Nisa: The Life And Words Of A !Kung Women

Introduction

Foraging for wild plants and hunting wild animals is the most ancient of human subsistence patterns. Prior to 10,000 years ago, all people lived in this way. Hunting and gathering continues to be the subsistence pattern of some societies around the world including the !Kung. The !Kung population is located in the Kalahari Desert, in isolated parts of Botswana, Angola, and Namibia. The !Kung live in a harsh environment with temperatures during the winter frequently below freezing, but during the summer well above 100F. The !Kung, like most hunter-gatherer societies, have a division of labor based mainly on gender and age.

(Body) Gender in the Division of Labor

For the most part in the !Kung society the men do the hunting and the women do the foraging. The women gather roots, berries, fruits, and nuts. Typical foods they might return with are mongongo nuts, baobab fruits, water roots, bitter melon, or !Gwa berries. A women will walk between two and twelve miles two or three times a week to go gathering. Food brought back by women makes up over two-thirds of the nourishment in a !Kung village. Typical game sought in the hunt includes wildebeest, gemsbok, and giraffe; they also kill various reptiles and birds, and collect honey when it is available. A man will walk between 1200 and 2100 miles a year in the pursuit of the fifty-five species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects considered edible. However if a hunt is unsuccessful, he may collect some vegetable foods on his way home so as not to come back to the village empty handed.

It was once believed that hunting was the main source of livelihood among hunter-gatherer people, and that it was the single most important activity. "Research on nutritionÐ'... has revealed that the most important source of nutrition are tubers, insects, edible plants, and small creatures gathered by the women, while the men's hunting activities are irregular, uncertain and form no reliable basis for subsistence" (Eriksen 1995: 126-127). Nonetheless, the men see their society as a hunting society, and the women's routine work was not given the same symbolic importance as hunting. This is probably because the hunts are so dangerous and takes great skill, while the women's gathering is routine work. Meat is considered more valuable than gathered foods. When someone comes back with meat from a hunt excitement, creeps over the entire village. Nisa explains, "Once, when our father came back carrying meat, we both called out, Ho, ho, Daddy! Ho, ho, Daddy!Ð'...DaddyÐ''s bringing home meat! DaddyÐ''s coming home with meat!" (Shostak 1981: 79). Afterwards everyone sits around the fire and tells stories of the hunt and the kill.

!Kung men vary widely in their skill at hunting, but different levels of success do not lead to differences in status. The hunter is very modest about his kill and quietly sits around the fire. If his demeanor is interpreted as boastful, pointed jokes may be used to pressure him back into line. The problem for the truly accomplished hunter is to perform as well as possible without provoking envy or anger in others. This strain may be decreased by the custom of sharing arrows, which helps to diffuse responsibility for the kill. A less successful hunter may feel empowered with confidence when using a more successful hunter's arrow. In addition, hunters alternate hunting with long periods of inactivity, thereby affording others the opportunity to bring in meat and to receive praise and attention of the group.

Women play a major role in the household in cooking, collecting wood and water, and are responsible for close to 90 percent of child care. The !Kung infant is almost never separated from their mother and is carried in a sling all day and sleeps beside the mother at night. Separation from the mother becomes more frequent after the middle of the second year, but even then it is initiated by the child, who is steadily drawn into the groups of children playing around the village. Still, the mother is usually available whenever needed. !Kung fathers also form very intense mutual attachments with their children, and are seen as being indulgent, affectionate, and devoted. Nevertheless, men spend only a small fraction of the time that women do in the company of children, especially infants. The women are responsible for the less pleasant tasks of child care, such as toileting, cleaning and bathing, and nose wiping. However most parents prefer to leave all but the youngest children in the village while they gather: food collection is more efficient that way, and distances traveled can be greater. Also, most children want to stay at home with the other children: playing with friends is highly preferable to the stressful travel and long hours often involved in gathering.

Age

There is a large difference in age between boys and girls in terms of their development into adults and their roles in subsistence. !Kung children have no schools, nor are they expected to contribute to subsistence, to care for younger children, or to help out much around the village, except for occasionally collecting water. Because little formal teaching is done, observation and practice are the basis of all learning. It is this way that many of the skills are learned that will make them productive adults.

A man's hunting skills and inclinations are fostered early in childhood, often beginning when he is only a toddler. Toy bows and arrows are given to small children at a young age. Stationary objects are their first targets. Soon after these are replaced by moving objects, such as grasshoppers and beetles. As boys get older they improve their aim by throwing sticks and wooden spears. Their mastery of animal tracks, and their ability to identify the hundreds of plant and animal species in the environment is a slow process, acquired through practice and observation. Much of this knowledge necessary to success in the hunt is learned from discussions of present and past hunts. Around the age of twelve boys are given their first quivers with small bows and arrows, and begin to shoot birds and rabbits. Next they will accompany their fathers, uncles, and older brothers when they go out to hunt. A boy is likely to kill his first large animal between the ages of fifteen and eighteen. The !Kung recognizes this event as a milestone and performs two separate ceremonies to celebrate the killing of the first male and the first female animal. Small ritual tattoos are administered and additional small cuts are made to ensure, symbolically, the strength and success of the boy's future as a hunter. Although now