Advertising tribal peoples
by Jonathan
Readers of Condé Nast Traveller and Red Bulletin Magazine may soon notice a striking advert after the publishers generously donated space to Survival:
Two and a half years after the Bushmen’s victory over the government in Botswana’s High Court, ministers still refuse to allow the Bushmen to use their water borehole, which was a vital source of water for many Bushmen in the dry season, nor have they handed out any hunting permits – without these, it is illegal for the Bushmen to hunt.
As if forcing the Bushmen to walk hundreds of kilometres for water was not bad enough, the government has at the same time approved plans by safari companies to drill their own boreholes to create wildlife ‘waterholes’.
So any tourists visiting the Central Kalahari Game Reserve face the very real prospect of watching antelope and eland coming down to the waterhole to drink at sunset, whilst in the shadows hungry and thirsty Bushmen look on. And that will surely put most sensible people off their gin and tonics.
July 1st, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I used to work with the bushmen in botswana… we all need to take action so they are able to live their lives in peace without interference from the government!
July 1st, 2009 at 2:16 pm
I first visited the Kalahari in 1962 and crossed it several times since then, the last time in 1999. On that last visit I recall seeing two boreholes in the Central Kalahari reserve which had been damaged and made unusable. Unaware that at that time the government was already engaged in its victimisation of the Bushmen, I could not understand it.
The Botswana government is frequently praised for being the most democratic and non-racist in sub-Sahara Africa. They have very good propagandists and spin-doctors. Keep your lonely voice strong and clear. Why don’t the South African adventure holiday magazines like “Getaway” wage a campaign ?
July 1st, 2009 at 2:29 pm
I am again dismayed by the Botswanan Government. Give the Bushmen their means to survive.
July 2nd, 2009 at 9:22 am
This is an absurd and baffling human tragedy which brings shame to the intelligence of the so-called ‘developped’ section of mankind. During the course of my work in South Africa, I came across some of those devious and venal ’spin-doctors’ and ‘propagandists’, the pseudo-elite of the ‘new democracy’… Money knows no colour nor scrupules!
I totally agree with Denis: it is of utmost necessity to raise our voices in every way possible internationally, as well as to once and for all boycott diamonds. Pretty soon, just like ivory or fur, they will become obsolete and be perceived as a barbaric and outdated piece of rock by the upcoming, more conscious generations, hopefully. It is just a matter of time, awareness and bad publicity. Let us all work towards this goal. Thank you and all the best to SURVIVAL.
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:59 am
This and all your stories are appalling examples of man’s inhumanity to man. Keep up all your incredibly important work – I’ll be helping to fund you soon.
July 2nd, 2009 at 3:42 pm
What can I say? The president of Botswana said some years ago. “The Kalahari is for animals, not people”. Tourists are obviusly not people, then!!
It’s so wrong and the government knows it. The Bushmen will win. Morality is on their side. Don’t give up! Warm greetings to everyone who struggles for Bushman land rights.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:58 pm
[...] Read the source article here. [...]
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Lamentably it seems that the government of some countries wants to eliminate harborigenes on behalf of the wild capitalism
July 5th, 2009 at 12:17 am
When did we first loose sight of our place on this planet? Greedy hands offer only shame and empty bowls. Their thoughts kick around the chances. The humble wear fear and their thirst a reminder that we have lost our way.
Thank you International!
July 5th, 2009 at 8:54 am
you all help me not to despair!! at 70 and having fought since the 60ies i am appalled that we are still so stupid!
July 6th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
The second response here says that “The Botswana government is frequently praised for being the most democratic and non-racist in sub-Sahara Africa. They have very good propagandists and spin-doctors.”
This seems evident to me since I am arguing with either one of them or someone who has believed what those people have been saying.
http://forums.myspace.com/t/4537631.aspx?fuseaction=forums.viewthread
I could not believe it when this person said about the Bushmen “they are gentle and kind people probably but they are like the straggler in the herd of animals waiting to be picked off by the predator because that is human nature and that is why we are the alpha predator…”
I was shocked.
July 9th, 2009 at 9:34 am
“Simply enchanting and supremely thought-provoking” is how I would like to describe this blog, at the very first instance.
I’m hooked to Survival-International especially because I’m a permanent resident of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the land of the Jarawas, Onges, Sentinalese, Great Andamanese, the Shompens and the Nicobarese, the rarest combination of aboriginal tribes sharing a single archipelago in the closest proximity, which is incredibly mysterious and wonderful…
I’d love to join the campaigns run by Survival International as soon as I hear back from you…
Kudos to you!!!
SHRINATH VASHISHTHA
Port Blair
Andaman & Nicobar Islands (India).
March 18th, 2010 at 5:18 am
People, look at the advert. None of the women are barefoot. They’re all wearing Western style clothing. The point is that the Bushmen’s environmental footprint has increased dramatically since the time of the leather-clad, nomadic hunter-gatherers romanticised in so many films and books. They no longer hunt on foot with bows and arrows. They hunt with rifles from the backs of vehicles. The Central Kalahari is a desert. The goats, donkeys and cattle now owned by the Bushmen are dependent on water. Livestock destroys vegetation like nothing else, including diamond mining and naturally occurring wildlife. Once it’s despoiled the CKGR will be ruined for everyone, including those Bushmen who’ve entered the tourism industry. Furthermore, Botswana will be one of the countries hardest hit by climate change, so it can expect longer, more severe droughts. Survival International might be championing people but it has lost perspective if it doesn’t realise that people are totally dependent on their environment. Sustainability is the issue in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
April 26th, 2010 at 3:23 am
@Shoes
So if tribal people decide to wear shoes (and other “Western style clothing”) then they should be thrown off their land? Really?
And it’s pretty hard to take your claim that the Bushmen’s presence in the CKGR (with their livestock) is more damaging than a diamond mine very seriously.
If you want to talk about sustainability in the CKGR, try listening to the Bushmen. They’ve been there for 50,000 years. Now that’s what I call a perspective.