From nomadic to semi-sedentary
Changing lifestyles of the Khoï-San of Angola, from the 15th to the beginning of the 21st century
p. 85-103
Résumés
The earliest descriptions of the peoples of Southern Africa are from European navigators who circumnavigated the continent from the south at the end of the 15th century. These descriptions generally concern two groups: one rather sedentary and cattle-breeding (cattle and sheep), later called Hottentots (de Hüttentüt: "brutal, stupid man" in Dutch); the other rather nomadic and living on hunting and gathering, later called Bushmen (de Bosjesman: "men of the bush"). As far as Angola and more particularly the Bushmen are concerned, they are mentioned several times in ancient texts, but it is especially with the expeditions at the end of the 19th century that we will know a little more about their existence. These expeditions are organised by the Geographical Society of Lisbon, which claims to give these trips a scientific purpose. We thus discover the existence of the Mucuancalas and Cassequeles peoples, who live in the south and south-east of the country, who roughly correspond to the current Khoisan. The descriptions are very often pejorative and the authors focus on their physical appearance (hair shape, skin colour among others) and their way of life: nomads living by hunting and gathering in the woods. These nomads have changed over time and are now more cyclical nomads, nomadic according to natural resources, or even sedentary groups, living in medium sized camps and practicing agriculture and livestock farming.
De nomades à semi-sédentaires : évolution des modes de vie des Khoï-San d’Angola, du XVe au début du XXe siècle
La connaissance des peuples vivant au sud de l’Afrique résulte, dans un premier temps, des observations réalisées par des navigateurs européens qui, dès le XVe siècle, vont parcourir la côte atlantique du continent africain jusqu’à réussir l’exploit de contourner le continent par le sud.
Les descriptions de ces navigateurs concernent des aspects très variés comme le climat, la végétation, la faune, des ressources telle la présence ou l’absence d’eau, mais aussi les populations, que parfois ils voient de loin et plus rarement qu’ils rencontrent. Toutefois, très souvent, on trouve l’idée que les territoires qu’ils découvrent sont soit inhabités soit très peu peuplés. Idée qui sera reprise quelques siècles plus tard pour justifier l’occupation de vastes territoires d’Afrique par les européens. Les auteurs de ces descriptions sont originaires du continent européen, marqués par l’idéologie, la religion, les systèmes politiques de l’époque, qui vont conditionner leur vision de l’Afrique.
Selon les historiens portugais, les connaissances des peuples du sud de l’Angola par exemple, seraient l’oeuvre des navigateurs portugais qui, les premiers auraient rencontré des Bushmen et des Hottentots. Bien que les assertions de ces historiens ne soient pas toujours d’une objectivité à toute épreuve, il est fort possible que les témoins voire les auteurs portugais, du XVe siècle aient vu et éventuellement rencontré des populations très variées sans pour autant avoir la certitude qu’il s’agisse dans tous les cas de Bushmen et/ou de Hottentots.
En ce qui concerne les populations en général et plus particulièrement celles qui nous occupent ici, la vision des européens est fortement marquée par le mépris. On trouve souvent des considérations sur le physique des africains, parfois sur leur manière de s’habiller, sur leur alimentation, mais toujours dans un registre péjoratif. Cette vision du monde résulte en grande partie de leur origine, l’Europe, et de l’idée que le modèle unique de perfection au monde est le leur. Par rapport aux populations du sud du continent, on trouve des descriptions concernant globalement deux groupes : l’un plutôt sédentaire et éleveur de bétail (bovin, ovin) donc très probablement des Hottentots ; l’autre plutôt nomade et vivant de chasse et de cueillette qui sera appelé plus tard Bushmen (deBosjesman : « hommes de la brousse »). Il faut ajouter que ces dénominations obéissent plutôt à l’impression qu’ont les européens des groupes de populations qu’ils rencontrent plutôt qu’à une réalité correspondant à la manière dont ces populations se nomment elles-mêmes.
En ce qui concerne l’Angola et plus particulièrement les Bushmen, ils sont mentionnés à plusieurs reprises dans les textes anciens. On découvre ainsi l’existence des peuples Mucuancalas et Cassequeles, répartis au sud-est du pays, qui correspondent grosso modo aux Khoïsan actuels. Les descriptions sont très souvent péjoratives et les auteurs s’attardent sur leur physique (forme des cheveux, couleur de la peau entre autres) et leurs manières de vivre : nomades vivant de chasse et de cueillette dans des bois.
Du point de vue des connaissances actuelles des peuples nomades du sud de l’Angola, l’apport de l’ethnologie est important même si des aspects fondamentaux comme la langue, les croyances et l’histoire des Khoïsan n’ont pas été étudiés. Il faut ajouter que jusqu’à présent on ne dispose pas d’étude linguistique concernant ce peuple.
Il faut attendre le XXe siècle pour voir apparaître des informations un peu plus objectives, en particulier des recherches ethnologiques concernant les populations Khoïsan d’Angola. Dans ces descriptions il y a, d’une part, des sources directes en particulier des auteurs portugais et, d’autre part, des sources indirectes qui vont donner lieu à des descriptions d’Afrique en utilisant les données des voyageurs, ecclésiastiques, commerçants.
