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The compound term Khoisan / Khoesān is a modern anthropological convention in use since the early-to-mid 20th century. Khoisan is a coinage by Leonhard Schulze in the 1920s and popularised by Isaac Schapera. [6] It entered wider usage from the 1960s based on the proposal of a "Khoisan" language family by Joseph Greenberg.
Map of modern distribution of "Khoisan" languages. The territories shaded blue and green, and those to their east, are those of San peoples. The San peoples (also Saan), or Bushmen, are the members of any of the indigenous hunter-gatherer cultures of southern Africa, and the oldest surviving cultures of the region. [2]
Traditional music, folk tales, proverbs, and praise poetry have been handed down for generations and form the base for much of their culture. They are known for crafts which include leatherwork, skin karosses and mats, musical instruments (such as reed flutes), jewellery, clay pots, and tortoiseshell powder containers.
After apartheid, Khoekhoe activists have worked to restore their lost culture, and affirm their ties to the land. Khoekhoe and Khoisan groups have brought cases to court demanding restitution for 'cultural genocide and discrimination against the Khoisan nation’, as well as land rights and the return of Khoesan corpses from European museums. [24]
Riel (or Rieldans) is a Khoisan word for an ancient celebratory dance performed by the San (also known as Bushmen), Nama and Khoi. [1] It is considered one of the oldest dancing styles of indigenous South Africa. Also known as Ikhapara by the Nama, it is danced at an energetic pace and demands a lot of fancy footwork. [2] [3]
The growth of the Khoisan revival has been fueled by contemporary political discussions in South Africa about the potential of pre-1913 land claims and the recognition of Khoisan traditional authority. [3] [4] In order to support their pursuit of land claims, Khoisan revivalists emphasise ancestral kinship and question "coloured" identity. [4]
During migrations in and around this area, groups of people from diverse origins began to concentrate around dikgoro, or ruling nuclear groups. They identified themselves through symbolic allegiances to totemic animals such as tau (lion), kolobe (pig), and kwena (crocodile). The Pedi people show a considerable amount of Khoisan admixture. [15]
They found that entoptic phenomena can occur through rhythmic dancing, music, sensory deprivation, hyperventilation, prolonged and intense concentration and migraines. [10] The psychological approach explains rock art through three trance phases. In the first phase of trance an altered state of consciousness would come about.