Desert People

BUSHMEN OF THE KALAHARI

[ The bushmen. The little bag is used for holding tobacco for him to smoke ]

The Bushmen occupies the Kalahari desert of South America, but the population doesn't even exceed twenty thousand. These group of men includes 3 major tribes: the !Kong, !Xung and !Gwi, all speaking the dialects that are extraordinary. The words are punctuated with clicks and other funny noises produced in the throat by the glottis. Interestingly, the Bushmen are 'little men' in their appearance, for their height are just a little over 150cm (5ft)! Though they are really little in size, in fact they follow their traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle. The women do most of the gathering of plant shoots and roots near their campsite. The men will do the hunting of animals. Their hunting skills are brave but seem to lag behind, some of the Bushmen simply catch the animals by hand, and some of them shoot poisoned arrows fired from lightweight bows. Bushmen travel in groups of two or three families which are linked together by certain reasons: by friendship or relationship. A group often occupies a territory of approximately 1000 sq km (400 sq miles). Then as winter comes, the group will usually separate, each fragment or family living in a more sturdy hut of branches and waterproof thatch. The food and plants will be stored before hand for the winter.

[ This little bushmen is drinking from a ostrich shell. She uses the ostrich shell for a container ]