Dans ce deuxième type de source, une attention particulière est accordée aux conflits entre populations locales et arrivants européens, dont la possession de la terre et de ses ressources est à l’origine des confrontations. LeXIXe siècle sera marqué par des tentatives d’occuper la partie sud occidentale du continent mais aussi par les voyages terrestres en vue de traverser cette partie de l’Afrique de l’océan Atlantique à l’océan Indien. L’une des finalités de ces deux démarches est d’établir un constat sur l’occupation effective des territoires et ainsi justifier les visés colonialistes lors du « partage » de l’Afrique par l’Europe. Ces expéditions ont aussi comme corollaire l’établissement de cartes des régions explorées, la connaissance des voies terrestres de circulation et de ses contraintes. Un autre résultat de ces expéditions est la publication de récits de voyage qui informent sur les populations, leur organisation sociale, leurs productions mais aussi sur l’existence de limites et donc de règles pour traverser les territoires. En ce qui concerne les populations Khoïsan les appréciations sont marquées par le mépris.
Cette littérature nouvelle s’intéresse à l’identité des populations du sud du pays, en partant du nom qu’elles-mêmes se donnent, à leur mode de vie, à l’habillement et aux croyances, parmi d’autres. Il y a donc un changement important dans la perception de ces populations qui avaient, jusqu’à présent, été considérées comme inférieures. Toutefois, la description de leur mode de vie et en particulier les aspects concernant la subsistance sont celles de la chasse et de la cueillette.
La vie de chasse et de cueillette a des limites, elles sont d’ordre climatique mais aussi politique. La raréfaction des ressources due à la péjoration climatique mais aussi à l’utilisation intensive des ressources naturelles implique que ces peuples n’arrivent plus à vivre exclusivement de la prédation du milieu. Ils vont donc devoir s’adapter aux nouvelles conditions soit à travers l’utilisation d’une agriculture rudimentaire soit à travers la recherche d’un emploi temporaire, à savoir travailler chez des populations voisines qui pratiquent depuis longtemps l’agriculture.
Du point de vue politique, les conditions de vie dans l’Afrique australe ont conduit les Khoïsan à s’adapter à des situations très diverses. La première est sans doute l’arrivée des populations Bantoues qui vont occuper une partie des territoires autrefois ouverts et donc disponibles aux populations nomades. Plus tard, l’arrivée des européens sur place va introduire d’autres contraintes et aussi l’occupation des territoires considérés inoccupés, de la côte vers l’intérieur, autrement dit le colonialisme européen en Afrique. Plus récemment, les changements politiques en Afrique ont conduit à des luttes de libération nationale, à des guerres entre pays de la région et à des guerres civiles. Un ensemble de faits qui rendait la vie de nomade très difficile et dangereuse.
Ces aspects vont jouer un rôle important dans les changements de vie des Khoïsan (milieu, instabilité politique régionale), qui vont conduire ces peuples à s’adapter aux nouvelles conditions.
Ainsi, devant la dégradation des ressources, à cause de la prédation actuelle de la faune, la chasse avec des arcs et des flèches ne peut pas se mesurer à la chasse avec des fusils. Le résultat est que la faune se raréfie et l’apport en viande que la chasse procurait au Khoïsan tend à disparaître.
La nécessité de s’adapter pour se procurer l’alimentation, en adoptant élevage et agriculture, vont conduire les Khoïsan à se sédentariser progressivement sans pour autant abandonner complètement la cueillette et la chasse, pratiquées actuellement d’une manière sporadique. D’autres techniques ont été également adoptées à partir des échanges entretenus, en particulier avec des populations Bantoues. Il s’agit, entre autres, d’un début d’activité métallurgique qui permet d’avoir accès à une matière première beaucoup plus résistante que des instruments en bois et qui participe aussi à la pratique de l’agriculture, entre autres.
Une prise de conscience récente sur les conditions de vie des Khoïsan du sud de l’Angola a conduit à l’organisation d’une première conférence San d’Angola avec la participation des San d’autres pays du sud de l’Afrique, ainsi que des autorités régionales, internationales et des ONG. L’un des premiers constats fut que les conditions de vie des Khoïsan étaient très mauvaises et les besoins considérables. Pour pallier à ces difficultés un groupe important de familles a été aidé à s’installer dans la province de Huila sur une surface de 100 hectares. La sédentarisation de ce groupe de familles implique, du point de vue économique, qu’elles cultivent la terre et pratiquent l’élevage. Du point de vue social, les enfants ont accès aux savoirs des sociétés sédentaires, lire et écrire, à titre d’exemple les enfants de Hupa ont une école et des enseignants, les plus jeunes bénéficient d’un jardin de récréation et d’une assistance des ONG et des autorités régionales. Des besoins essentiels, comme l’accès à l’eau potable par exemple, sont assurés sur place.
Il y a donc un changement important dans la vie de ces populations avec l’accès à des biens essentiels pour la vie, mais aussi un changement considérable dans la perception dont ils font l’objet de la part des autorités régionales, des historiens, des journalistes, des ONG. Ils sont enfin considérés comme des êtres humains à part entière.
L’avenir des Khoïsan de la région de Huila semble un peu plus serein de point de vue matériel. Toutefois, des questions restent ouvertes sur la culture, sur leur passé. L’exemple de l’installation de ce groupe de Khoïsan dans la région de Lubango, montre qu’un changement profond est en cours, avec les avantages que cela comporte, mais aussi avec le risque de voir la culture ancienne de ce peuple se dissoudre dans la culture d’autres peuples de la région..
Les expériences concernant d’autres sociétés ayant connu la colonisation montrent que lorsqu’une société, un peuple, une culture est confrontée à d’autres cultures, voire à des invasions, la tendance générale est d’assimiler les vaincus. L’assimilation implique, très souvent, l’imposition d’une langue, d’une religion, de manières d’être, de manières de s’alimenter, celles des vainqueurs. Dans d’autres cas, un phénomène de syncrétisme s’installe et l’on voit apparaître des manières d’être intégrant des paramètres de vie des deux cultures. Dans le cas des Khoïsan d’Angola, on note l’utilisation très discrète de leur langue, sans doute utilisée lors d’échanges entre Khoïsan, et l’emploi d’autres langues pour communiquer avec des personnes externes à leur groupe. Lors de notre séjour à Hupa par exemple, nos interlocuteurs s’exprimaient en Nyaneca et en Portugais et pour les entendre parler dans leur langue il a fallu insister. Nous avons observé une certaine réticence, voire un peu de honte, à utiliser leur langue.
