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The cultural life in Botswana
reflects the dual heritage and intermingling of Tswana
and English cultural domination.
Western
dress has been general among the countries people since
the late 19th century.
The
most common diet amongst the people of Botswana would
include meat of some sort accompanied with sorghum,
corn porridge, beans or traditional spinach.
Traditional
foods include mopane worms (caterpillars from mopane
woodland), morula fruits and beer made from sorghum
and millet.
The
best-known modern art form incorporating traditional
craftwork is basketry.
Most of the basketry is done in the
northwest part of the country.
Rites
of burial, marriage and birth have been adapted to Christianity
buy remain extremely important in Botswana life.
Traditional
living compounds would comprise two or three small houses
set around an open fireplace.
These
small houses will usually be constructed with clay and
have thatched roofs.
Within
the Okavango Delta many traditional houses are still
made with reeds.
Traditional
music and dance almost became extinct during the colonial
period, however after independence there has been a
revival.
ROCK
ART
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Savute apart from game viewing also boast some special
rock paintings. The rock paintings date back to the
stone age/iron age period and are the only recorded
paintings between Tsodilo Hills in the west and Zimbabwe.
The
presences of the Savute rock paintings give indication
of the presence of human activity on the banks of the
Savute channel for thousands of years. The rock paintings
at Savute clearly show an elephant and an eland.
BUSHMAN
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Apart
from the River Bushman who are happy living in the Okavango
and have been for thousands of years, other African
groups were apprehensive of the delta mainly because
it was a hostile area for
raising cattle.
The
first settlers to arrive in the Okavango after the Bushman,
were the BaYei, who came from the north. This tribe
brought with them relatively advanced water technology,
such as "Mokoro" and
fishing techniques.
Later
on saw the arrival of the HaMbukushu people also from
the north, who bought Iron Age technology with them.
These people were considered expert ironsmiths.
The
first River Bushman, the BaYei encountered were the
"BaKakhwe". This meeting lead to the marriage
of the BaYei chief with a BaBakhwe woman. It is from
this liaison that the two tribes consider one another
'cousins'. It is interesting to note that the Khwai
River Bushman living in the Khwai village, are BaBakhwe.
The
BaTawana (a Tswana-aligned group) only arrived in the
19th century from the south. They were a unified and
highly organised society that brought with them a relatively
advanced trading and
economic system.
Over
a period of 100 years the BaTawana established a national
state in Ngamiland, with the River Bushman occupying
the bottom rung of the social ladder.
There
are fewer than 400 genuine Khwai River Bushmen left
in Northern Botswana.
The
south-western parts of Botswana are home to the last
of the Khoisan people (bushman).
The Khoisan speak languages that are
characterized as Khoe, Khwe and San.
These languages have the very distinctive
tongue clicking sounds.
The
Khoisan are regarded as the masters in the art of tracking
animal spoor.
This
art has been passed down from generation to generation,
as the early ancestors of these people were incredibly
dependent on their ability to read the signs of nature.
Because
the Khoisan were originally hunter-gatherers, literally
living of the land in some of the most inhospitable
areas. There knowledge in the art of tracking thus ensured
their survival.
Population
| Culture & Traditions |
Bushman Rockart
Government, Symbols
& Currency | National
Anthem | Water
| Diamonds &
Mining
Agriculture
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& Conservation | Access
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Posts | Distances
& Travelling times via Road | Air
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Packing List | Photography
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