Traditional items

DAILY SAN LIFE

San have a very rich collection of items they use in every-day life. All of them are handmade from materials found in their natural surroundings. Used for living off the wilderness gives special meaning to these beautiful items, for hunting and gathering, for music and dancing and for decorating oneself for special occasions. The harsh Kalahari desert holds many kinds of fruits, nuts and tubers. It is the women who are trained in spotting and retrieving them during daytime trips in the bush. These foods provide a whole range of nutrients and water. The traditional San way of life, following the seasons and the wildlife, meant that people had few possessions but those that they did have were beautifully worked.

GATHERING BAGS

Whilst gathering, the woman carries a bag with her to store all food found. The bags are made of soft, smooth skin, often fringed and richly decorated with ostrich eggshell or glass beads. They come in various sizes, some for decorative use only.

POWDER PUFF

The San know many different species of aromatic herbs. Each woman makes her own special mixture to use as a perfume. Originally, the puff was made of a tortoise shell, decorated with an apron of beads, ostrich shells, grasses or roots. Filled with the fragrant herbs, it is topped with a piece of fur for applying the powder. Since wildlife authorities have now discouraged the use of tortoise shell, the puffs are now made from a horn.

WILDEBEEST BRACELET

This bracelet is traditionally worn by women as a leg ring under their knee. The bracelet variety is smaller in size and made from 3 to 6 hairs of the wildebeest tail. Those are twisted in the core of a ring and others are used to tie knots around them. Glass beads are then put in between the knots for decoration.

MUSIC

For the San, dance and music are a vital part of their culture. They walk long distances and spend a lot of time singing and playing by the fire. They use many kinds of instruments but the most common are the thumb piano (a row of resonating metal strips on a decorated wooden base) and the mouth violin. This is a one-string bow which is struck with animal tail hair. The mouth is used for resonance, with the lips and tongue for tuning.

DANCING ATTIRE

Dancing is a very important part of the San culture. There are many reasons for dancing; to give thanks for a good hunt, to cure a sick person, to re-establish harmony within the group after argument, and many other ceremonies which belong to San culture.

The fly whisk is used by the San mostly during dancing by the traditional healers. It is made from the tail of a wildebeest (gnu). The tail has been cut up and the bones taken out and replaced by a handle, which is sometimes decorated.

Dancing rattles are used in rhythmic dancing. They are made from moth cocoons, insects removed, and filled with little stones. Tied onto the leg with sinew or sisal, they make a special rattling sound while stamping and moving.

The dancing stick is used during dancing for support, to point around and to hold on to while dancing in pairs. They are carved from wood and have an oval knob at the top. The shape of the knob is decided by the shape of the wood. Often the sticks are decorated by making small scratches and dots into the surface, which then are rubbed with charcoal and fat.