Il est pour l’instant difficile de savoir comment des aspects importants de leur culture, comme les croyances, leur langue, vont être préservés ou, au contraire s’il faut s’attendre à les voir disparaître. La recherche de terrain, conduite par des spécialistes s’avère ainsi indispensable.
Entrées d’index
Mots-clés : Angola, Khoïsan, nomades, adaptations
Keywords : Angola, Khoisan, nomads, adaptations
Texte intégral
Introduction
1Knowledge in Europe of the peoples of southern Africa began with the first travels of Portuguese navigators at the end of the 15th century. At that time, they succeeded in bypassing the continent via the southern Atlantic Ocean, thus opening the sea route to India at the end of the 1400s. Written documents reflect the diversity of environments, climates, wildlife and also the populations living in Africa.
2Among these ancient documents are the accounts of Portuguese navigators, which provide important information about southern Angola and part of present-day Namibia, regions that are of interest to us in this publication.
Brief history. From the 15th to the 19th century: explorers, travellers and first contacts with the nomadic peoples of southern Angola
3From a chronological point of view and according to Antonio de Almeida1, the knowledge of the peoples of southern Angola comes from the first Portuguese navigators. In a collection of lectures that he gave between 1953 and 1977 and published in book form, Os Bosquimanos de Angola (Almeida 1994)2, the author provides a great deal of information on the life of these peoples in southern Angola and discusses the question of their 'discovery' by Europeans. The map that accompanies his text gives an idea of the geographical distribution of the various groups: in Bushmen red, Cazamas blue or Cacuengos (figure 4.1).
Figure 4.1

Distribution map of the Bushmen of Angola, the red circles indicate the presence of the Bushmen, the blue circle indicates the presence of the Cazams or Cacuengos. After Almeida 1964: 173.
4Thus, during a lecture given at the Geographical Society of Lisbon in 1953, he indicated that a century before the arrival of the Dutch in Southern Africa, the Portuguese had already observed Hottentots in South Africa in 1493 (Almeida 1994: 29). A little later, in a note presented in 1962, he clarifies his thought by indicating that (Almeida 1994: 150):
Although Portuguese sailors from Vasco de Gama saw Bushmen in 1498, in southern West Africa, it was the Dutch at the Cape of Good Hope who in the 17th century gave them the name...
5The same idea was developed in a 1964 lecture in which he states that (Almeida 1994: 167):
The Bushmen, etymologically men of the forest - known to the Portuguese a century before the Dutch, from whom they received this nickname and who in their own language are called Kung, are nowadays east of the mountain of Chela [in Angola] and they are called Mucuancalas and Cassequéles...
6During a course at the Instituto Superior de Ciencias Sociais e Politica in Lisbon during the academic year 1963-1964, he is even more precise (Almeida 1994: 185):
Vasco de Gama and his sailors at the end of the 15th century must have seen, as I suppose, Bushmen in the west coast of Africa south of the Equator.
7It is quite possible that Antonio de Almeida's speech was full of certainty because he insisted on a fact that does not seem to be confirmed reality. Duarte Pacheco Pereira3 says that in the south of present-day Angola, roughly between the town of Namibe and the border with Namibia, “the black people of this land are poor people who only survive by fishing” and that there are plenty of fish in the area. He adds that they “are idolaters and in this land there is no profit” (Pacheco Pereira 1998: 176). And, that a little further south “this coast is deserted and uninhabited” (Pacheco Pereira 1998). Much further south, in the chapter devoted to the Tropic of Capricorn southward, and more precisely in the part devoted to the Cape of Good Hope, he speaks a little more in detail of inhabitants who could be San (Pacheco Pereira 1998: 183):
The blacks in this region are heathens and brutal people; they dress in skins and wear sandals made of leather; they are not as black as the Jolofs or the Mandingo or other parts of Guinea.“[He goes on to say that]”in the region there are many live steock [cattle] and large goats and sheep and also a lot of fishing.
8As far as “land animals” are concerned, their large numbers and diversity implies that the populations he describes, which are somewhat lighter-skinned, are herders. These are most likely the Hottentots and not the San populations as Antonio de Almeida thought in 1953 and 1974. In addition, Duarte Pacheco Pereira places these populations in the territory of present-day Namibia and South Africa and not in Angola.
9A little over a century later, in Olfert Dapper's Description of Africa (1686)4, information is found on southern Angola, where he focuses more on landscapes. When he talks about the region from the present town of Benguela to the centre of present-day Namibia, he often refers to rivers, mountains, cattle and ivory production and very few people. When he discusses this issue, particularly in the region from northern Namibia to Cape Town, he refers to Hottentots, which he also calls cafes (Dapper 1686: 307-308). The Description of Africa points out that there are many conflicts between the Dutch and the local population because of the occupation of African land by newcomers from Europe.5 Two centuries later it is travellers (this time overland), seeking to cross the continent from Angola to Mozambique, who will bring information about the populations they meet during their crossing.
10One of the first was Serpa Pinto who, after his journey overland, published two volumes retracing his journey, which for him had two main objectives: “the geographical and ethnographic study of the region he crossed” (Serpa Pinto 1881, I: 19).
