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Sex Roles among the Nharo Bushmen of Botswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Alan Barnard
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Extract

The Nharo are a Khoe- (‘Hottentot-’) speaking hunting and gathering people of the central-western Kalahari. Linguistically they are closely related to the G/wikhwe and G//anakhwe of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and to several other, lesser-known, central Kalahari and Okavango Bushman peoples of Botswana. They are more distantly related to the extinct Khoekhoe (‘Hottentot’) herding peoples of the Cape Province of South Africa, and more distantly still, to the Nama Khoekhoe of Namibia. Lexicostatistical, cultural and genetic evidence suggests that the Khoe hunter-gatherers in general have lived independently from their herding relatives for some 2000 years, and that the Nharo in particular have lived in close contact with the !Kung and possibly also the !Kõ (both non-Khoe-speaking Bushman peoples) for a considerable part of that time. The primary purpose of this article is to present a description of selected Nharo institutions and customs, with reference to sex differentiation; but first a brief look at the Nharo settlement pattern is necessary.

Résumé

Sex roles among the Nharo Bushmen of Botswana

Les Nharo du Botswana sont une population boschiman de langue khoe, établie au centre du Kalahari occidental. Le présent article examine certaines de leurs institutions sociales et de leurs coutumes par rapport à la différenciation sexuelle. Cette étude porte particuliérement sur les Nharo du centre, ceux du groupe appelé N//wa//xe.

Les Nharo vivent en bandes peu iportantes, à proximité chacune d'une mare. Les hommes chassent le gros et le petit gibier, tandis que les femmes procèdent à la collecte des végétaux comestibles et du bois de chauffage, vont chercher l'eau et font la cuisine. Les garçons Nharo du Centre apprennent les techniques de la chasse dès leur jeune âge, mais ils ne sont pas soumis à une cérémonie d'initiation complète à l'âge de la puberté, contrairement aux garçons d'autres groupes boschimans; ils ne sont pas obligés d'avoir une “medecine” de chasse. Par contre, les jeunes filles Nharo subissent une cérémonie d'initiation minutieuse au moment de leurs premières règies. Au cours de cette cérémonie, un homme, “l'élan mâle”, se livre en dansant à une poursuite symbolique des femmes de la bande, autour de la hutte qù sont enfermèes les initiées. Les deux cérémonies soulignent les aspects différents des rôles masculins et féminins.

Les rôles des sexes sont particulièrement importants en ce qui concerne la parenté. Les Nharo classent chaque membre de la société en membre d'une catégorie de parenté, et ceci détermine en partie le comportement que l'on attend des individus. Comme parmi d'autres populations d'Afrique australe, la relation frère/soeur est importante, bien que les siblings de sexe opposé aient une relation qui leur impose de “s'éviter” ou de se respecter. Contrairement à d'autres populations boschimans, les Nharo n'offrent pas de prestations en nature au moment du mariage; par contre, le mariage et la naissance du premier enfant donnent lieu à l'échange de toute une série de cadeaux. Il existe parmi les Nharo une égalité sexuelle relative, et le divorce est facile pour les deux sexes.

Enfin, il y a une circonstance où les rôles des femmes et des hommes sont particulièrement distincts : la danse des guérisseurs. Les femmes soutiennent les hommes en tapant des mains et en chantant, tandis que les hommes dansent, et ceux des hommes quie sont guérisseurs entrent en transe afin de guérir diverses maladies.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 50 , Issue 2 , April 1980 , pp. 115 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1980

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