6 - G/wi, G//ana and the Central Kalahari

Summary

This chapter focuses on the groups who live in the vast but sparsely-populated Central Kalahari Game Reserve of Botswana. The leading ethnographer was the late George Silberbauer, who was there in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, several distinguished Japanese ethnographers worked with G/wi and G//ana, and most who work in this region today are from Japan. Part of the purpose of this chapter is to provide interpretation of their work. The question is: are differences these because of historical change, because of different theoretical concerns or because of individual interests? Early interests in settlement, kinship and economics have given way to more specialized topics like ethnicity. The ultimate problem was simply the name ‘game reserve’, although Silberbauer’s intention had always been to allow traditional hunting. Also at issue is the recent dispute over land and water rights, settled in court but in a way that enabled both sides to claim victory. The eastern groups will be considered in this chapter too, and partly in relation to their transition to ‘modernity’, albeit a modernity of impoverishment and low social status.