11In a chapter dedicated to the Ambuelas region, he met a group of people who lived a little apart from the village, in the forest. It was a small group of “three men, seven women and five children” (Serpa Pinto 1881: 383) who lived in a “shelter made up of a few tree branches which they had lowered and to which they had embraced several others from the front”, a sort of hut, presumably. On the subject of these persons he adds (Serpa Pinto 1881, I: 384):
After careful examination, I found them ugly and repulsive: eyes small and out of alignment; cheekbones protruding and far apart; a flat nose with unusually wide nostrils; rare, curly woollen hair, growing in distinct tufts and quite thick on the top of the head. “[He completes his description by stating that]” Moucasséquérès should be regarded as the true savages of tropical South Africa.
12When he meets other populations, this time in the Kalahari Desert, he says that in places where there is water, there is a population of Massarouas, “to which the English have given the generic name of Bushman”. He adds that (Serpa Pinto 1881, II: 236):
These Massarouas are savages but they are much less black than the Moucasséquérès, whom I had met on the Couando around 15° S. and 18° E. of Paris. “[Then he notes that]”these people had earthenware pots in which they cooked their food, and I noticed in them some evidence of a rudimentary civilization.
13He publishes a drawing of a camp he visited (Serpa Pinto 1881, II: 237), in which he mentions the existence of “earthen pots where they cooked their food” (figure 4.2). These are ceramics for food preparation. He also points out the presence of ornaments that can be seen on the drawing and explains as follows (Serpa Pinto 1881: 236):
Women cover themselves with thin skins and use beads to adorn themselves and their children. [With regard to their language, he says:] they speak a barbaric language that is especially remarkable for the way it hits the ear, as the words are separated by a clack of language called 'clicks'.
Figure 4.2

Massarouas camp, from Serpa Pinto 1881, II: 237.
14At the same time, Hermenegildo Capello and Roberto Ivens published a two-volume travel account of their overland crossing between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It contains a wide range of information, some of which is relevant to the populations we are dealing with here. On their departure from Huila and more precisely in the region of Chipolongo, near Cahama, they discovered dwellings presumably occupied by San people, whom they judged to be “one of the strangest types on the African XE ” continent, the mucuancalla or bushman“ (Capello & Ivens 1886, I: 206). According to them (Capello & Ivens 1886: 206):
Nothing is more abject and repugnant than this counterfeit man, who today wanders through the forests and plains of the great continent, stubbornly fighting for food.
15They add that they give the impression of being corpses (Capello & Ivens 1886). In terms of size, they indicate that they average around 1.4 metres in length but there are even smaller individuals. They specify (Capello & Ivens 1886: 207):
[...] that their skin is yellow, that the zygomatic arches are prominent, that their face is triangular with a pointed chin and depressed in the middle, the nose is flat, the lips are large, the eyes are oblique, small and distant and arranged in the manner of the Chinese, their appearance is repulsive.
16The description of the clothes is hardly more flattering. They report that their clothing is limited to genet or antelope skin and that their weapons are bows and arrows, which are often poisonous. As for habitat, they state that these populations “live in the forests in miserable huts and their diet is limited to honey and meat” (Capello & Ivens 1886).
17The description of women is of the same order (Capello & Ivens 1886: 255):
The yellow colour of the skin (equal to dry tobacco leaves), their small stature, the disgusting features of their faces, the appearance of premature decrepitude, the unhappy and constant misery, still make the Bushmen woman victim of this deformity [steatopygia] even more repulsive than the hottentotes, in our opinion.
18The travellers of the time therefore had a very devaluing view of the populations they encountered. We will have to wait until the beginning of the twentieth century to have, in Angola at least, slightly more objective opinions. As for ethnological research, it will only develop much later. Articles and book chapters will then be devoted to the nomadic or semi-nomadic populations of southern Angola.
The twentieth century and the ethnological approach to the life of the Khoi-San
19One of the first ethnological documents concerning the Khoi-San populations of Angola is an article by Charles Estermann published in the journal Anthropos in 1949. The author states that there is little or no information on these populations and that they live in the south-eastern region of Angola (Estermann 1949: 711). He adds that the Bantu call them Ovakwakala, which means “those of the crab” (Estermann 1949: 713), while the Bushmen call themselves !kung. It also indicates that it is a small population with an average of 25 individuals measured at 1.56 metres for males and 1.48 metres for females.
20On their material life, he specifies that (Estermann 1949: 715): “The Bushmen's costume is reduced to the simplest. Men usually wear only a small skin attached to a belt. Women and big girls are a little better dressed”. The ornament would be limited to a few leather bracelets and necklaces made of ostrich eggshell or wild plant seeds. Customs such as the consumption of hemp (Cannabis sativa) are said to be widespread among the Bushmen in this part of the country (Estermann 1949: 715-716): “All men and women, from a young age, indulge in the vice of getting drunk with these leaves. They smoke them by means of primitive hookahs”.
21Hunting and gathering constitute the essential part of their subsistence, ”no trace of agriculture or livestock farming“ is visible (Estermann 1949: 715). The reasons for this way of life are practical (Estermann 1949: 716):
The Kung of the forest in the west of the Cubango are far from dying of hunger if they persist in wanting to continue their traditional life; for, fortunately for them, game and even big game still abounds in this privileged region.
22Charles Estermann indicates that there are no initiation ceremonies for boys, but there are for girls. It takes place at the onset of the first menstrual period and before marriage. It is a short period of confinement (4 days) in his parents' hut, accompanied by a ban on food. After this imprisonment the girl will be able to marry (Estermann 1949: 717). This text will be reprinted in Ethnographie du Sud‑ouest de l'Angola, a two-volume work to which we will return later.
