Skins and Schools

Bushmen skins were openly sold in Botswana until the 1960s. One could decorate their home with African souvenirs that included pottery, traditional drums or the very skin of the Batswana indigenous population. Two generations later, the children of the Bushmen are no longer sold, just stolen.

Our group was invited to meet Bushmen and then participate in some activities with some of the last preservers of this mighty culture. Our time together revealed a highly complex system; for example, the trans-dance, medicinal walk and cave paintings testify to a culture innovative enough to leave a mark that has endured for 26, 000 years! One morning, three women took us into the bush to share medical and survival skills that have been both preserved and celebrated. We were shown edible plants, techniques to avoid the African sun, and tracking methods. Epstein describes the health care practiced as one that rivals the often championed Western biomedical approach: "some African medicine does have scientifically measurable chemical activity. African healers were among the first to develop the technique of smallpox inoculation, for example, and used quinine to cure malaria long before Europeans did." It is evident that not only has trust been established between the indigenous people and the land, but that they posses an enviable understanding of the intimate relationship between the environment and one's lifestyle. Sadly, this balance has never known perfect harmony, it is constantly being threatened by outsiders.



The tragedy of the Bushmen is currently relapsing. Western schooling has been rendered mandatory and consequently legalizes the forceful removal of Bushmen children. Traditional education has now been rendered worthless. The flaws in this process make this type of activity criminal; while education is a human right, this pedagogy kidnaps children and sanitizes them of their precious history. I believe some form a standard education is needed in order to protect the Bushmen; if they are educated on their civil rights, they cannot be further exploited. Ironically, this "enlightened" education is not one of liberation, but further oppression.

Why bus the children over 100 km from their established familial and communal roots? Why not blend the curriculum with traditional and modern teaching? What consequences should they brace for as the family structure is being ripped apart? Have the psychological damages done to these children been calculated? Please tell me how an eight-year-old copes as they encounter the loss of their family and a new sense of isolation!

Surely, our collective memory is not this short! Every country has their own shameful history with indigenous peoples. Native Americans in the United States were notoriously mistreated in the school system designed to assimilate them. The struggle of the Aboriginal people against forced education is the most recent event to highlight the self-determination of the people. It has been made famous by the true story, Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence. As the United States accounts for reservations mired by social problems and Australia fights over what day to nationally apologize, I wonder who will hold the government of Botswana accountable?

As the African "singe story" is incessantly exported is one of underdevelopment and poverty, it is predictable that the government of Botswana is trying to sanitize their modern nation-state from a culture labeled "primitive;" but how many "stolen generations" will we allow?


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To take action:
Take the pledge and add to the Sea of Hands Project
Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation, ANTaR
ANTaR's Issues and Campaigns

Resources:
Time magazine explains the "Stolen Generation"
Apology Speech of Kevin Rudd (Australia)