Bushmen of the Kalahari Film (55 min) + Assignment

For this assignment, you need to watch a documentary and answer questions about it. Though I'm using the "quiz" feature in Canvas for this, it is not a quiz. This assignment will be graded based on participation and completion, not on whether or not your answers are "correct." Note: If you have done this assignment for a previous class with me, you may do it again or see the Alternative Assignment at the bottom of the page. 

The San are people indigenous to the Kalahari Desert spanning Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa. The San are not one cultural group, but actually a number of small-scale communities with related, but distinct cultural traditions and languages. You will hear the names: “Bushmen,” “San,” “!Kung” “Ju/’hoansi” “Ju’wasi” and more to refer to either the broader group, or specific communities. For a time, the widespread use of the terms "Bushmen" and "San" were considered pejorative, but the San have now reclaimed both terms. The film uses the term the San, so I use that as well for clarity sake.   

The film is not created by anthropologists, and I have a few criticisms of the assigned documentary that we’ll eventually discuss. Please do watch it with a critical eye.

One comment I want to make before you even watch the film is that there is misleading and outdated language about race stated by Chris Brooks. In the film he says, “They are the oldest race of all human races...” The problem here is that he makes it sound like there is something evolutionarily or biologically distinct about the San. On an evolutionary and biological basis, there is only one race, the human race. Race, of course, remains an important social fact, but that is not how he is using it here. What an anthropologist would say is that the San are the oldest population of all human populations living in the world today. This may seem like a minor semantic distinction, but language matters.

Step 1: Watch the Film

To access the film, click this link: https://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/2252/Vanishing-Cultures--Bushmen-of-the-Kalahari  (If you have any problems accessing this, please send Abby a message through Canvas.)

At some point you will probably be prompted to login to the library if you are off campus. Login for the library is your North Seattle College email address and the password you use to access your email. You also may be asked to put in your last name and student ID#.

Note: Another Way to Watch the Film

A student reported that the recording through the library has odd and distracting background noises. If you prefer to access it that way, click this link. http://seattlecolleges.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/bushmen-of-the-kalahari 

Step 2: Write your answers to the following questions.

Please use complete sentences, though some answers will only be a single sentence. 

1. How do the San get the food they need?
2. Is their community egalitarian (everyone has equal access to resources for all basic needs) or stratified (people have unequal access to resources)?
3. What else stands out to you about daily life for the San daily life?
4. What are some of the ways social harmony is cultivated?
5. What do the San do to heal sick people in their community? Describe the role of dance for the San.
6. How have the San have been harmed by outside groups? What have been the specific impacts on the San of diamond mining and cattle ranching?
7. What does Jumanda Gakelebone say about the role of cultural tourism for his community?
8. Many of the San currently living today, about 95%, have been forced out of their traditional ways of life. What are at least one example of how many of people in these communities are entering the cash economy?
9. How are the San fighting for their rights?
10. Throughout the film, we saw that the San are experts in certain areas of knowledge. What can we learn from the San? What knowledge do they have that would be beneficial for all humans?

STEP 3: Submit your Answers

Submit your answers by clicking the blue, "Take The Quiz" button below and copying your answers into box. Although I am using the quiz feature for this, it is not a quiz. This is just an assignment. Do your best, but I'm not grading you on getting the right answer; you will be graded based on your sincere attempt to answer the questions and showing that you have watched the film, even if you didn't understand all of it.

Please get in touch if you have any issues submitting your answers. 

STEP 4: Check Answers

After you submit your answers, click on Attempt 1 in the Attempt History. You should be able to see information from me for each question. This information is meant to help you affirm that you were on the right track in understanding what the article was saying and the anthropological perspective or, if not, fill gaps in your understanding. You will only be able to see the answers once, so take any notes that you want to. 

Please let me know if you have any problems viewing the answers. 

Alternative Assignment

Students who have completed the Bushmen of the Kalahari film and assignment previously may do an alternative assignment instead.

Alternative Assignment STEP 1: Watch 

First, follow this link to a page at the North Seattle College Library: https://northseattle.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?seriesID=192673&wID=151366

You will need to login to the library, and after that you should see a list of six documentaries from the BBC series called, Tribe. Choose one of the documentaries and watch it. 

Alternative Assignment STEP 2: Answer Questions

Write out your answers to the questions below.

1. Which documentary did you choose to watch?  
2. What stands out to you about daily life for people in this community?
3. What are some ways this community has been impacted by people/governments/organizations from outside of their community? 
4. Do you have any critiques of how the community was depicted in the documentary? 
5. Please share one connection you noticed between this documentary and the lecture assigned this week. 
6. Feel free to share anything else that you would like to. 

Alternative Assignment STEP 3: Submit your Answers

Submit your answers by clicking the blue, "Take The Quiz" button below and copying your answers into box. (Submit your answers in the Bushmen of the Kalahari assignment.) Although I am using the quiz feature for this, it is not a quiz. This is just an assignment. Do your best, but I'm not grading you on getting the right answer; you will be graded based on your sincere attempt to answer the questions and showing that you have read the article, even if you didn't understand all of it.

Please get in touch if you have any issues submitting your answers.