23We mentioned above the research conducted by Antonio de Almeida between 1953 and 1977. One of the many pieces of information in his 1994 book is taken from a lecture given in 1956. It reports the presence of two groups of Bushmen in Angola. One is composed of Mucuancalas and Cassequeles which he considers yellow Bushmen and another of Cazamas which he considers black Bushmen (Almeida 1994: 103). However, Almeida indicates that the Bantu names attributed to the Bushmen are numerous, although they call themselves Kung.
24In relation to his field campaigns, this author indicates that they found the Bushmen in the forests and plains of the south and east of the country, where (Almeida 1994: 106):
[...] they wander endlessly in search of food: fruit and honey in the woods and wild animals in the plains or near water lines; it is in this environment that the Bushmen, men and women of all ages, used to march in single file, inadequately dressed in animal skins, more or less decorated or small fabrics, with various hairstyles often copied from Bantu models.
25He also indicates that some Mucauancalas and Cazamas are beginning to become semi-sedentary, building huts, practicing agriculture and that in some cases there are people who know how to drive a plough. Others have chickens and goats and, more rarely, oxen (Almeida 1994: 107). Fieldwork therefore leads to questioning preconceived ideas. Thus, there is one on the treatment accorded to the elders among the Bushmen, to which Almeida returns, namely that (Almeida 1994: 111):
[the] Bushmen left the old men in the wilderness or in their camp where they had remained for some time [the old men] were left alone, abandoned where they would starve or be eaten by wild beasts - while crippled or sick they could not accompany the able-bodied in their interminable peregrinations; we did not notice the present existence of this practice, although some hesitation in the answers to our questions suggested that this custom was once observed.
26Another important aspect is the attention paid to children. In this regard, according to the author (Almeida 1994):
The Bushmen really give their young children all the attention they can get, they reserve the best food for the children and for this reason, and in contrast to the impressive thinness of the parents, the little ones usually present themselves well fed.
27Viegas Guerreiro, another ethnologist who worked on the Khoï-San populations of southern Angola, published an article in 1960 on the Bushmen and Cuanhamas of southern Angola. He explains that hunting became a difficult task in the 1960s, and with ”almost no results“ because of European and African” gun hunting, but also because of the mobility of the animals and the weakness of the bows and arrows of the Bushmen (Guerreiro 1960: 530). It also states that fruits and vegetables have become scarce in nature so that the collection of its products has become very unprofitable for the Bushmen.
28According to him, one of the few products still taken from nature is lukula bark, with which the Bushmen make a red powder that they exchange with the Cuanhamana (Guerreiro 1960: 531). The proximity between Cuanhamas and Bushmen leads to a certain dependency in that the latter find work with the former during agricultural activities, which require a large workforce, especially during harvesting. Bushmen may also perform other tasks for which they receive some food and objects that they do not make themselves, such as metal objects (Guerreiro 1960).
29In ethnology, the reference book on the populations of southern Angola is that of Charles Estermann published in 1961 and translated into French in 1977. Here we use the 1977 publication. He discusses the study of the Bushmen of Angola in the first chapter and points out that they are known as Ova-Kwankala, meaning “those of the crab”, and Ova-Ngongolo, the latter name appearing to be a phonetic adaptation of the “Bushman !kung” (Estermann 1977, I: 9). According to this author, the organization of Kung does not allow to speak about “tribes” as their dispersion is too vast. He thinks it is more accurate to speak of “campsites” (Estermann 1977, I: 10), which are spaces protected by an enclosure made of branches, with two opposite entrances. Inside there are huts, from four to six, arranged “in the shape of a fairly open arch” (Estermann 1977). Estermann therefore mentions “a relative fixity of their establishment”, which implies that the notion of nomadism also becomes relative. As for the number of Khoï-San of Angola, he cites a figure of 5,000 for the 1960s.
30Among the changes he sees are also the beginnings of farming and animal husbandry. He mentions the request for “permission to cultivate the land” from a village chief in the Quipungo region (Estermann 1977, I: 15), and the adoption of certain trades such as blacksmithing in Khoï-San villages. As regards ceremonies and beliefs, he indicates that there are few or no ceremonies for birth and the imposition of the name, while for death “weeping and lamentation begin at the moment of death” (Estermann 1977, I: 19). The children are buried inside the hut, while after the death of an adult the group abandons the camp (Estermann 1977).
31On beliefs, there is little information, but two aspects are important to note. The first is the belief in a higher being //Gaua or //Nava, a character both negative (he may be responsible for the death of an individual) and positive (he may bring good luck when hunting) (Estermann 1977, I: 20). The moon is worshipped as the “dwelling place of the spirits of the Ancestors” (Estermann 1977: 21)6. The ceremonies at the appearance of the moon are actually a tribute to the spirits of the ancestors who live in the moon.
32After Charles Estermann, another ethnologist, José Redinha, worked on non-Bantu groups in southern Angola. In 1975, he published a book on Angola's ethnic groups and cultures and estimates the total population of these peoples at 13,000, including 8,000 bushmen. According to him, the Bushmen are the living representatives of Angola's oldest populations7. Hunting and gathering would be their source of subsistence (Redinha 1975: 24). Like Estermann, he mentions a cult to the ancestors and the belief in a supreme being called gana or nava (Redinha 1975: 27).
