kung people have a very strange way of showing it compared to Americans. For example, the people who made the bows or arrows receive just as much credit as the hunter. Also, when the hunter comes back from his successful hunt, he cannot tell any of the tribe members. He can only tell them he had "nicked" an animal. After that, they send the "trackers" to find the animals that were "nicked" even if he knew the animals were already dead. This is very different from the American way; when we hunt an animal, we typically find the animal right away and announce it. Obviously, the weapons we use in America today are more advanced than what the !Kung people have. As you can see, they are both very effective. People have to respect different perspectives and traditions of hunting to others. (Reflexive)