33Music is an important aspect of the cultural life of these southern Angolan peoples. In the 1970s Gerhard Kubik conducted research on this subject among the Kung populations who live roughly between Lubango and Cuito Cuanavale. He stayed there for a period of five months between 1965 and 1966. His book, published in 1970, is devoted to music, musical instruments, songs and dances, but it also provides important information on the life of the Kung people of the region. He points out the existence of small Kung villages created by the administration of the time, in which he was able to stay (Kubik 1970: 15). In these villages a double activity is practised, hunting and collecting plants, but also a nascent agriculture, supported by the regional administration (Kubik 1970: 13). According to Kubik (Kubik 1970: 12):
Southeastern Angola and a small contiguous region in northeastern Southwest Africa [Namibia] are today probably the only areas where the music and dances of the Khoisan peoples can still be studied.
34The !kung of the Cuito-Cuanavale region were nonetheless living in a situation of submission to the Bantu peoples (Kubik 1970: 12). In everyday life, they increasingly practised agriculture, although hunting and gathering remained the main activities (Kubik 1970: 13). Hunting plays an important role in the songs, as in the following piece (Kubik 1970: 53): “They were hunting a dream (a species of antelope) but the animal fled across the river. The man shouted my prey is already on the other bank”.
35Their musical instruments include four varieties of bows:
- hunting bow used as a mouth bow, whose resonating body is the mouth;
- gourd arch, the sounding board of which is the gourd;
- roup performance bow, where the bow is placed on the ground and struck by three performers;
- friction arc, with the use of a friction rod.
36There are also cithars and an instrument made up of three gourds (glued vertically) called bavugu which is a percussion ideophone.
37The most typical dance is that of a group of women and young women forming two lines, who, facing each other, start to sing and clap their hands. Only women take part in this training (Kubik 1970: 50) but, contrary to the usual practice, they do not dance. Their role is limited to singing and beating. The dance is performed by men or by a single man (“dançarino solista”, Kubik 1970: 51). G. Kubik points out that this population does not practise the circle (or round) dances that can be found almost everywhere in Africa XE ” (Kubik 1970: 52). There is therefore a regional specificity but also adaptation insofar as musical instruments from neighbouring populations are gradually being integrated into the daily life of the Khoï-San of Angola.
Beginning of the 21st century: sedentarization and semi-sedentarization of the Khoï-San people
38Today a number of Khoï-San groups in Angola are organized in sedentary communities that practice agriculture and livestock farming, particularly in Huila province. An important event was the organization of the First San Conference of Angola in 2007. It was organized by NGOs with the participation of the State, and the support of the European Union, with the presence of members of the diplomatic corps of the United States, Holland and South Africa. Importantly, San representatives from Namibia, Botswana and South Africa were also present (El Mundo Indigena 2008: 522).
39One of the immediate results of this international meeting was the creation of a government/NGO commission, in particular OCADES8, to verify the living conditions of the San people of Huila province. It was found that the living conditions of these populations were very poor and the needs very great (El Mundo Indigena 2008). In a recent publication of the Jornal de Angola, there is an article about one of the localities where San people are settled. A report by Domingos Mucuta reports (Mucuta 2017: 5):
Two hundred families from the San community of Hupa locality, Chiquaquaia commune, Huila province, have received land for agriculture within the framework of the Food and Nutritional Aid and Insurance project.
40However, the old practices would not be abandoned, and the San do not lose the habit of hunting. “Men go hunting and return to where they have houses, fields, animals and access to health and education” (Mucuta 2017). The same author states that “another benefit of sedentarization is that Hupa's fifty school-age children attend the school where they have introductory classes in temporary rooms set up on site” (Mucuta 2017). According to D. In Mucuta, agriculture occupies an area of 100 hectares where maize, beans, groundnuts and sorghum are grown.
41Mixed marriages between Khoï San and Bantu, which were believed to be taboo, are attested and the one between a Bantu man and a San woman is cited as an example in the article by D. Mucuta. Love seems to have no boundaries. Salvador Ferreira is the author of a recent book on the daily life of the San of Angola. He writes: “At present it is common to observe the San carrying out long-term activities, which obliges them to stay in a fixed place” (Ferreira 2018: 53). Moreover, certain activities such as house construction, participation in community activities or raising domestic animals are not compatible with the nomadism practised in the past (Ferreira 2018). Products harvested from the wild in the past, such as honey, for example, are currently being produced in a semi-industrial way, particularly in Huila province (Ferreira 2018). Other productions such as handicrafts are also part of the daily life of the San (Ferreira 2018: 91).
42It was in this part of the province of Huila that we carried out a brief mission in 2019. From Lubango we went to the place called Hupa, to complete our documentation on these populations settled in this region9. The purpose of the mission was to determine how a nomadic hunter-gatherer society becomes a sedentary farmer-gatherer society.
43The Bairro Hupa (figure 4.3) is located about ten kilometers from Cacula in the province of Huila. Access to this locality has been facilitated by a kind guide from the Cacula administration. On the spot we met representatives of the NGO OCADEC, which helps, with the participation of the regional authorities, with the installation and maintenance of the Khoi-San populations. OCADEC officials gave us some information about their activities.
Figure 4.3

The Bairro Hupa, photo M. Gutierrez.
44Afterwards, we were able to talk with a large group of people from the Bairro Hupa in the presence of their leader, the Soba Francisco Chilupa, and other community members, inside a building intended for meetings (Jango) (figure 4.4). We were able to ask questions without any restrictions and learn a little bit about their recent history.
Figure 4.4

Jango, photo M. Gutierrez.
45From a historical point of view, this is a group of people who arrived on the site around 1950 and gradually settled in an almost sedentary manner in a vast area, living off hunting and gathering. In other words, they were nomadic or semi‑nomadic. By semi-nomads we mean populations that move cyclically in a relatively limited space. This allows for a certain sedentary lifestyle but also leads to a certain depletion of available natural resources. The oral information collected in Hupa does not allow us to know the geographical origin of these populations, nor their number on arrival. Currently this group occupies an area of nearly 200 hectares, according to them, for a population of nearly 200 people. With the help of NGOs, they began to practice agriculture and animal husbandry. From an agricultural point of view, their crops include sweet potatoes, maize, cassava, sorghum and groundnuts, and they raise chickens and chickens, pigs, cattle and cows.
46Our questions also dealt with their current situation, their needs, their adaptation to their new situation. Answers were often short or very short. From a social point of view and in response to our questions about family, they told us that men can live with one woman (monogamy) or with several (polygamy), without going into detail about the reasons for these choices.
47Asked about their past life as hunters, they answer that they no longer hunt...except occasionally and sometimes with traps for small prey. On more complex and intimate issues such as birth, death, beliefs, the answers were also very brief. Births are a time of joy and celebration with the consumption of mead. Death is a more serious moment marked by sadness. At present, they bury the dead but indicate that in the past (“em tempos idos”), the dead were buried in the hut of the deceased and the abandoned places. We've obtained no information on any rites of death.
48One of the questions asked concerned ancient artistic creations and in particular rock art. To accompany this question, we had prepared a catalogue with photos of San rock paintings from other African countries (Botswana, Namibe, South Africa, Lesotho) which we showed to those present (figure 4.5).
Figure 4.5

Observation of rock paintings in Southern Africa, photo M. Gutierrez.
49Their reaction was very interesting and the comments made in a low voice in their language, which they had not done during the questions and answers at the beginning of our meeting where they spoke in Nyaneka (one of the national languages of Angola) and then in Portuguese and did not want to speak their language. However, they indicated that they are not aware of any rock art sites in their area.
50After the meeting in the jango, we took a tour of the village (figure 4.6) and found that undeniably the material conditions of life have changed. They have houses, land for agriculture, water, spaces for children (figure 4.7), tents that are classrooms and very often substantial food aid. It remains to be seen what will become of their culture, their language, their beliefs in a context where everything becomes assistance and adaptations to the lifestyles of others, including from the linguistic point of view. The notion of acculturation deserves to be addressed.
Figure 4.6

Group photograph, photo M. Gutierrez.
Figure 4.7

Space for children, photo M. Gutierrez.
About acculturation
51From the point of view of the changes in this Khoi-San group in Angola, questions of acculturation arise. One of them is the extent to which their culture is in danger of disappearing to make way for other ways of life which are, on the one hand, specific to regional cultures and, on the other hand, to cultural traits of European origin, in particular Portuguese, a colonial power until the country's independence at the end of 1975.
52Acculturation refers to “the complex processes of cultural contact through which societies or social groups assimilate or are imposed traits or sets of traits from other societies” (Baré 1991: 1). A situation that often results from the occupation of vast territories by colonial powers that occurred from the 15th-16th century onwards, both in the Americas and in Africa among other regions of the world. However, although similarities may appear in very different situations, there are also important differences between the cases studied. Thus, for example, in the case of American societies, Nathan Wachtel indicates that the “word created at the end of the last century in Anglo-Saxon ethnological literature, designates all phenomena of interaction resulting from the contact of two cultures”, one dominant, the other dominated (Wachtel 1971: 24-25). In the case of the populations studied by N. Wachtel in Peru, it is a question of invasion and wars over a vast territory of South America that will lead to the annihilation of the Inca Empire by the Spaniards, while in the case we are dealing with here the situation is very different.
53In the case of the Incas, the author indicates that “the Indians responded to the destruction [of their society] with limited acculturation and a fierce loyalty to tradition” (Wachtel 1971: 216). One of the aspects of this limited acculturation is, for example, the fact of the free unions between conquistadors and Inca women and the appearance of a population of mestizos, thus people with a double allegiance. N. Wachtel also points to the example of the food integrated by regional products and products of European origin, both of which are added to each other, making for acculturation by juxtaposition (Wachtel 1971: 216). Examples from the clothing sector also point in the same direction.
54In the case of the Khoï-San of Angola, the situation is different. There was no open confrontation between Khoï-San and the Portuguese colonists with the annihilation of the former. The Khoï-San were pushed back or they moved away when African, Bantu, or European, Portuguese populations arrived, there was no collapse of a Khoï-San empire as was the case in Peru with the Inca Empire. The Khoi-San have been eliminated in some areas by Europeans to occupy their land, particularly in South Africa 10. While in Angola trade has have been sporadic by region and in a recent period, during Apartheid, the Khoi-San were used by the army as trackers: “several Aboriginal trackers were also employed by the South African XE ” army in Namibia during the war against the Angolan government and SWAPO11“ (Lory 1998: 25).
55As mentioned above, the proximity between populations has meant that exchanges between Khoï-San and Bantu have brought about changes in the lives of the former. The current situation differs from that of the past insofar as the installation in small villages with current structures, classrooms for young people, kindergarten for children, motorized means of transport, access to cities have partly changed the lives of these populations. From the economic point of view, food production, agriculture and livestock farming also contributed to the fixation on a given territory while occasionally practising hunting and gathering. External inputs of food, particularly by NGOs, mean that when these inputs are large, agriculture is not essential and the Bairro Hupa Khoï-San reduce agricultural production. In terms of clothing, changes are also visible, with men dressing like city dwellers, pants and hats for men, skirts for women (see figure 4.5 and 4.6).
56Then there is the question of language; as we mentioned above, during our visit to their village, the Khoï-San spoke Nyaneka and Portuguese while very rarely, at least with us, using their language. So we are in a different situation from that of Peru in the 16th century with elements that can be compared, clothing, food, language. We would be in Angola in a situation of limited acculturation, by juxtaposition according to the formula of N. Wachtel (Wachtel 1971: 216). However, it seems important to us to continue the field research to see how this village and its inhabitants will build their future.
Conclusion
57The history of the Khoï San of Angola is little known and scientific research about them is few and rather recent.
58The first notes, notices and information of navigators of the end of the 15th century and subsequent periods are not always very accurate. They are often marked by the ideology of their time and by the pejorative connotations of the authors.
59The geographical position of the southern Khoi-San populations of the continent is often indicated only on the basis of ephemeral encounters between Europeans and local populations along the Atlantic coast. Most of the documents we have used highlight the skin colour of the African XE ” populations, in this case the Khoï-San. Their physical appearance is often mentioned, the shape of their hair, the size of the people and their economic activities. The practice of hunting, gathering plants and wild fruits mark the stories, as well as the click-tongue language appears in all written sources.
60Ethnology, from the middle of the 20th century, brings a different view of the populations of southern Angola. This work reflects important changes in the way of life of these populations. Hunting and gathering are no longer sufficient to survive in rather arid environments. Adaptation to the changing conditions of existence is part of human nature, and therefore it is not a question of the foretold death of a people, but of change.
61But the conditions under which these changes and adaptations are taking place are shocking: armed conflicts, privatization of territories formerly frequented by nomadic populations, diseases, introduction of alcoholic beverages, denigration, etc. In this case, little is known about the nomadic populations and their wishes for the future. It is also unclear what the San know about the lifestyles of the societies they are going to integrate, or whether this integration has already begun some time ago. Certainly, the neighbourhood with other peoples and in particular with Bantu-speaking populations has already contributed to change. It is therefore normal that people living in a common environment should take ownership of each other's achievements. Finding blacksmiths among the Khoï-San, for example, seems normal to us since the use of metal objects is very practical, both for hunting and farming. It's just a matter of integrating the know-how of the blacksmiths.
62The issues that seem to us to be of concern are not related to sedentarization, farming or livestock farming, but to other aspects such as beliefs, and ceremonies related to birth and death. All the metaphysical aspects of these societies, which without study, attention and interest, risk disappearing without leaving today's societies all the wealth of a world that deserves to be known and valued. One example is the language of the Khoï-San of Angola, which, to our knowledge, has never been studied. Even an ethnologist such as Charles Estermann said that he “had not studied the idiom well” (Estermann 1977: 23). At present, as noted above, it is very difficult to get the Khoi-San to speak their own language. They prefer to express themselves in Nyaneka, at least this was the case with us during our first meeting, then in Portuguese during our walk in the village.
63So there is a change in their way of life and production methods, sedentarization, agriculture and livestock farming, and also a kind of closure on part of their past and their culture, their language and their beliefs. But the Khoi-Sans are still here.
Acknowledgements
64We would like to warmly thank Claudine Karlin, a French archaeologist and member of the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) for her investment in archaeological research and training in Angola. For his ability to adapt and listen in a sometimes complex context.
65We thank also the Service de Coopération et d'Action Culturelle-Ambassade de France en Angola, the University Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, the CNRS Prehistoric Ethnology-UMR 7041 ArScAn team, the Benguela National Museum of Archaeology-Ministry of Culture, the da Huila Regional Museum, the Cacula administration and the people who participated in this mission, Mr. M. João Marcelino and Mrs Vanesa Pinheiro, Mr Zacarias Alberto, Secretary for Culture, Youth and Sport in Cacula.
Notes de bas de page
1 Antonio de Almeida was a doctor of medicine and the first director of the Centro de Etnologia de Ultramar, in this capacity he carried out numerous research missions with the Khoi-San of Angola.
2 Publication coordinated by Maria Cristina Neto and Maria Emilia de Castro Almeida. Collection of Inés Maria Lapa de Possos and Maria Cecilia de Castro. Published in 1994 in Lisbon with Antonio de Almeida as author.
3 Duarte Pacheco Pereira, Portuguese soldier, navigator and explorer, is the author of the Esmeraldo account of the Orbis site (see bibliography).
4 We have used the translation made by the Dapper Foundation published in 1989 in the catalogue entitled Forbidden Objects. Ed. Dapper Foundation. Paris.
5 It should be added that Olfert Dapper's information is exclusively secondary sources since the author has never been to Africa.
6 See on this subject the explanations of Renaud Ego, on the religion of the San in his book San. Rock Art of Southern Africa 2000: 162 ff.
7 The old idea that certain peoples are some kind of living relic from prehistory is now abandoned. See on this subject Les bushmen dans l'histoire de Emmanuelle Olivier & Manuel Valentin 2005.
8 Organização Cristã de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Comunitario.
9 The mission received a lot of support on the spot, in particular that of Mrs. Soraia Santos Ferreira, director of the Museu Regional da Huila, who had made many contacts to facilitate our access to Hupa.
10 Between 1786 and 1795, 2500 Bushmen would have been massacred in South according to Georges Lory (Lory 1998: 39).
11 SWAPO: South West Africa People's Organisation.
Auteurs
- Mathilde Bognon (trad.)
-
Manuel Gutierrez
Archaeologist, Senior Lecturer (HDR) at the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne - UMR 7041 – ArScAn (équipe Ethnologie préhistorique), MSH Mondes, 21 allée de l’Université, 92023 Nanterre cedex (France)
-
Maria Helena Benjamin
Directrice du Musée national d’archéologie de Benguela (Angola) - UMR 7041 – ArScAn (équipe Ethnologie préhistorique), MSH Mondes, 21 allée de l’Université, 92023 Nanterre cedex (France)
Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Licence OpenEdition Books. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.
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